Shangri-La Hotel Sydney

Our go to place when visiting Sydney. The Harbour View Executive Rooms are wonderful. Not everything is 5 star as the rooms show lots of wear and tear due to the popularity of the hotel. Staff are helpful and polite.

We have recently had a wonderful stay at the Shangri-la Sydney, but before we arrived, I read some of the negative reviews here which had me worried, but I’m very glad we ignored those reviews; I post very few reviews, but I felt the need to here to counter some of the negative reviews that were definitely not our experience: 1. Some reviews describe long waits at check-in and at breakfast, I guess if you were unfortunate to arrive at the same time as lots of people this could be slow, but our experience was that check-in went very smoothly and we never had to queue more than a minute or two to get into breakfast, we thought the breakfast was one of the best breakfast buffets we have had anywhere, and all the staff and the level of service were excellent. 2. Some reviews say the hotel is a bit dated. Well, yes it has an old-fashioned style, but we thought that was great, the Shangri-la has much more character than many more modern hotels, we really liked that. 3. Some reviews warn of the steep climb back up to the hotel from the harbour, we had no trouble with this. Yes, there are a lot of steps back up to the hotel and if someone did have difficulties walking I can see this could be a problem and you should think about this before booking. However we are both in our sixties and walked down and back up these steps sometimes several times a day without any great effort. For a healthy person if you can’t manage these steps then I think you would need to exercise more! The climb back up towards the hotel is a small price to pay for the superb location right in the heart of the Rocks area and very close to the ferry terminal. We thought the Shangri-la was a lovely hotel, the service was great, and the location could not be bettered, we would happily stay here again.

Great view- I stayed in an opera house view suite. The room was somewhat outdated but ultimately fine. The view was incredible- bathroom was excellent, big windows everywhere and a very comfortable bed.

This is the second time in six months I have had High Tea at the Shangri La and the experiences were markedly different. The first time we had a table in the main dining space, the champagne was free flowing Veuve Clicquot. We were not next to a window but elevated so could still enjoy the view. Service was great and professional. So I had no hesitation to book this for a friend visiting from interstate for a milestone birthday. This time it was completely different. We were seated in an overflow area (I think it is part of the bar) and it certainly had a less than elegant feel than the main space. No tablecloths, tables randomly placed. We did have a position by a window with a view west and out to the harbour. I questioned the champagne they were using and it was confirmed to be Veuve. This then was not the case when it came to pouring. It was still a French champagne but one that costs half of Veuve. I was told they had stopped free flow Veuve - this was disappointing. The first two glasses were completely flat. They were replaced with a complimentary glass of Veuve - after that it was back to the other stuff. We certainly did feel that the area we were seated was a little ignored and topping up of glasses was not as regular as it could have been. The actual food looked great and also tasted delicious. We had another issue when we asked for further champagne. The new staff member said we were on the sparkling package (which was incorrect). After some time, and very empty glasses, they confirmed we were having champagne. Again, you expect a bit better. We had a lovely time but it just was not as polished as I had experienced before. The high tea served in the Horizon Club is almost as good!

The Shangri-La Sydney offers an unparalleled blend of luxury and breathtaking views—the Opera House and Harbor Bridge at my doorstep made every morning unforgettable!