Shangri-La Hotel Sydney

We booked Shangri-La Sydney for our anniversary. While our original Barangaroo View Room was lovely, everything collapsed when we paid an extra $90 for a room upgrade. Instead of an enhanced luxury experience, we were moved directly beneath the noisy hotel kitchen service area. Constant banging made sleep impossible. When we complained, we were moved to a replacement room that smelled heavily of cigarette smoke. The hotel’s solution was to place an industrial air purifier in the room and spray heavy air freshener, leaving us to sleep in a room smelling of stale smoke and artificial perfume. Management has admitted the stay fell well below expectations, yet they have refused to offer more than a 50% refund for one single night (of a four night stay) and a refund of the upgrade fee. To call this a "final resolution" for a completely ruined anniversary celebration is an insult to the Shangri-La brand. Truly disappointing service standards.

I took a disabled client protected under a court order due to violent stalking. I thought she would be safe. Instead, a weird man came to her room and started talking about defecation and nudity then commented on her appearance. The hotel will not explain how he (or anyone else) could have had the ability to roam, suggesting he somehow lucked out and accessed floors by following other guests. My client is permanently traumatised and I do not recommend staying there. Lovely hotel but terrible security.

Fantastic views of opera house and harbour from our Executive Opera house city room. Room is a lovely size but showing signs of wear. Blu bar on the 36th floor is a must visit. Drinks and service were superb as were the very attentive staff. The most disappointing thing about this hotel is the underwhelming sense of arrival; the lobby is tired and very small and totally disappointing and reminiscent of a 3 star train station. It needs a total makeover with a wow factor.

Excellent location. Beautiful views. We had the club access which included food and drink at certain times. The butter smelt and tasted off. But apart from that it was lovely, staff were friendly and helpful and the hotel was very clean.

Dated hotel rooms in need of a refresh with dust in all the corners (even a potato chip!), dead lightbulbs in the ceiling, etc. However the room was spacious and bed was clean as was the bathroom and a nice open view. The check in staff were not particularly friendly nor welcoming nor helpful; they put our kids in a room on a separate floor without even offering the option to upgrade if necessary to have rooms on the same floor- such a hassle running tooth brushes and forgotten items in between locked floors requiring two sets of key cards. If our kids were younger and less ok sleeping alone the distanced rooms would have really posed a problem. In general it was *fine* but I think you could do better for a hotel in Sydney.