Shangri-La Hotel Sydney

Had the pleasure of staying here last week for a mid-week CBD wedding. I must admit that I was hesitant to stay here, having previously stayed in 2015 and being left underwhelmed by the experience. However, fate determined that we stay here, noting that prices around the CBD had skyrocketed in the period where we needed to make quick reservations. Being Shangri-La circle members, we were able to get a discount on reservations, and settled on the deluxe opera house city king room, with prepaid parking. We arrived in Sydney on the day of the wedding, which commenced at 4, noting check in at this hotel is 3pm, which I still find to be quite late for a hotel of this calibre. On arrival, the bell staff were quick to take our bags and get our reservation details so the car could be moved. Check in was very quick and efficient, but I do note that I was not asked if I was a circle member prior to being directed to the check in queue (circle members are given their own check in area in the lobby). Lifts are in a 3x3 setup, and are much faster than before. We were situated in room 513, which is one of the corner rooms. The room was very large, very clean, and light filled. As advertised, we had views out to the Harbour Bridge, Darling Harbour and the Opera House. While my wife rushed to get ready, I called the concierge. Daniel took my call and expertly advised on how long a taxi would take, and where to be dropped off for the quickest walk to the ceremony in a random spot at the Botanical Gardens. Daniel said to give him a call before we left the room and he would have a taxi waiting for us. After I got ready, I called Daniel, and sure enough, a taxi was waiting for us as soon as we got to the lobby (just note this was all within 30 mins from checking in). The reception finished very late, and we arrived back at the hotel at approximately 11.30pm. I asked a few questions at reception regarding a dining rewards voucher we had as circle members, which they handled expertly. In terms of the room specifics, one thing that bothered me on our previous stay was the constant road noise from busy freeways next to the hotel. However, this time I am happy to note that the room was extremely quiet. The bathroom is large, and is well stocked in terms of amenities, and the products were very nice to use on the skin (but unfortunately I forgot to not the brand name). One minor bugbear is the shower uses a dual tap cold/hot setup, so dialling in the perfect temperature may take a bit of experimentation. The lounge area in the room was large, and I noted the inclusion of a Nespresso machine. We didn't end up using wifi, so I can't comment on the service quality. Another minor quibble was the location of the television. While the television is a large premium flat screen tv, it sits high in the middle of the room - with the lounge on the extreme left, and the bed on the extreme right. Comfortable viewing may be slightly difficult. However, I did enjoy the Foxtel coverage. In the morning we went to Cafe Mix on level 1. Our package did not come with breakfast, but we used the dining voucher, which caused a few headaches for the staff. However, they were able to quickly resolve the issue. Breakfast is buffet style here, with a few bespoke hot items (e.g. eggs), and a barista on hand for requests. What I liked about the spread was that it was not overdone - I am not a fan of places that have ridiculously large offerings for guests for buffet breakfasts, and guests feel overwhelmed, and in the end this leads to a lot of unfortunate wastage. The offerings here are targeted, and extremely high quality. While the hotel is a 5 star luxury place, the breakfast experience felt more like an ultra high end boutique hotel offering, and this is not a bad thing at all. I'm not sure if the hotel was at capacity, noting it was midweek, but the dining area was busy but not chaotic, and all the items were replenished regularly, and quickly. I must give special mention to the mini pastries, hash browns, and poached eggs. I have dined in many luxury hotels and some of the best restaurants in the world, and I can say that hash browns and the perfect poached egg can be wildly inconsistent. However, the kitchen here has somehow managed to perfect these techniques to the point where they are just churning out perfectly executed hash browns and poached eggs every time, so kudos to them. I must give special mention to the late check out time of 11am, which puts Shangri-La in an ever shrinking category of hotels which have check outs at a reasonable time, without needing to purchase late check outs. Check out was quick and friendly, and we toured a bit more of the lobby to find a wonderful art exhibition for Charles Billich near another cafe on the ground floor. Our car was brought out quickly, and we left with a big smile on our faces. While I estimate we spent approximately 11 hours in total at the hotel, the stay was pleasant and easy and convenient. Competition has been heating up in the upper end luxury market in the Sydney CBD, but this hotel still manages to distinguish itself. Given that they had improved on every aspect which I did not enjoy last time, I would have to say we would easily find ourselves coming back as a couple to enjoy more of what the hotel has to offer.

Nice rooms but incompetent execution. We had late check out in our package but got locked out. In room amenity (part of package) took 3 calls to arrive. Breakfast order didnt arrive. Billing errors. Not really good enough for above 700 a night.

It's nowhere near five stars! Why? First, the positives: the staff are friendly and helpful, albeit disorganised. Our room was cosy, spacious and clean, but very outdated. However, the Horizon Club is a total disaster: it's overcrowded, chaotic and dirty. It's more like a cruise ship lounge than an exclusive Shangri-La Horizon Club. It's so overcrowded that you won't get a table after 6 pm. Compared to Shangri-La hotels in other cities, such as Bangkok, Singapore, Guangzhou, Dalian or Shanghai, you could be forgiven for thinking that you're not staying at a Shangri-La hotel at all! At €700 per night, it's not worth the price. We were shocked to see the Shangri-La operating at such a low standard in Sydney. I have booked several other Shangri-La hotels in Asia this year, but this is the first time I have considered staying elsewhere. The only five-star aspect is the view. But that's not enough to make us want to come back. We'll enjoy the view until Tuesday, and that's it.

Fantastic view from the 21st floor of Sydney Harbour and Opera, from the beautiful big bedroom (and bathroom). Stayed 10 days. Great bedding, fluffy towels and absolutely everything else that a 5* hotel provides. Quite close to everything, the wharf, restaurants etc. Modern and luxurious. The personnel is nice, and often, they would ring the doorbell, asking if we needed anything. The 2 negative aspects are: Because it's so huge, (565 rooms and 36 floors) there are so many people everywhere, with corporate meetings, queues for check-in/checkout, queus at breakfast after 8, in the lobby, in the 6 lifts, cruise ship passengers, weddings, parties.... that you're just another anonymous face in the crowd. The 2nd one is too long to go into (noise from the nearby lifts and change of the flight date to Dubai by Emirates, due to the Iran situation), we were offered a "corner room" view and never an honest paid upgrade, only an incredibly expensive one for the one extra night. So we had to pack, take a taxi to a (beautiful) hotel 5 minutes away and to unpack, to stay just the one night before flying back to Europe. Bitter sweet experience, even if the Front Manager was very nice, no honorable compromise was ever considered. Nevertheless, a lovely 5* luxury hotel with everything you need but next time we will choose a smaller, guest-friendly, landmark, Heritage hotel, rich in History and character, without so many people, guests and personnel included, everywhere, all rushing around noisily, giving off stress and hasty urgency vibes. And where suitable adjustments are made should problems arise, without a feeling of pretentiousness from the hotel. Especially when you're staying 10 days.

Booked a club access room with a Sydney Opera House view. The corner rooms are massive as you gain an extra seating area for bags and shoes etc. Almost like a small suite. Email ahead and request. The club lounge was amazing. I would sit there all day. Amazing view of the harbour for breakfast, afternoon coffee and cocktail hour. I probably would not stay here if I wasn't staying in a club room. Theres better value around. Breakfast was good, afternoon tea was good. Cocktail hour had nice food and drinks but in all honesty, if the view wasn't there, probably wouldn't have wanted to sit there all day. The rooms are dated. The staff are ok. You're paying for the view and the Shangri-la status. Why 5 stars? The view