Hotel Review: Shangri-La Hotel At The Shard, London.

 

I was working in our London office while back home, so I got the tube down to London Bridge after work and quickly found my way to Shangri-La at The Shard. After taking an elevator up to the 35th floor of The Shard, I checked in and was quite literally stunned when I walked into my room on the 49th floor and saw the view over my home city! I felt a pang of love for my city, and so grateful that I was experiencing it like this during my short return to England.

The room was beautiful, and I fell in love with the design and incredible wallpaper behind the bed. It was of typical Shangri-La style; very contemporary furnishings and decor with Asian touches. The room is quite minimalist with non-fussy furniture, which makes you really focus on the beautiful view in front of you.

Photo Courtesy of Shangri-La At The Shard

 

And then there was the bathroom. Without a doubt the most famous bathroom in London, and probably one of the most famous bathrooms in the world. I’m no stranger to bathrooms with incredible views (Langham Place NYC was pretty special), but this was something else. Not only was there the biggest shower I have ever seen, but the toilet seat was heated and had water jets (yep, really), and the bath…well…the bath had this view…

 

I know people have a lot of concerns about whether you can see into other people’s rooms. Now, Shangri-La have installed special screens to stop guests seeing into other rooms, and while from the bathroom I couldn’t see into anyone else’s at all, but from the bedroom I could see into the room next door from the very far corner…but the room was on the corner of The Shard, so I think it might only be because of this.Anyway, I got changed and freshened up, and then went up to check out the swimming pool and GŌNG bar.

I met one of my old colleagues at GŌNG, who actually came out to Sydney in January (you may remember him from this post), and we tested out a couple of the cocktails from their movie themed cocktail menu, Director’s Cut. The menu is split into different genres of movies, and each of the 16 cocktail’s is based on a film from a certain director. The cocktails and directors were all chosen by Shangri-La staff members, which I absolutely love!

I chose the levitating ‘Feel The Force’, which was inspired by George Lucas, the director of Star Wars. You can choose between two cocktails from Feel The Force, The Dark Side, or The Light Side. I chose The Light Side, which was a delish concoction of Grey Goose vodka, coconut, glacial pastis, and clarified lime.

 

It was an unusual shade of blue – a similar blue to that of Bridget Jones’s string soup – however despite the light saber colour of the drink, it tasted absolutely incredible. The levitating part of it was pretty impressive, and was made possible due to the use of magnets. You have to be super careful when removing it from the device though, otherwise it could end up all over your lap…this definitely almost happened to me, haha.

After our ‘Quicktail’, we wandered downstairs to meet Edd.

You lot all know Edd very well, he’s been on Lux Life countless times over the past few years, and some of you have even met him at various events etc! Now, when I told Edd the dates I would be in London, he told me the one thing every expat dreads to hear from friends and family…”Oh, I’m on holiday for most of those dates”. Naturally I went a little cray cray on him and he promised to keep my final few days free for me (he returned from his holiday 4 days before I left the country).

We said farewell to Dan, and Edd and I took our seats at TING Restaurant. I’ll be telling you more about this soon in a separate post, but just like everywhere else in Shangri-La at The Shard, the views over London were just stunning. It was so special dining whilst looking down over Tower Bridge, and the staff very kindly gave us a 10 minute warning for sunset so we could wander over to the other side of the hotel to watch the sun go down over West London.

 

After dinner I had to drop off my camera upstairs as we were going for a night out. So we headed up to my room, where the bottle of Veuve Clicquot was waiting! Now, I’m not the type of blogger who posts the same dreamy white-washed photos of me naked in a bubble bath as everyone else. Personally I don’t want my naked body splashed all over the internet, even if I am covered in bubbles (also, I don’t like bubble baths as they make me claustrophobic, so, just no). But I still wanted a photo in that tub!!

So I got a photo that shows my personality and the personality of Lux Life. I got in fully clothed with my fave Yull Shoes on, and drank from the bottle while holding my full glass just like I’ve done so many times in photos from various parties and events. The nighttime backdrop of London behind me perfectly shows my love of night-time activities and the night owl that I am.

 

I stumbled back at 3am (I’ll be telling you more about our amaze night out soon) and there was honestly nothing better than having that huge Shangri-La bed all to myself to spread myself across! I slept soundly and woke in time for breakfast. I had breakfast in Ting, and oh my goodness was it incredible. Fresh fruit, yoghurts, a plethora of pastries, and a huge spread of hot food with everything from dim sum to bacon and hash browns. A variety of freshly squeezed juices and fruit smoothies. It was one of the best buffet breakfasts I’ve ever seen!For those of you who are new here, I’m quite the fan of Shangri-La hotels having stayed in the Shangri-La Rasa Sentosa in Singapore quite often as a child with my family. I was a Jade Golden Circle member for a while, and I’ve also reviewed Shangri-La Sydney, Shangri-La Chiang Mai, Shangri-La Doha, and Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa Muscat on Lux Life.

The last one, Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa in Muscat, wasn’t a favourite of mine, and if you read that review you’ll know my thoughts. But my stay at Shangri-La At The Shard has completely changed my mind on the group. I was so impressed with everything about it, and the fact it just felt like a Shangri-La, that I’m now completely in love with them all over again!If you’re visiting London soon or just fancy a staycation, the Summer in the City package is honestly brilliant! What more could you want? You get a stunning room with the most amazing view EVER, a bottle of Veuve, afternoon tea, and an epic breakfast! Pretty dreamy if you ask me.