A Review of The Shangri-La, Dubai

Finally rounding off my series on my visit to Dubai is a review of our hotel, the lovely Shangri-La, which we settled on as our base for the week. I really enjoyed our stay in the hotel, and even better, we timed it with Lunar (Chinese) New Year which made for an even more fun experience in the hotel.

Location of The Shangri-La

The Shangri-La is located in the Financial District (felt appropriate), a slightly quieter area of town. Wherever you stay in Dubai, you’re never close to everything – it’s not even slightly a walkable city. Attractions are widely spread out and even a 2km walk isn’t actually walk because it’s along a 6 way highway.

The Shangri-La is around a 15 minute taxi ride from the modern centre – Dubai Mall, the Burj Khalifa and Dubai Fountain.

It’s about a 20 minute taxi ride from the Old Centre of Dubai, 12 minutes from the Emirati Museum, 15 minutes from Jumeirah Beach and 30 minutes from Dubai Miracle Garden. Getting to and from the airport is also simple, being only around a 15 minute taxi journey.

Accommodation at The Shangri-La

The accommodation at the Shangri-La is beautiful. There are a range of rooms on offer and we chose a Deluxe King room with Burj Khalifa views. You can also splash out on a ‘picture perfect’ room which has some of the best views out over the city through panoramic windows perfect for Instagram. We didn’t think it was needed as the view from our room was picture perfect as it was.

The room itself was spacious, with a huge bed, desk area, 2 chairs, a huge minibar and lots of wardrobe space.

The bathroom also came complete with a nice sized walk in shower, and huge soaking tub, plus separate toilet. The room was kept spotlessly clean with daily room cleaning service, plus evening turn down (slippers for the win) and a re-stocked complimentary bottle of water daily.

Food& Drink at The Shangri-La

One of the hotel’s highlights is its incredible offering of food. There are multiple restaurants on site and we actually ate at them all.

Hoi An offers Vietnamese cuisine, and we thoroughly enjoyed a 3 hour brunch with an array of courses on the first day of our stay. We also returned for an evening meal which was actually the best meal of our entire trip, with the chef cooking us some special traditional Vietnamese Lunar New Year dishes.

Shang Palace is a Chinese restaurant with dim sum the dish of choice. It also serves the most incredible looking whole crispy ducks which we salivated at from afar. Similarly, the room service menu was absolutely delicious and probably the best room service we’ve ever had.

The casual restaurant, Dunes, has themed nights. I recommend going for the buffet on certain evenings as the food on offer is of great variety and you can get a 25% discount via the Shangri-La circle app (no need to sign up, just log on for the QR code). When we were there it was a Chinese NY theme one night so off we went of course – there was even a giant dragon!

The hotel also offers a number of unique dining experiences. The first of which, a floating breakfast in the hotel pool, the husband treated me to as a birthday gift. I thought it might just be a gimmick but the food was delicious, consisting of an omelette, pancakes, waffles, fruit and yoghurt.

You can also book for a private breakfast, lunch or dinner, on the 42nd floor balcony (see below), however prices start from c£1,000 so we heavy passed on that one (!). One evening it was set up with a red carpet, rose petals, candles and the most insane table wear. It would be an incredible experience.

Amenities & Experiences at The Shangri-La

Aside from the dining experiences, the Shangri-La offers lots of great amenities on site. The hotel pool is without a doubt the star of the show – not only hosting floating breakfasts, but also providing a stunning view over to the Burj Khalifa.

At the pool is also a nice bar area called iKandy serving drinks and bar food, plus is home to a relaxing hot tub and a pool table. It’s a really nice spot to chill for the day and we happily spent a full day relaxing on the rooftop during our week long stay.

The hotel also has a second pool, though it’s for Horizon Club members only. Situated on the 42nd floor, it’s indoors and also looks out at the Dubai skyline.

Even if you’re not a Horizon Club member, head to floor 42 anyway. The View at 42 is the best viewing spot in all of Dubai, in my humble opinion. You can visit the platform through the external doors from the indoor pool area – and even better, any guest can do so.

We went morning, noon and night and it was absolutely beautiful. I also did a little birthday shoot with some balloons. Speaking of which, the hotel left me the balloons and a card, along with a heart shaped platter of fruit, on my birthday which was a lovely touch.

Finally, within the hotel is a gorgeous spa, Chi, which offers a real variety of treatments. I of course indulged in a massage on my birthday which was really good quality and cracked me back in to place. Afterwards you can also relax in the indoor hot tubs and loungers – though all areas are separate for men and women (it was nice to have an afternoon to myself!)

Away from the hotel, the Shangri-La offers a number of day trip ideas. It offers a day tour of Dubai to see the main highlights, a day trip to Abu Dhabi, an excursion in to the Dubai desert and boat trips down Dubai Creek. We didn’t do any of these day trips as I wanted to do things a bit more in depth, but they’re great options if you’re limited on time and/or don’t have time to plan.