Hong Kong



The Experience

The Shangri-La formula is one that has been fine-tuned and tweaked over the years -- a bit like the classical music performances that form the aural backdrop to the hotel lobbies. In fact, there is an overall feeling that this is an Asian hotel ensemble where the (Swiss or German or French) conductor has a maestro’s ear for a discordant service note. But try as the management might for intimacy and the personal touch, the sheer vastness and mall-like mien of its glittering Pacific Place home can be impersonal. The upside is everything right at hand: designer stores and restaurants a mere escalator ride away, and the Central Business District a 10-minute, air-conditioned stroll through yet more arcades. In the days of dressing-down and fusion food, the flagship Island Shangri-La (the name differentiates it from a Shang on the other side of the harbor) stoically maintains a tony, fine-dining French restaurant, Petrus, which says a lot about its overall approach to classic style.

The Rooms

All rooms are outfitted with ornate, European-style furnishings, including chandeliers imported from Austria, with the odd Asian touch here and there. The choice is between snagging a harbor view, toward the Nine Dragons (mountains) of Kowloon, in rooms that measure 479 square feet, or taking a slightly smaller room option, with a view of the slopes leading up to Victoria Peak. Go for the ocean.

The Service

It may not be whisper quiet -- Cantonese is a language that sounds like an angry argument, even when murmured -- but Shangri-La-style service has few peers when it comes to efficiency, attentiveness and an innate understanding of international traveler needs.

The Highlights

The hotel has one foot in Asia and one foot in Europe, which means, for the most part, the guest has the best of both worlds. It proudly proclaims its Chinese heritage, in the form of the 16-story Great Motherland of China atrium mural; its European antecedents are displayed slightly more discreetly at Petrus, which has an awesome wine collection from the legendary château, including a 1900 vintage that goes for $19,000, and a dizzyingly high harbor view to match, from the 56th floor. The Shang can do contemporary chic also, in the shape of Cafe Too, where the theaterlike food stations represent most major Asian cuisines.

-- Mark Graham

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