BACKGROUND
Originally opened in 1991, the Island Shangri-La has recently renovated its Horizon Club rooms. I visited in March 2021 when restrictions were lifting in Hong Kong. Staff wore face masks, temperature checks were in place and guests were encouraged to use the Leave Home Safe app to log their movements.
WHAT’S IT LIKE?
The hotel is in one of the towers above Hong Kong’s Pacific Place shopping mall and is more than 50 storeys high. Shangri-La’s signature fragrance, with aromas of jasmine, lily and bergamot, engulfs you as you enter, a welcome relief from the fumes and humidity of springtime in Hong Kong. The public areas are very old-school glitz, with 770 chandeliers and 900 artworks hung throughout the property, including the world’s largest indoor Chinese silk mural, The Great Motherland of China, which stretches 16 storeys.
WHERE IS IT?
In Admiralty, several escalator journeys up from Exit F of the MTR at Pacific Place.
ROOMS
The hotel has 527 rooms – of which 92 are the newly renovated Club category – and 34 suites. Designed by France’s Tristan Auer, the new 44 sqm Horizon Club Harbour View rooms (there are also 41 sqm Horizon Peak View rooms) blend understated chinoiserie in soothing hues of duck egg, grey and jade with lavish amenities including a motion-sensor, heated Toto washlet, a 55-inch TV, a soundbar and automatic blinds that open dramatically when you enter the room.
Decorative panels and artwork feature mist-veiled mountainscapes that reflect the vistas of Victoria Peak nearby. In the far corner, an upholstered day bed extends along the length of the window and is accompanied by a desk/dining table and chair. Each bedside has multiple charging sockets, USB ports and temperature and light control.
The most distinctive part of the room is its mirror- and marble-panelled pantry, filled with products such as pre-mixed cocktails from the Lobster Bar and Grill downstairs. There’s also an assortment of Chinese teas, a boiling water tap and a Nespresso machine.
Bathrooms have hand-tiled mosaic walls in the separate bath and shower partition, with a vanity mirror, John Masters Organics amenities and the option to “frost” the glass between the bathroom and bedroom.
Club room guests can use the Horizon Club lounge on level 56 for private check-in and check-out, assistance from the Club Concierge and complimentary cocktails and canapés from 6pm to 8pm. Also included is one free suit pressing/laundry service, shoeshine and the use of meeting facilities for two hours per day.
FOOD AND DRINK
The hotel’s eight restaurants and bars are Café Too, featuring live cooking stations; the Waterside Terrace for poolside snacks; high-end Japanese outfit Nadaman; the Lobster Bar and Grill; the Island Gourmet patisserie; the Lobby Lounge; French restaurant Petrus; and the Cantonese Summer Palace – the last two of these are Michelin-starred. Breakfast is served in Petrus for Club room guests, where I also enjoyed a fantastic lunch of lobster in a green pea, lettuce and chicken jus concoction.
MEETINGS
There’s a 645 sqm ballroom and ten function rooms and spaces, each with an LCD projector, DVD player, multi-microphone system, multi-system VCR and videoconferencing facilities.
LEISURE
Level 8 is home to an outdoor pool, gym, and health club and spa.
VERDICT
The Horizon Club rooms are thoughtfully designed and elegant in all aspects – an ideal stay for those looking for something new and truly luxurious.
FACT FILE
- BEST FOR Escaping Hong Kong’s heat and hustle by the city-centre pool
- DON’T MISS Dusk cocktails overlooking Victoria Harbour from the Horizon Club lounge
- PRICE Internet rates for a flexible midweek stay in June started from HK$3,000 (£279) for a Horizon Peak View room and HK$3,400 (£316) for a Horizon Harbour View room
- CONTACT Pacific Place, Supreme Court Road; tel +852 2877 3838; shangri-la.com
