pilotboy1985YYC

Hi Everyone,
Hoping for some info here.....

My company is sending me to Manila for two months. They will be putting me up at the EDSA Shangri-la.
I've signed up for the rewards program.

So, what will 59 nights get me??? Hopefully it's not just based on stays.

SFO 1K

With 59 nights you will earn Diamond Status, though not until a couple weeks after check-out. They do not reward you with your status until the stay is posted.

Hopefully, you will get future stays within 12 months at a Shang hotel, or the status will truly be a wasted effort.

The points you accrue will be redeemable for nights or other rewards, the "value" of those points will vary based on where you choose to redeem them. For example, you will get more value redeeming them in the Philippines than you will in France.

gnof

I got a membership card in the mail yesterday, around half a year after I signed up. Do they do their mailing this infrequently? (Granted, the package was pretty nice)

medium_alpaca

If you redeem for the "food and beverage voucher" and can't spend the entire amount in one setting, can you keep the reminder of the voucher value, or do you just lose the rest?

SFO 1K

Per the T&C use it or lose it.
I therefore redeemed for $50 GC instead of $100

skaya

Limit per bill, person or table when redeeming vouchers?

Dolphinyong

Dining voucher limit: 2 per table

skaya

I think thats the old rules.

roastpuff

Has anyone stayed at the Island Shangri-La Hong Kong recently? How has the hotel held up? I stayed there in 2007/2008 with my family and we enjoyed it greatly, but I am wondering how it compares to the current crop of hotels (FS, LMO, etc.) as they're pretty much the same price for Amex FHR. Reviews on TripAdvisor mention that the rooms are getting old and may not be maintained all that well anymore, but you know how reliable TripAdvisor reviews are...

The reason why I'm considering the Island Shangri-La is location, as it's convenient to the Airport Express and Pacific Place, tourist attractions such as the Peak and HK Park, etc. The view is probably better than the Peninsula too, as I'm not going to pay the exorbitant rate for their Harbour View room there, whereas the Shangri-La automatically comes with a peak view room and I'm likely to be upgraded to a harbor view room thanks to FHR. I'll be taking my GF who has not been to Hong Kong before and I'd like to show her around, but we only have a 1.5 day layover in HK before continuing to Singapore. Another reason is that the Amex FHR rate includes one airport transfer and I want to try out the RR transfer (yes, I'll probably have to pay extra as it's usually a Mercedes S-class, but that's fine) and the Peninsula charges $1600HKD for their transfer.

Any thoughts?

uanj

Can you break the stay and check out for a night? This may help you get some benefits during your stay.

skaya

Thats worth it even if you have to pay for a night elsewhere. Lots of cheap and great hotels in Manila/Makati. Or just take a quick trip to Boracay.

JRK

I was up in one of the suites ag the ISL earlier today for a meeting. Looked just fine to me, no visible 'wear and tear'. To the contrary, I thought is was very well apointed and mentained.

JRK

As some others have mentioned it might be well worth to break the stay and move over to Borocay or Cebu for some weekends. Even more so, as there could be a rule that you have to stay at a certain number of properties to achieve a status level. Not sure if this requirement was scraped in the latest T+C's, but worth to check.

The other thing to watch out for is long stay rates. They normally are not GC eligible! If you are on a corporate rate you should be fine, but if you are on a long stay rate, it might be worthwhile to reach out to your sales contact early and explore what can be done.

aarato

Quick Question: What booking site or agent should I go through to get the best rate at a Shangri-La? The rates on their website is very high compared to other comparable hotels.

Do they use a consolidator?

Any help is appreciated.

SFO 1K

Which hotel? What dates?
I find the hotels consistently have promotions about 60 days out and you need to get on their email list to see everything that's available. Some hotels do not discount due to high demand.