Shangi-La very good indeed
 

Stayed as just a regular gold circle member this time in Beijing. But very well treated. Newspaper daily (and they apologize and substitute when wall street journals were not available over the weekends). Continental breakfasts were provided to GC members and delivered to the room every morning. Overall an excellent experience.

[This message has been edited by TheAuditor (edited 12-25-2001).]

I agree. This is the best hotel program. The snag is there aren't many of the hotels worldwide. The hotels I've visited have also been very good. I hit executive this year!

Had two stays at the Shangri-La on Orange Grove Rd in Singapore earlier this month. Absolutely the BEST hotel I've stayed in. My second stay was five nights in one of the Horizon Club Premier rooms on the 19th floor ... 72sq m ... nearly as big as my apartment in DC!! ... stunning views ... excellent service ... also the BEST hotel gym by far I've used. It's a shame there aren't more Shangri-La hotels around the globe, they would be my first choice. Looking forward to next Asian venture and hoping there's a Shangri-La there!!

The Orange Grove SL is our favourite hotel in SIN too !

Agree, I love the Orange Grove SL in SIN, too. But be careful... Shangri-La's brand is unfortunately not very consistent across Asia. SIN is by far the most modern SL I've seen, HK's Island SL feels more 'old world' but is elegant and has stunning views and a great location (love the breakfast lounge!!). Beijing SL is quite alright, but I was extremely disappointed with SL's in Manila, Jakarta, Shanghai and SIN Sentosa. The rooms were oldfashioned, dark and humid and except for the chandeliers in the lobby the hotels can't compete with their SIN and HK counterparts. And too bad SL doesn't award points or free nights.

Shangri-La's Rasa Sentosa Resort is not in the same league as the Singapore Shangri-La, but then again it's not in the same price range (it's roughly half the price). I was expecting something fairly cruddy, but was very pleasantly surprised by the Rasa Sentosa. The rooms were plain, white, clean, and large enough and as long as you get seaview, have a terrific balcony with a great view. The open-air lobby is interesting, and the breakfast buffet was pretty decent, considering this is a second-tier resort on a kitschy weekender island.

Of course, we moved in the right direction, arriving from the airport, we spent a few nights at the Rasa, and then moved to the Ritz-Carlton Millenia for our final nights http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif.

Btw. the Rasa was recently (in 2001) renovated, we stayed there last summer in a terrace suite (US$25 upgrad with GC) and enjoyed it.