Shangri-La Dubai
A staple on the Sheikh Zayed Road.
70/100 | B TIER
See my detailed evaluation here. Learn more about my methodology.
Unbelievable view of Downtown Dubai from the Shangri-La Dubai’s Horizon Club Lounge.
Introduction
The Shangri-La Dubai is located on Sheikh Zayed Road, the main road running down the Emirate of Dubai. On either side of the road are numerous office buildings, hotels, and apartment buildings. Some of the buildings by the road are relatively older (compared to the rest of Dubai) but you really couldn’t tell with how well-maintained everything is. The Shangri-La Dubai is one of these buildings. My educated guess is that the hotel was one of the first international chains to open up, and chose the Sheikh Zayed Road as its location. The hotel was opened in 2003, making it almost 20 years old. I noticed the rooms were refreshed some time in the past few years, though.
The Shangri-La was the second property of our stay. It was also by far the cheapest hotel, coming in at around half of the next cheapest hotel (Address Downtown Dubai) at $275 dollars a night for our Horizon Deluxe Burj Khalifa Room. With this in mind, I had lower expectations for this hotel compared to the others I stayed at on this trip. The location is also on the Sheikh Zayed Road, implying it is primarily a business hotel over a leisure hotel like the others I stayed at. We also didn’t spend much time in the hotel, so this review will be brief.
Arrival
We arrived sometime in the afternoon from a wonderful stay at the Waldorf Astoria Dubai Palm Jumeirah. Greeting us at the hotel entrance was a well-dressed Shangri-La doorman in Arabic-inspired uniforms. In the Shangri-Las I’ve visited in Southeast Asia, they wear Southeast Asian-style uniforms. I guess Shangri-La takes inspiration from the area their hotels are in for their employee uniforms! It’s a cool detail I hadn’t noticed before.
A man approached the vehicle and opened the door for us, grabbing our bags in the process. He walked us over to the check-in counter where I was promptly helped. I received a letter outlining out Horizon Club benefits, which included the standard breakfast, canapés & cocktails, etc. What drew me into booking a Horizon Club room was the exclusive Horizon infinity pool and balcony located on the top floor which has some of the most magnificent views of Downtown Dubai… I’ll get to that later. I also arranged for an in-room COVID test with the concierge before heading up to the room. The Dubai entry requirements require you to get tested upon arrival, day 5, and day 7 (as of September 2021). Thankfully, the hotels we visited were able for arrange someone to come directly to our room. Very convenient.
Horizon Deluxe Burj Khalifa Room
Sorry about the shaky videos. I just got this camera and didn’t realize I had image stabilization turned off until I got home…
As you can probably tell from the video, the hotel is a little dated. Some room refreshments were performed, but we definitely noticed the age. The bathroom was dark with absolutely zero natural lighting. The walls, which were varying shades of grey, don’t exactly help brighten up the space either. Additionally, the cramped shower and toilet spaces were hard to adjust to after having a vast amount of space at the Waldorf Astoria Dubai Palm Jumeirah’s Pearl Suite.
In the actual bedroom, my main complaint was the lack of a coffee machine. Yes, they had no coffee machine. I haven’t been to a property in years where the rooms don’t have coffee machines. This is simply unacceptable for a Five Star hotel. The rest of the room was fine, clean, and had great views of the Burj Khalifa. I enjoyed the beautiful welcome amenity of Arabic desserts. I think this was my favorite welcome amenity out of the hotels we visited on this trip, as it was inspired by the region we were in instead of a generic (although still tasty!) cake.
Breakfast at Dunes Cafe
When I have the opportunity to choose between a more private but limited Club Lounge breakfast or the restaurant breakfast open to all hotel guests, I almost always choose the restaurant breakfast. I like the energetic ambiance, but I value the far more extensive selection you get at most hotel’s main restaurants. I unfortunately did not even check the Horizon Club breakfast offerings and instead had breakfast in Dunes Cafe each morning. Below are some pictures of the seating area, a typical plate of my breakfast, and a walk through of the buffet. Again, sorry for the shaky video and audio issues. New camera growing pains.
Dinner at Shang Palace
We had dinner at Shangri-La’s signature Chinese restaurant, Shang Palace. As far as I know, there is a Shang Palace at every Shangri-La in the world. We ordered a half of a Peking duck (AED 260/USD $70), the deep-fried duck bone with salt and pepper (AED 68/USD $19), and the Yangzhou-style fried rice (AED 55/USD $15).
The duck was very mediocre. It had no flavor and tasted like I was eating a very fatty chicken. The deep-fried duck bone, however, was delicious and used the leftovers from our Peking duck dish. The Yangzhou fried rice was also pretty average. I think that the food here tastes like an average Chinese restaurant you could find anywhere. It’s definitely not worth the $130 (incl. tax and tip) we paid.
If you had to come here I would definitely get the deep-fried duck bone. It is by far the best thing we had. The Peking duck is prepared table side. Watch the clip below:
Horizon Club Lounge
This is the reason why you should come to the Shangri-La Dubai. The opportunity to lounge around with picturesque views of Downtown Dubai is priceless. You literally can’t get this anywhere else, except maybe the Address Sky View, which has equally stunning views but from a different angle. Other than this, we didn’t use the lounge for any canapés or anything like that as we were out.
Wellness Facilities
I really wanted to use the pool here, but I didn’t because we were busy out and about. The Shangri-La also has a pool open for all guests on the ground floor that we didn't check out.
Conclusion
The Shangri-La Dubai is a great hotel in a great location along the central Sheikh Zayed Road. Walking up and down this road is definitely a great way to get your steps in. The area around it, like the rest of Dubai, is spotless and very safe. I think the hotel definitely caters to a business crowd as opposed to a leisure crowd. The service here is great, consistent with Shangri-La brand standards, but the hard product could use some work. The club lounge here is definitely worth the premium over regular rooms just for that magnificent view.
Ideally, if I were to visit again, I’d use this hotel as either the first or last hotel I stay at in Dubai. This is because the hotel is located only 10 minutes from the Dubai airport and would be very convenient to get to if I was coming in or flying out of Dubai International.
Final Rating
Service: 18.5/30
Standards: 10/20
Arrival
✓ Greeted at entrance
✓ Doors opened
✓ Bags taken
✓ Refreshments offered
Introduced to hotel facilities and room/suite
Intimacy
After interaction with staff, do they remember your preferences?
After interaction with staff, do they remember and address you by name?
Housekeeping
Turndown service
Aware of whether or not you’re in the room
✓ Concierge
Attitude: 8.5/10
Rooms: 16/25
Quality 3/5
Views 3.5/5
Cleanliness 3.5/5
Standards 6/10
Entry room larger than 500 square feet
Electronic controls for room functionality
✓ Separate bathtub
✓ Rainfall shower head
Reputable brand of amenities
✓ Pillow menu
✓ Nespresso or equivalent coffee machine
Balcony
✓ Welcome amenity
✓ Multiple welcome amenities
Facilities 16.5/20
Public space design
Lobby 3.5/5
Pool 4/5
Other Areas 3.5/5
Quality and Cleanliness 3.5/5
Unbelievable views of the Burj Khalifa from Horizon Club Lounge balcony and pool. +2 points
Food 10.5/15
Standards 3/5
✓ Multiple restaurants
One prestigious chef owned restaurant
✓ Breakfast buffet
a la carte option with breakfast
✓ Asian, Local, Juice, Pastry, and Western sections in buffet
Quality 7.5/10
Location 8/10
Standards (3 points possible, 1 point each)
Walking distance to a major mall (within one block)
✓ Walking distance to at least 4 restaurants (within 5 minutes)
Walking distance to at least two major attractions (less than 10 minutes)
Safety 3/3
Walkability of surrounding area 4/4