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Shangri-La Hotel, Qingdao (Tsingtao), Shandong, China
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King sized room
Front desk around corner to left, lobby center left, Lobby Lounge center right, Shang Palace...
bathroom
Desk and TV
Lobby - staff waiting to greet people coming in
Shower and toilet
View of the buildings and street out our window
Another view of the bed
Tub with reflection of bathroom in mirror
room
Sink and shower
The room - twin bed
The lobby lounge
The view from room
The exterior
The room
The room - king-sized bed
The room
The room
The bathroom
Address: No.9 Xiang Gang Zhong Road
King sized room
Front desk around corner to left, lobby center left, Lobby Lounge center right, Shang Palace...
bathroom
Desk and TV
Lobby - staff waiting to greet people coming in
Shower and toilet
View of the buildings and street out our window
Another view of the bed
Tub with reflection of bathroom in mirror
room
Sink and shower
The room - twin bed
The lobby lounge
The view from room
The exterior
The room
The room - king-sized bed
The room
The room
The bathroom
Map of Shangri-La Hotel
Address: No.9 Xiang Gang Zhong Road (19 votes)
Ranked #4 out of 58 in Qingdao (Tsingtao)
Average price: $130
Reviews
This was my first stay at the Shangri-La Qingdao. I love Shangri-La hotels as they combine Asian elegance with modern luxury for the harried business-- or the resort traveler.
I had to fly in for a business meeting and landed mid day. Thankfully, my regional sales manager had booked me at the new Valley Wing, which is equivalent to the Horizon Club level in other Shangri-La hotels. they efficiently checked me in, got me tea and cold water, and booked me a car. The club levels are typically staffed with pretty young women, who speak good english, and understand traveler's needs and are very service oriented. This is quite different than many lower end hotels in China.
Some Tips:
1) Stay in the Valley Wing. It's brand new. A little more expensive but the whole wing is up-scale and service oriented.
2) There is food included in the morning - for fast get-away breakfast, as well as happy hour in the evening from 5-7 with appetizers and wine/alcohol included. You can actually just eat that for dinner.
3) If you get back late (say 10pm), and have made friends with the ladies running the lounge previously and are sweet to them, they will stealthily pour you wine and chat with you, even though the "happy hour" is over.
4) Ask for many bottles of water when you arrive so you don't have to worry about it later, like when you get back to your room in the middle of the night
Excellent hotel. Here comes my short review:
Pro's:
- Hard to beat service from entire staff. Excellent training provided
- Excellent breakfast (choose from Chinese, Western, Korean or Japanese)
- Nice rooms
- Short walk to the beach
Con's:
- None really. Except if you don't like to be pampered. Language skills from staff could be improved a little.
I would stay there anytime again. Strong recommendation!!!
I have just stayed at the Valley Wing at this hotel it is absolutely lovely. Huge rooms550 sq ft, fabulous bathroom, the price was under $200 Breakfast is included in the price as is high speed internet by cable and there is also WiFi. A large flat screen TV and DVD player in the room even a smaller one in the mirror in the bathroom, in fact you can open the side of the bathroom (yes I know this sounds weird but it is true) and watch TV from the bath. Fabulous buffet breakfast they even got me breakfast when I turned up at 10.30am Attentive staff free drinks all day in the 20th floor lounge what more could they do. Also it very peaceful away from but attached to the main hotel which can be very busy.Yes the hotel car is a little expensive taxis are cheaper but when my flight was very late arriving, after midnight it was good to see someone waiting to collect me.I would also say that if you are spending time in Asia join the Shanri La club the benefits are great. Again what a fabulous place the Valley Wing is, if only all hotels were this good.
I delayed writing a review of the hotel in hopes of dulling my disappointment with our stay in the new expensive Valley View Wing. The rooms are wonderfully appointed but avoid Room 965. Next door, Room 966, stores hotel bedding, room supplies, etc. and the staff congregate, some in the room others in the hallway outside the usually ajar door. When we were in our room and the noise annoyed us, I spoke directly with the ever rotating staff. Upon check out I spoke with an assistant manager.
The creative interior design of Cafe Yum, does nothing to alleviate the chaotic breakfast buffet experience; the food just average. The staff works hard to keep up but confusion reigns. Upon check out we were charged for extra breakfast guests we never hosted. In contrast, the executive level breakfast buffet, the evening snack service and the wonderful staff met our expectations in all respects.
The ongoing construction in and next to the hotel was also troublesome. In retrospect our stay was indeed, a negative experience.
We found Qingdao to be an absolutely charming city. The city and residents are well prepared for the deluge of visitors arriving this summer. The Shangri-la has a ways to go.
Stayed in the new Valley View Wing over the Tomb Sweeping holiday weekend. The wing was recently opened around March 15 which presented the good and the bad.
The good: Room was very new, very clean and VERY well appointed. Bed was extremely comfortable which can be a challenge in any of the 4.5+star hotels in China. Flat panel TV, wireless internet, marble and tile all over the place. Very luxurious. 20th floor hospitality was very comfortable and had beer, wine, snacks, really anything you wanted all day long.
The bad: Pool and exercise facility were not open, and there was constant construction noise all day long. Not a big deal since I wasnt in my room most of the day.
The hotel has a new restaurant Cafe Yum Yum. I was a little leary of it because of the name, but this place had by far one of the better buffets I've ever experienced. Tsingtao was served a long with the buffet - which would have been nice to know the first night since I got a bottle of Penfolds. Had I known, I'd have just stuck with the Tsingtao.
Q Bar was good, but a little cheesy as all night clubs in China can have a tendency to be. Bar lounge was nice and comfortable.
One drawback was the airport transportation cars. On the way in, I had a 4 year old (at least) Audi A6 which did not smell clean at all, and on the return had the Chinese equivalent of the Nissan Maxima - a 10 year old Nissan Maxima. Not exactly worth the upcharge for the drive.
Overall a good stay and I'd recommend it to anyone.
This hotel is an 18-story high rise at the center of town. About 15 minutes walk to the beach area. Conveniently located with upmarket shopping malls nearby, with brands like Prada, Burberry etc.
The room looks old and dated and in need of a refurbishment. The bathroom has no shower cubicle, just a long bath. A "do not disturb" was placed outside but our room was cleaned up nevertheless - would recommend that others call the guest service centre next time. Anyway, the hotel is in need of decoration, but the typical Shangri-La service can be recommended.
Conveniently located with upmarket shopping malls nearby, with brands like Prada, Burberry etc. and a Carrefour. About 15 minutes walk to the beach area. Room looks old and dated and in need of a
refurbishment. The bathroom has no shower cubicle, just a long bath. The hotel's extension is currently ongoing next door.
Breakfast is OK - I have tried better Shang breakfast spread in other cities, Beijing is the best city in China so far. A "do not disturb" was placed outside but our room was cleaned up nevertheless - would recommend that others call the guest service centre next time. A comment card in the hotel room was filled up and an email acknowledgement was received a few days later.
This hotel is an 18-story high rise at the center of town a couple blocks back from the coast. Qingdao's airport is an hour away.
The format has a resort flavor, with dance bar, piano bar, and health club with a sizable pool & tennis court. The weight room is nearly on a par with a typical Bally's, with--if you think Nautilus machines are for girly men--freeweights to 50 lb, and an honest-to-goodness you-can-stack-300-lbs-on-it bench press. The dance bar hosts a hard-working house band, displaying a wide repertiore, even if the only ones dancing are an octogenarian couple prancing an elaborate quick-step or west coast swing. The music is too loud for for talking there, so conversational types are best served by the piano bar, where the din of the crowd often obscures the rather talented female solo singer & her piano accompanist.
My room was meticulously clean and functional, with all the acoutrements in like-new condition, though a bit compact. You may want to take a minute or two to master the motley assortment of sconce, hidden reading, & night lights. The staff was competent & gratuitously courteous. Another reviewer mentioned problems at the check in. I had no such problems, and a last minute extension to my stay was handled summarily. I did notice backlogs at the front desk around 8am; the front desk area does seem rather small for a hotel this size.
The breakfast buffet is above average, though not included in my room price. I wanted to eat lightly at breakfast and found room service better suited. You have to remember to hang the order on on your doorknob the night before.
The building does not have Wi-Fi, and wired high-speed internet, whose performance I didn't have opportunity to test, is $11/day.
This is quite simply one of the best hotels I have stayed in my life. I travel a lot for business and pleasure and I have to say that this hotel exceeded all expectations and the attention to detail and service rivals all others, including other Asian hotels. This is the first time I have stayed in the Shangri-la chain. The first thing is that their loyalty programme seems to be the most generous I belong to, especially the benefit for 50% of breakfast (inc person sharing room) at the lowest tier of the programme.
The staff throughout the hotel were super friendly and extremely well trained. The level of English was good and the staff went out of their way to do everything possible to make it a great stay. The concierge was excellent as well.
As far as hotel gyms go, this hotel has got a very good gym with a variety of weights, stationary machines and also has a great pool and spa area.
Every area of the hotel is entirely over-staffed which results in very attentive service and having to wait for very very few things.
We appreciated a lot of details such as allowing us late check-out at 1500; early check-in at 1000; the room attendant tracking us down when we forgot something after check-out; a free coffee in the lobby bar because the server felt bad she hadn't warned us there weren't free refills, etc. The staff really made the biggest difference.
The rooms were great, very large, modern and spotless. Hotel management was quite proactive. I filled out a survey and they thanked me with 160 Yuan in hotel food certificates. It was great.
Restaurant was excellent for breakfast and one of the largest spreads I have seen in a hotel.
I recommend the Renmin Foot Massage place across the street - 5 minutes walking distance. Cheap as chips and quite a good massage and no, this is not a hooker place.
The hotel is in walking distance to some great shopping areas and restaurants, including Carrefour and some designer malls. You can easily walk to a beach area and the 'boardwalk' area.
We didn't explore the public beaches in Qingdao. It was really a place to relax after some adventures in other, not so luxurious parts of China.
I would recommend this hotel wholeheartedly.
Andrew Wong
We were here 2 nights for the Qingdao beer festival, this hotel has decent hardware but missing most of the software, just a few examples below:
when we showed up Fri afternoon to check in at 3:30pm, of the 4 rooms we booked, 3 were still not ready for another 45 minutes, despite their 12 noon check out policy, and when my girlfriend finally got into her room a telephone repair man went in to fix the phone for another 30 min
They were also very strange with the breakfast arrangements, telling us that those of us (including myself) 1 person in a twin bed room is entitled to breakfast for 2 while my friend and her husband were only entitled to 1 breakfast for the 2 of them
On Sunday morning, while trying to sleep in after a night at beer festival, at 8 am in the morning, housekeeping came and rang my doorbell ! And my friend's next door even though he had a do not disturb sign on
At the bar downstairs, after finishing our 1st bottle of Veuve, they told us they do not sell any champagne by the glass (we didn't want another bottle) and also they don't sell any decent wine by the glass, we opted for Tsingdao beer instead
The hotel's food at their 2nd coffee shop is pretty good, but the concierges sent us off our 1st night to a mediocre seafood restaurant where they had these seals cooped up in a tiny pool for show. speaking of food, I was happy with the hotel breakfast buffett but service is so so, i.e. I asked for a Chinese soup spoon (For congee and noodles), the server said they didn't have any (only when I insisted they came back with one)
Check out was also a nightmare, there were 5 girls behind the counter and maybe at most 10 guests in line, knowing already how slow and inefficient the staff are, we showed up at 11:30 am to checkout even though our car pick up was not due for another 30 min
The checkout process took a good 30 min with them charging us multiple times in multiple rooms for things we already paid for (I.e. they charged us our prepaid US$60 airport transfer twice on 2 bills out of 2 of the total 4 rooms that we had ).
overall this hotel has a lot of catching up to do as more tourists will show up next year for the sailing & watersports Olympic events.
Qingdao was beautiful. I appear to be one of the few folks reviewing the Shangri-La who was not here for business, but my review is still glowing! (Pronounced “Sahn-guh-lee-lah” in Chinese.)
Another important note: English in China; especially a 2nd-tier city like Qingdao, is quite sparse. The English spoken at the Shangri-La is spectacular relatively speaking, but still not up to par with say, a nice hotel in Paris. Any "complicated" conversations my boyfriend held in mandarin.
By the time we reached Qingdao we'd been to 3 other countries in about 16 days. We were tired... this is part of the reason I decided to "splurge" on the Shangri-La when originally booking. The other problem I had was that I could find so little information on Qingdao hotels when I was booking at home that I finally went with a well-known chain. In hindsight (perhaps for tourists as opposed to business travelers) I might have chosen the Crowne Plaza strictly based on location. It's a couple blocks closer to Hong Kong Gardens which holds a lot of shopping and restaurants. Hong Kong Gardens is probably a 1/2 hour walk from the Shangri-La while maybe a 5 minute walk from the Crowne Plaza. But a cab can get you there easily, cheaply and quickly as well.
Note: the Qingdao airport apparently does not exchange traveler's checks. We had to trade-in most of our leftover US cash in order for us to have money for a taxi. I'm not sure about ATM machines but I might be skeptical... We picked up a taxi outside the airport (after haggling a bit) for 90 yuan (~$12). The drive to the hotel took about 45 minutes on quite local looking roads. We discovered upon leaving Qingdao that if you pay a bit more (to cover the cost of toll highways) you can get to the airport a little faster on the highway instead.
Check-in at the Shangri-La was speedy and I was in our room within 10 minutes of arrival. We were placed in room 1148 which had a GREAT view of the main road in front of the hotel, City Hall and a slightly angled view of the beach!
We had a King sized room for about $140/night. That seemed very expensive to me for China. So we milked it... the doormen stored our rental bikes overnight, the concierge answered every question we had (sometimes even with more information than we could possibly need), room-service re-heated some potstickers we'd had leftover from dinner and served them to us on a platter with dipping sauces (!) certainly nicer than we'd originally dined! The front desk exchanges cash and traveler's checks tho the ATM machine in the lobby did not work with our American ATM cards. There is a very cool "Official" Olympics store just off the lobby selling all sorts of paraphernalia tagged with the Beijing Olympics 2008 logo or mascots. (True official merchandise is a find since there is so much fake stuff in China/Asia.) Coffee Garden restaurant on the 2nd floor served INCREDIBLE buffet spreads. We got breakfast one morning (~$15, served until 10am) and were overwhelmed with the selection of Western and Asian food. There was a large indoor pool (not refreshing - rather warm) but perfect for laps.
The bed was heavenly. We also had a choice of 5-6 different pillows (yes, there was a Pillow Menu). There was a small couch and table in the room. A desk for working with an office chair. Wired Internet was not free. I think about $9/24 hours. The TV had 5-6 English channels. There was a DVD player that worked just great. There was a small fridge. Bottles of water were left daily and there was a pot for boiling water with packets of tea and coffee. While I THINK China has a different electric currency than we do in the US, our plugs worked in the hotel... perhaps converters built into the hotel outlets?
The bathroom was beautiful. A nice soaking tub with a separate standing shower. Robes and slippers for use at the hotel. A scale. Shampoo, conditioner, lotion, cotton swabs, etc. Hairdryer (in a drawer in the bedroom, not in the bathroom).
One odd thing I noticed was that it seemed incredibly humid in the lobby and it smelled very odd. Sickeningly sweet. Almost like a chemical had been sprayed and then covered up with a "fragrance". My guess - never confirmed - is that they were spraying for mosquitoes and trying to disguise the smell of the spray. June in Asia is like a feeding frenzy for mosquitoes.
The hotel is not ON the beach but perhaps a safe 10 minute walk ~ 1 block. The May 4th Square is very close to this portion of the coast as is Bathing Beach #1 (Bathing Beaches oddly go 1-3 East to West and not West to East.) The Tsingdao beer factory is not close. Maybe a 15 minute cab ride north-west but certainly worth a visit and tour (~$10 for entrance). We found (as tourists) we were spending most of our time along the beaches and shopping to the East near Hong Kong Gardens (Carrefour, Sunshine Shopping Center, Mykal. Stay away from Jusco which is nothing nicer than an American Sears or JC Penney) for which the Shangri-La is perfectly located. Badaguan is a very pleasant neighborhood farther West of the hotel (between Bathing Beaches 3 & 2) filled with European architecture and heavily shaded sidewalks and streets. I couldn't figure out what to do here more than stroll around though. There is a nicely paved walkway which runs MILES along the beach. We traveled west (on rented bikes) from the Beijing Olympics Sailing Center, past May 4th Square, past Music Square, Bathing Beaches # 1 & 2, Badaguan and then Bathing Beach # 3. Guessing 5-7 miles? I would not however, recommend renting bikes unless you are VERY fluent in mandarin. The hotel can help point you to a couple bike rental shops (we found ours in the local English tourist magazine) but there is haggling and negotiating which went on for almost an hour. We ended up with 2 (nice) bikes and 1 helmet (they only had 1). Again - as great as the biking experience was I WOULD NOT recommend attempting this unless you are good enough at mandarin Chinese to perhaps pass as a local.
The Shangri-La was wonderful and definitely a treat. The staff is friendly and helpful and speaks English quite well. I was getting a bit "America-sick" at this point and stepping into a beautiful lobby with a comfortable room upstairs at the end of each day was QUITE welcome. I've love to stay at ANY Shangri-La Hotel again someday.
Since I was dying for some candid photos - I was sure to take a lot. Hopefully they're helpful!
I stayed in Qingdao for business for 4 nights. The hotel was great and cab rides can be had for very cheap all over the city. I actually ate all of my meals in the hotel restaurant... and they can get a little repetitive. However, breakfast was very good.
The gym was good, however I went one morning and every treadmill was being used, and for well over the 30 minute time limit. Other than that the facilities were great and I had a wonderful stay.
I have stayed at many Shangri-La's and all have the excellent service any of us that have stayed here love. But I will have to extend my appreciation to the Staff at Qingdao. The attention to detail I mean every little detail was by far the best of any Shangri-La I have ever stayed at. To the point that when I checked into my room the ice bucket was full and not yet begun to melt! My favorite coffee's and a fruit bowl daily. Once this hotel chain gets you into their computer database you get first class rock star treatment. I'll be back...as soon as possible!
Stayed at the hotel in January 2006 for business in the Qingdao area. I found the room to be spacious and immaculate. Hotel staff was kind and considerate of the remodeling that was ongoing, positioning guests as far away from the work as possible.
The breakfast buffet was excellent combining Asian and Western styles to offer a very interesting choice of food. The hotel is within walking distance of the beaches and many good dumpling restauants. All-in-all, I plan on staying there again if in the area and recommend it whole-heartedly.
Enjoyed this hotel immensly, good on the service!This is a perfect hotel, ideal. The serive is superb and they attend to your beck and call, lovely places too!!
the Shangri la is a fabulous hotel that met our needs in every way. The room was good, with fridge and kettle, exactly what we needed with a small (newly adopted) baby. It was clean and well located and I would not hesitate to return.
Stayed 5 days in June 2005. The city is quite beautiful,clean air,excellent beaches.Travel on local buses very cheap - about $us0.10 from end to end of bus route.Also found the people friendly and approachable - noy the hustle & bustle of eg., Hong Kong.
Shangri La: Very comfortable stay.Staff were excellent & always helpful.Like all of China - insufficient brochures available at the hotel for travellers whose time is limited. If you want quality accomadation without hassles - this is a good choice.
Stayed at the Shrangri-La in late April 2005. It appears be an older property, but it is well maintained & of 5* quality. Very nice room & above average buffet breakfast. There is internet access in the business office (only 1 computer in English). Internet speed ranged from unusable to good. Unlike a lot of cities in China, the air quality in Qingdao is actually good (at least in April) due to being located next to the ocean.
The Shanghri-La is on the east side of town, about a 15 minute walk to clean and quiet Beach #3. The facility is a bit dated but well-kept (undergoing renovations during our 3-night stay in September 2004). Service was very efficient and professional - if not as outstanding as other Shangri-La locations it was still better than many hotels. A trip to the main beaches / strolling areas requires a short cab ride (10 minutes / about US$1.50). Walking further east for 5 to 20 minutes, you will pass a number of local restaurants of all types (various Chinese, French, other random Western). As in most places we've visited in China, we never felt unsafe even strolling late at night.