JKTDelicacy.com: SHANGRI - LA HOTEL, Sydney

Rabu, 10 Agustus 2016

SHANGRI - LA HOTEL, Sydney

As some of you have known that we went to Australia for Ramadan Holiday from July 6 - 17, 2016. It was really long indeed and our first stop was Sydney, the most popular destination in Australia. Back in 2009, we used to live in Sydney for 1.5 years to take our Master Degree. So, everytime we come back here, it feels like coming back home. Australia is the southern part of the globe in which winter takes time on mid year from May to August. So, if you are looking for a winter trip during the mid year, Australia or New Zealand is probably a good idea.

Before deciding which hotels to book, you have to understand where and how you want to spend your holiday at Sydney. There are a lot of tourist attractions in the city itself, not mentioning the suburb area or the beaches. One of the most popular destinations is the iconic Sydney Opera House and Botanical Garden. Near there, there is a ferry terminal connecting the main city with the other part of the city on the east and the north. By Ferry, you can hop on to Tarongga Zoo, Mainly Beach, Luna Park, Watson Bay, and many more.

So, if you are considering to travel around there,there are actually many options to stay. The two that we were considering at that time were Shangri-La Hotel and Four Seasons Hotel. Here is why we decided to pick Shangri-La. By staying here, you can have the Opera House view right from the room's windows. Plus, the room is slightly bigger than the one in Four Seasons. Correct me if I'm wrong :)

But here's the negative side of staying at Shangri-La. The hotel is actually just a few hundred meters away from the train station. So you can just walk to the hotel with your baggages. Don't worry, pedestrian in Sydney is quite humane :p BUT, if you take a look at the picture below, the path to the hotel's entrance is really steep. And that is really bad for you if you have to pull your heavy baggages. In fact, you have to step on many stairs on the pedestrian to reach the hotel's lobby. We were quite overwhelmed with that. In contrary, if you stay at Four Seasons Hotel, its very easily accessible via walking. So, probably next time I'll try Four Seasons :)

THE ROOM

Well, the room describes by itself. Its not the most luxurious one, but its very pleasant to stay in this room. FYI, Hotels rate in Australia is very expensive compared to Indonesia, Malaysia, or Thailand. We booked here for around IDR 2.3 million / night, and that is considered a normal rate in Sydney. While in Jakarta for the same Shangri-La hotel, you can live like a king. Trust me, the hospitality, the services and the facilities in Jakarta are top notch like no others.

We didn't quite feel like in a 5 stars hotel. The lobby was small and poorly decorated. The front receptionist guy (the person who checked in our room) didn't even give us a proper smile. Come on, its 5 stars! And most room price in Australia does not include breakfast, sad :( But anyway, enjoy the room. Below is the welcoming words from the TV.

The working corner, next to the refrigerator.

This cute Koala doll was given by the hotel staff for my nephew when he was crying upon our arrival at the hotel :p

BATH ROOM ESSENTIALS

The bathroom was quite spacious with one bathtub and one shower room. Its very classic and elegant, plus with my favorite personal care brand L'occitane! I've once experienced the same essentials when I was in Europe back in 2014. And here in Shangri - La, they provide hand soap, body soap, shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, all by L'Occitane. Tooth paste by Colgate.

In room tea & coffee was very complete and they use Dilmah for the tea, one of my favorite tea brands :D They provided so many sachets of coffee and tea as you can see below, plus some creamer.

That day when we arrived in the hotel, it was raining quite heavily. The weather was really cold because its winter. So, having a cup of hot tea would be very nice. The big window has a long seating on the side, so that we can sit there while watching the Opera House or the beautiful harbour view.

The room itself was quite spacious with a single sofa in the corner for relaxing.

One funny thing about the TV was that we couldn't find the remote control. How can they make it so difficult for us to find it?? So, we decided to unplugged the cable on the back, and DONE!