Great long-stay during COVID
I had a long stay at the Kowloon Shangri-La hotel last year so I got to know this hotel and its staff very well and am pleased to say that it's outstanding in every way. I have been a guest at this hotel in the past, as I often stay at Shangri-La properties. I am a Diamond member of its Horizon loyalty program and enjoy the benefits and status that come with that. I arrived in early March 2020, expecting to stay for six nights on the way to Phuket, and ended up staying over five months! My flight to Phuket was canceled as Thailand started requiring quarantine there two days after I arrived in Hong Kong. I thought I would return home to Portugal but the virus erupted across Europe suddenly in mid-March, so I just stayed in Hong Kong, where I have permanent resident status, and therefore had no visa issues remaining in the SAR.
The hotel management and staff were extremely helpful to me during this time. I arranged a very reasonable long-stay rate and through my Diamond status, I was upgraded to a lovely deluxe harbor view room on the Horizon Club floor, where I ate most of my meals during the five months. The morning buffet is very good, and offers plenty of prepared items ranging from eggs to French toast to steak to wonton dumplings, and you can enjoy the view of the harbor during your meals.
The afternoon tea options were tasty for an afternoon snack and evening cocktails came with a good array of hot and cold snacks, which changed each day. The hotel's location in Kowloon of course offers easy access to a wide variety of food just outside its doors too, so if I wanted an Indian curry or a pizza or sushi or Singapore noodles, etc. for a change, all of those options and many more were very close by. It was often takeaway of course since dine-in options were limited during the pandemic but that was fine. Hong Kong is really one of the most amazing places in the world for dining with such a big array of options.
The gym was closed during much of my stay as required by the government during phases of the pandemic, but when it was open, it was fine, I used the treadmill and weights, and I used the jacuzzi and steam/sauna on past visits before COVID, and found the facilities fine.
I did eat in the restaurants now and then, I love Japanese and Italian food and that's one of the best things about the hotel, they have restaurants specializes in those cuisines that are great for a fine dining treat. Shang Palace also has amazing dim sum, when I lived in Hong Kong, I used to go there sometimes just to eat there, especially when I had an out of town guest staying with me who wanted good dim sum, it really is one of the best places in town.
The room was very comfortable, I had a large walk-in shower and a good sized bathtub, the beds are large and comfortable and the view is truly amazing. It was fun watching the activity in the harbor, which is always bustling with everything from sailboats to fishing vessels to cruise ships.
Lastly, the staff were incredibly good to me during my long stay, always checking to see if things were okay with my room and my experiences there, and offering to help in small ways that really helped me. Derek was particularly helpful, tracking down special things that I wanted and didn't know how to find in Hong Kong by making phone calls to various stores. He is a gem and always fun to chat with as well. I was also super impressed with Adam and Candy, who were Horizon Club managers on alternating shifts and were extremely helpful at all times. When I did finally manage to get a flight back to Lisbon, the Horizon Club office gave me a parting gift and a home-made card signed by the whole team that was really touching.
Thank you to all of you there so much for making my time at your hotel go as smoothly as possible during what was a very stressful time, being "trapped" in Hong Kong for an unknown period of time. I don't know when I can return to Hong Kong due to COVID and quarantine issues, but I'm always happy to stop in Hong Kong for a few days when I can, and you really are like a home away from home now. Hugs from Lisbon!