Away from the hustle and bustle of the city, Shangri-La Colombo exudes a tranquility from the offset. The luxurious aroma of a specially curated hotel fragrance hits you as you cross the expansive lobby and make your way to the check in desk.
Greeted warmly by the staff, we get a soundtrack of the piano tinkering and violin playing from in the open plan lounge as we’re given a room key by the immaculately dressed team and whisked up to the 27th floor in a flash.
Getting There
From Heathrow Airport, we travelled 10 hours 30 direct with Sri-Lankan Airline. They’re a reputable airline to fly with and you’re given earphones and a blanket, full in-flight entertainment with movies and maps of your journey and two meals. These included, bread bun with butter, starter, dessert and main – usually curry with rice and veg although options vary.
If you’ve arranged your stay directly with Shangri-La Colombo, you’ll also be able to arrange for the hotel to pick you up from Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport. If that’s the case, your driver will be waiting exit side with a name card and a comfortable car to drive you the 45 minutes to Port City.
Pick Me and Uber apps are an easy way to get around and widely used across Colombo but if you’re feeling really fly, Shangri-La Colombo is located adjacent to the city centre’s only helipad.
Pettah Market is ten minute drive and the Hospital Street area has plenty of food outlets like Sunset Blu, Level 4 Rooftop and Ceylon Curry Club.
Hotel Design
The 33 storey tower at Shangri-La Colombo was designed by Handel Architects. As with all Shangri-La hotels, there’s a fusion of Oriental design elements combined with aesthetics that embody the natural beauty of stunning Sri Lanka.
The lobby’s jaw-dropping sculptural water lily installation has cascading crystal petals while you’ll also see some incredible art works from local artists on the walls. A soothing colour palette flows between areas with soft blue, cool grey and off white, while textured fabrics are inspired by local Sri-Lankan crafts for an ultra elegant feel. Special attention has been paid to the outdoor and indoor areas with seamless transitions between each.
Hotel Rooms at Shangri-La Colombo
Our Ocean View King room is high end and high up. The huge bathroom has an enormous bath and shower, while there’s a good sized vanity area with mirror, magnifying mirror and plenty of towels. The emerald green toiletries from Spa Ceylon have the most beautiful long lasting fragrance.
Rooms on the higher floors come with incredible views out across Port City and the Port City bridge. The view to the left side gives sweeping views across the Indian Ocean and Galle Face Green.
There’s a safety deposit box, storage space for suitcases, ample room in the wardrobes for all your clothes and the super king bed is extremely comfortable. Waking up to those views of the sea is a real bonus.
Food and Drink
There are several bars and restaurants to cater for all moods and food preferences. For half board guests, Central Bar & Restaurant is a large well designed area offering a premium buffet experience. For breakfast, there’s a massive choice of breads, pastries and fresh waffles cooked on the hot plates, every sauce and spread you can think of, a wide selection of curries, hoppers, Chinese cuisine, cereals… It’s an excellent selection. At lunch and dinner (5500 LKR / £13.60 if you’re paying), there’s much the same but large cuts of meat, a range of fresh and delicious salads, fresh pizzas straight from the oven and a wider range of desserts and ice creams. The bar serves both alcoholic and soft drinks at an additional price, but there are plenty of juices to choose from like mango, apple and orange and tea and coffee are served with breakfast.
Shang Palace has beautiful ornate interiors and overlooks the impressive Sri Lankan Parliament Building. Here, you can enjoy full waiter service with a Chinese / Cantonese menu which includes many of the chef’s specials, soups, seafood, curries and noodles. We went for the crispy beef with an addictive biltong type texture to the meat cooked in some seriously delicious spices, and the barramundi served in a huge pot of lemongrass broth. With very generous portinos, there was so much fish we couldn’t actually finish it!
Capital Bar & Grill is the place to go for innovative and theatrical cocktails and live music, before enjoying dinner in the main restaurant which has been designed like a first class train carriage in royal blue. Steaks from the Butcher’s Block include ribeye, striploin and tenderloin; or mains of sizzling chicken tenders, braised lamb shank and bourbon glazed BBQ pork back rib.
Here, we enjoyed freshly chucked Sri Lankan oysters on ice served with a red wine shallot, vinegar, lemon and Tabasco sauce. Chunky but silky, they have a slightly sweeter and milder flavour than UK oysters – absolutely delicious. Our 340g Young Midfield Angus Australian Striploin was cooked medium and had a decent amount of smoke, a slightly crispy exterior and all the good meaty juiciness you’d expect from a decent slab of meat.
Afterwards, we checked out the Tiki Bar which has a great range of cocktails and then headed back to Capital Bar for some live music.
It’s worth mentioning that the Executive Lounge (open to customers in higher grade rooms) is well worth paying the extra for. Here, you can opt to have breakfast instead of in the main dining room, while snacks are served at lunch and again after 3pm for afternoon tea. Between 5pm – 7.30pm, there are more snacks and a drinks trolley to help yourself to wines, beers and spirits or you can request a cocktail from the very attentive staff.
Anything Else?
Shangri-La Colombo has a full equipped gym, spa and spacious pool area. Pool service is attentive, loungers are padded and comfy, while cucumber water is brought to you after towels are laid out for you by the pool staff. There’s also a pool bar for snacks and drinks.
Concierge are able to arrange tours should you want to explore the city of Colombo with a driver. We spent an afternoon visiting several of the main tourist attractions including Pettah Market, The Lotus Tower, Red Mosque and Gangaramaya Temple.
Shangri-La Colombo ticks every one of its boxes when it comes to that five star classification. Manicured gardens, incredible views, luxurious food offerings, impeccable service and the wide choice of food ensure your every need is most definitely catered for while staying in the Sri Lankan commercial capital.