Vancouver – The Shangri-La Hotel

We spent a few days in Vancouver last week – a city which I hadn’t visited in years, and a new one entirely for Mr. Feather! We enjoyed our time here immensely and I’m looking forward to sharing some of our favorite sights. Today, I’ll be covering our hotel for our short stay in Vancouver – the fantastic Shangri-La.

I had heard that Vancouver was a good city for “pickier hotel guests,” with a lot of very nice options. We only stayed at one – the Shangri-La – but after our visit I can say that if Vancouver has other options in the same league, it is a great hotel city indeed! We were very happy with our stay.

The beautiful lobby, and some of the Asian themed decor.

Heading up to our room…we stayed in #907.

Our room was an Executive Balcony King room (not a suite), which yes, did have a balcony – two, in fact! It was very spacious and I would compare it to a junior suite at other hotels.

There was a beautiful fruit plate and tea set when we entered our room – a charming touch that we remembered from our last stay at a Shangri-La hotel, in Hong Kong. This fruit plate lasted us the entire stay.

My favorite part of the room was the bathroom! It was bright and modern, and in great shape for a five year old hotel.

Toiletries were L’Occitane.

Each morning, we had breakfast at the restaurant’s hotel, Market by Jean-Georges.

Can you spy yours truly grouching checking work emails? I always put down the phone by breakfast time though – everything we ate was delicious! My two favorites from Market: the dungeness crab eggs benedict (make sure to ask as they don’t always have the fresh crab available), and the brioche french toast. The perfect meal to start a day.

One of my favorite indulgences is spending time at the spa, and whenever we have time while traveling, I always like to check out the facilities at our hotel. I love having a massage or treatment while traveling – it’s so relaxing, and plus what could be more convenient than simply going from your room to the spa in your robe in slippers?

Spa days especially at hotels don’t usually come cheap – something I don’t mind as long as the facilities are good. I’m happy to report that the Shangri-La’s facilities at its spa, Chi, were fantastic. I’d happily return any day, and hopefully for longer!

The central waiting room, decor, and mani/pedi areas. Chi had multiple types of skincare and toiletries choices, including Kai and a local, chemical free brand.

A single treatment room (love the fireplace!).

Since Mr. Feather was with me, we opted for a “West Coast Wave” couples massage, which was a mixed massage style using local oils and lotions. My massage was awesome! The therapist was one of the best I’ve had for awhile, and took time to explain to me multiple stretches.

The really impressive part of our massage though – was the couple’s treatment room itself. I was almost speechless when we saw the size. It reminded me a bit of our apartment…maybe because they were probably close to the same size.

The living room – behind the doors was the changing area, vanity sinks and closets.

A yoga mat and a huge couple’s soaking tub. We were told this tub takes 90 minutes to fill up.

And the actual massage/treatment room itself, with huge showers to the side. Ahh, bliss.

Overall, we really enjoyed our stay at the Shangri-La. I can’t imagine even the pickiest hotel traveler not being happy with the property. My review summary:

Positives: Honestly, we were more or less completely happy!  Our room, the service, food and spa were all on point. Even for a picky luxury leisure/business traveler, I can’t imagine the Shangri-La disappointing..especially if the right room choice is made. And for a five year old property, the hotel was in great shape. I know that five years doesn’t sound like long…but hotels can start to look dingy way before that. It’s clear that a lot of love (and money) went into the Shangri-La. And if you do find yourself there, I’d highly recommend a meal at Market, and a visit to Chi!

Improvements: I’m just nitpicking here, but I’ve grown a bit tired of the same L’Occitane toiletries. Multiple hotel chains all around the world all seem to use them – I wonder why? I would much prefer a great local brand to check out. Also if you’re a techno-phobe, you might find some aspects of your room confusing – there were a lot of “smart” light switches, and the curtains were all operated electronically. It was all fine and intuitive for me, however.

Thank you very much for reading – next time, I’ll be covering some of our favorite spots and places to eat in Vancouver!