Both sit south of the river and both charge extra for the water. Shangri-La The Shard if the view is the reason for the trip and you will pay up to an Iconic City View Room, Sea Containers London if you would rather be at street level with Lyaness, a cinema and Gordon Ramsay at Sea Containers downstairs.
Levels 34 to 52 of Western Europe's tallest building, and the one London address where the view is the whole of the argument.
€€€€From about £615 a night
Choose Shangri-La The Shard, London if
First London trip
Special occasions
Short city breaks
Couples
The catch
Superior Shard and Premier Shard rooms face south, away from the river. The Thames, the City and Tower Bridge start at the City View categories, so the picture that sold you the hotel is a paid upgrade.
A 1970s office block on the Thames Path turned into a ship-themed hotel with a Gordon Ramsay dining room, Lyaness and its own cinema.
€€From about £279 a night
Choose Sea Containers London if
Couples
Theatre weekends
Cocktail people
Design lovers
The catch
Standard, Superior, Superior Double Double, Superior Patio, Studio and the One Bedroom Suite are all filed as city view. Only the Riverview categories and the Thames Apartment see the water.
Both sit south of the river and both charge extra for the water. Shangri-La The Shard if the view is the reason for the trip and you will pay up to an Iconic City View Room, Sea Containers London if you would rather be at street level with Lyaness, a cinema and Gordon Ramsay at Sea Containers downstairs.
Good questions about Shangri-La The Shard, London vs Sea Containers London
Shangri-La The Shard, London or Sea Containers London?
Both sit south of the river and both charge extra for the water. Shangri-La The Shard if the view is the reason for the trip and you will pay up to an Iconic City View Room, Sea Containers London if you would rather be at street level with Lyaness, a cinema and Gordon Ramsay at Sea Containers downstairs.
Is Shangri-La The Shard, London worth it?
Nowhere else in the city puts you this high, and the hotel prices that knowledge into the view categories rather than the entry rate. Come for the glass and for level 52, and take the rest as very good rather than singular. A large, contemporary, expensive city hotel whose whole case is the glass and the height. It is as central as London gets, sitting on top of a mainline station, and it is thin on wellness for the money.
Does Shangri-La The Shard, London have a pool or a beach?
It has an indoor pool. There is no beach; the nearest is a drive away.
Is Sea Containers London worth it?
This works as the one London address in the edit if you accept that there is no pool and pay up for the river side. Book the Riverview Deluxe and the building does the rest. A large, design-led city hotel that also owns a Gordon Ramsay dining room, a 3 PIN cocktail bar and a working cinema, on the South Bank stretch of the Thames Path. The trade is that there is no pool and the cheapest rooms look the wrong way.
Does Sea Containers London have a pool or a beach?
There is no pool. There is no beach; the nearest is a drive away.
The view