Shangri-La The Shard, London takes levels 34 to 52 of Renzo Piano's tower at London Bridge, the tallest building in Western Europe. The Shard was developed by Sellar Property Group, finished in 2012, and is owned 95 per cent by the State of Qatar with Sellar holding the rest. Shangri-La, the Hong Kong group, opened its first UK hotel here in May 2014, its third in Europe after Paris and Istanbul. Restaurants and then offices fill the floors below, apartments and the public viewing gallery those above. You come in at a small door on St Thomas Street, put your bags through a scanner, and ride one express lift to the level 35 sky lobby.
There are 202 rooms and suites, seventeen of them suites with butler service, and every one is glazed floor to ceiling. The categories differ by which way the glass faces rather than by finish. Superior Shard and Premier Shard rooms look south over south London, a long view but not a river one. Deluxe City View and Premier City View turn north across the river. Iconic City View rooms are the corner sets, 43 to 60 square metres with roughly 180 degrees of glass. Marble bathrooms have heated floors, and many baths look out. Public space is tight for a hotel this size, and the level 35 lobby is shared with TĪNG, so check-out can back up into the walkway.
The real argument is level 52. The Infinity Sky Pool is the highest hotel pool in Western Europe, indoors behind glass, about ten metres long and slot-booked, open to adults from six in the morning to six at night with children's hours carved out mid-morning and mid-afternoon. Beside it sit the Sky Sauna and a 24-hour Technogym gym, and GŎNG, the highest hotel bar in Western Europe, whose Nature & Earth cocktail list runs alongside Japanese-inspired plates. TĪNG on level 35 cooks contemporary South East Asian, plus afternoon tea and breakfast. Sky Lounge on level 34 handles Sunday brunch. There is no spa floor, only ELEMIS treatments by appointment.
The compromises come from the building. Because the Shard's glass panels overhang the floor plates and the corner rooms meet at right angles, some rooms look into their neighbours after dark, which the hotel answered at opening with blinds. The entry categories face away from the city, so the photograph that sold you the hotel is a paid upgrade. The ground floor means a bag scan and an entrance shared with the tower's other visitors, and departures bottleneck there. Rates are high for a pool that is small and shuts at six. Take it if the view is the reason you are coming to London and you want to wake up inside it.
