Shangri-La The Shard London

You don’t have to be a skyscraper aficionado or an architecture junkie to have heard of the Shard; Renzo Piano’s enormous glass edifice is probably the most significant addition to London’s skyline since the Tower of London was erected in 1078, and it’s by a considerable distance the tallest building in town. But the Shard is more than an ostentatious office tower. At the top are some truly rarefied luxury residences, with views that range all the way to the North Sea. And just below that, from the 35th to the 52nd floor, is the Shangri-La Hotel at the Shard.

The theme, naturally, is high luxury, literally as well as figuratively. The Shangri-La group has plenty of expertise with high-rise luxury hotels, an idiom that’s much more common in the Asian capitals where Shangri-La does most of its business. The humblest room in the house lacks for absolutely nothing in terms of comfort, spans some 30 square meters, and comes with a marble-clad bathroom with heated floors and views out of town over Kent, Surrey and Sussex. And naturally things only get more and more opulent from there, as the city view rooms and suites expand in size, climb ever upward in height, and take in dizzying views of the Thames, the City, and London’s nearby landmarks.

They haven’t skimped on the common spaces, either. Two Asian-inspired restaurants and a 52nd-floor bar rise to the occasion, and the spa, also on floor 52, features the highest swimming pool in Europe. Given the enormity of the Shard’s architectural statement, it simply wouldn’t do to have a hotel that’s anything less than top-of-the-line — and while you could have a more quintessentially London experience in one of the city’s many traditional hotels, you owe it to yourself to see the city from a new angle every once in a while.