New Shangri-La Hotel Opens in the Clouds Over London
Photo Credit: The mezzanine-style upper lobby and special event floor below occupy levels 34/35 with one contiguous wall of glass connecting them. Shangri-La Hotels
Skift Take
The Shangri-La Hotel and The Shard officially sign off on the dramatic resurrection of London's South Bank beginning with the Tate Modern opening at the turn of the millennium.
After speeding 20 feet per second inside an ultra high-speed, double-decker Kone EcoDisc elevator up to the 35th floor, you walk into the upper lobby of the Shangri-La Hotel at The Shard, London heady with anticipation.
Topping out at 1,004 feet, The Shard is the European Union’s tallest building and quite possibly star architect Renzo Piano's coup de grâce. The Shangri-La Hotel, occupying floors 34 to 52, opened last month with London's shaggy-haired Mayor Boris Johnson officiating over the ribbon cutting.
The view overlooking the Thames and the panoramic splendor of England’s capital from Battersea Park to Canary Wharf is staggering, as you would expect. In comparison, the double height windows in the upper lobby are perched at a higher elevation than Big Ben (316 feet) and the London Eye (443 feet).
Because The Shard is located in London’s South Bank across the Thames from most of London's major attractions, that's the reason why the Shangri-La offers such insta
