Shangri-La’s new Instant Dining Awards – get more value at The Shard

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• James says:

  22 Aug22 August 14:16

  I am currently staying at the Shangri-La Abu Dhabi, I took my GC card to the restaurant last night and redeemed 2700 Golden Circle points on a meal for two with wine, I had to charge the service charge and the local taxes to my room. No one seemed to know about this new process, the staff did not have a clue and we had to get a manager involved before we were understood. It is my intention do do exactly the same tonight (I have around 6k GC points) for me this offers better value than room awards. My wife has 1200 GC points from the promo but she does not have a card, for these we will convert 1000 into the $100 voucher.

• Oliver Bennett says:

  23 Aug23 August 09:15

  I had dinner at the shard on Wednesday 20th august and got 56 quid to 100 dollars

  Just an exchange rate update

• kirill says:

  23 Aug23 August 09:29

  Went for a meal with the mrs yesterday. had 4 $50 vouchers and had it exchanged for 4 £28 vouchers.

  Was really lucky to be able to to book for Friday a couple of weeks in advance. The restaurant itself was not too busy, despite showing fully booked online, they have turned people away whilst we were there. You exchange the vouchers as you come out of the lift on the 35 floor, just make a right and they will do it for you at the desk. No questions asked and didn’t need any ID.

  We had the set 4 course menu for £49. Good value and mrs was able to swap her starter (salmon) for the risotto after asking the waiter (had to ask to take it off the bill as they forgot to remove it).

  Overall, the experience was good, but we thought it was a bit overpriced for what we got. The food was good but not mind blowing.

  The bar was a no go, as their policy is for everyone to sit at little tables around the room, apparently this is because of their health and safety policy. Was no problem to go up the lift to have a quick look though.
  Also had a chance to take some tea downstairs in the lounge after the meal. The bill came to £140 but only paid around £30, thanks to Raffles.

• Rich says:

  23 Aug23 August 10:20

  The instant rewards scheme isn’t available in the Shard apparently. Only the voucher exchange.

  I happened to be booking up Ting yesterday and asked the question. The woman on the phone said the instant dining awards weren’t available in TING, so I thought I’d email Shangri-La to check. This is an extract from their response this morning:

  Further to your inquiries, kindly note that there are nine (9) Shangri-La’s properties are not yet available for the Instant Dining Awards and we are pleased to list the hotels as below, for your reference:
  Shangri-La Hotel, Vancouver
  Shangri-La Hotel, Toronto
  Shangri-La Hotel, The Marina, Cairns
  Traders Hotel, Brisbane
  Shangri-La Hotel, Dubai
  Shangri-La Hotel, at the Shard, London
  Shangri-La Hotel, Paris
  Shangri-La Bosphorus, Istanbul
  Sule Shangri-La, Yangon

  • Rob says:

    23 Aug23 August 14:59

    Thanks Rich, very helpful

  • whitenoise says:

    24 Aug24 August 11:06

    Thanks for clearing that up Rich. I’ve booked for late October, so if they haven’t made this available by then, paper vouchers it is!

• CliveJ says:

  25 Aug25 August 15:53

  I’ve still got my original 1,200 points from the promo, and it looks like I have the chance of getting a few more. I got an e-mail from the Sule Shangri-La in Yangon, Myanmar a couple of days ago confirming my booking for tonight and enquiring whether or not I would like to book airport transfers or dining options. I’m going nowhere near the place but I hope whoever turns up enjoys themselves, and if their points turn up in my account I shan’t be complaining.

• sam wardill says:

  27 Aug27 August 17:56

  FYI from Shangri La “We are pleased to inform that you may present your temporary membership card and proof of photo identity document for verification purpose to complete the redemption. We will be able to proceed with the instant dining awards redemption when the name on the identity document matches the name on your Golden Circle Membership profile/card. ” However this is now academic for me as we’ve established the instant dining award doesn’t work in London.

• Trevor says:

  1 Sep1 September 17:21

  Some feedback from my experience last night (which turned out to be a gorgeous evening weather-wise).

  No problem getting in/up/exchanged. In fact anyone with a desire to do a quick trip and view could easily say they had a booking and go to the 35th floor just for a walk around.
  Despite the supposed Aug offer of no min per head on a Sundays at Gong, we were told it would apply, despite arguing with the manager. As it turns out, it didn’t when we transferred our bill to Ting (and we got escorted downstairs with our glasses/wine on a tray.
  While they try to charge people more per head (£45) for booking to sit by the pool, guess people aren’t interested, as pool area was closed last night. But not only is there a pool, there is also a gym, and both are on the west/south sides of the building, so no sunset views if that was your idea – the bar faces north and east.
  The cocktail list was rather unappealing, so we had spirits, beer and wine – eventually. The service was shockingly slow/bad despite many bar staff who were all rather clueless when it came to queries. Pretty disappointing except for the view.
  The Ting Lounge menu is rather limited and not too over-priced – it’s more the drinks that are double price. The steak was fine, but I wouldn’t rush back. The smoked salmon was lovely, but at 4 bites, I’d never pay £15 for it again! The service in Ting was far better and friendly, and you could walk around a bit without feeling watched, unlike Gong where you were barely allowed to move without an escort!
  Our total bill for 4 came to £285 inc, so with forex rate of £56:$100, paid £30 extra per couple. Pricey – yes. Amazing – no. View – lovely. Experience – enjoyable but a bit over-rated, wouldn’t pay to go again and certainly would not spend the same £30 just to go to the viewing deck a few floors up.
  Points-wise: the waiter took my account and bill details (didn’t have GC card), so whether or not they are added (specially in the Aug double points promo) remains to be seen. If they are it’ll be a bonus, and used perhaps for another short/free trip when instant redemption is available (coming soon according to reception).
  I planned the trip specifically to coincide with sunset – pity we couldn’t see it from Gong, so would recommend being in Ting at the time, though you’d have to leave your table to actually view it – only reception faces west (odd design placement for both bar and restaurant). Since we wanted the best weather for the event, I booked a few Gong/Ting pairs – mostly Sundays as that was the best availability (which will now free up when I cancel all my other bookings in a few minutes) – and luckily the weather yesterday played ball.

  • Rob says:

    1 Sep1 September 17:35

    Thanks Trevor, appreciate it.

• John says:

  6 Sep6 September 06:59

  My account (with no activity since getting the points from the promotion) seems to have been closed… It does not let me log in.
  But my wife’s account works, maybe because she credited a stay.
  Anyone experiencing the same?

  • pazza2000 says:

    6 Sep6 September 18:57

    Same experience here, worryingly.

    • Alan says:

      7 Sep7 September 13:28

      Ditto – it won’t let me login either. Have Tweeted them – will see what they say!

      • idrive says:

        7 Sep7 September 13:29

        me too, award wallet got stuck

        • John says:

          10 Sep10 September 16:40

          I got it resolved by activating my account again.
          To activate your account, click “Sign In” at the top left pane > click “Activate Your Golden Circle Online Account” > enter your membership number, last name and your e-mail address, click “Continue.” Then, follow the instructions online to complete the rest of the registration process. You can choose the same password as you had before.

        • Trevor says:

          10 Sep10 September 21:12

          Great tip, John, thanks! This happened to me and my OH’s accounts. One would think that Shangri La would fix what must be a known issue, and having logged into both accounts recently for the Shard redemption, it can’t be disabled due to a lack of activity. At least they are both working again now, though to be honest, now that we’re “finished” with them, I only wanted to login to my own account to see if points did post from our Shard bill – they didn’t.

        • Alan says:

          11 Sep11 September 15:10

          Perfect, many thanks for that tip John – did the trick!

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