{"id":12367,"date":"2013-09-10T09:21:00","date_gmt":"2013-09-10T09:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/a-snapshot-of-the-men-and-women-behind-the-luxury-that-is-shangri-la\/"},"modified":"2013-09-10T09:21:00","modified_gmt":"2013-09-10T09:21:00","slug":"a-snapshot-of-the-men-and-women-behind-the-luxury-that-is-shangri-la","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/2013\/09\/a-snapshot-of-the-men-and-women-behind-the-luxury-that-is-shangri-la\/","title":{"rendered":"A Snapshot Of The Men And Women Behind The Luxury That Is Shangri-La"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Through the years, Shangri-La has welcomed guests into the sanctuary of its hotels and resorts with warmth and graciousness.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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The unique sense of arrival is created by attentive and caring colleagues who keep hospitality at the forefront and genuine from the heart.\u00a0 The same level of dedication persists in all hotel areas so that whether it is a floral display, tea service or dining experience, a Shangri-La moment awaits every guest. \u00a0More than 40,000 colleagues worldwide bring Shangri-La\u2019s signature hallmarks to life.<\/span><\/div>\n

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At the group\u2019s flagship,\u00a0Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore<\/a>, guests are drawn to the hotel\u2019s “green thumb”\u00a0–\u00a0Mohd Kassim bin Abdulla, or \u201cKassim\u201d as he is known.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n

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\u00a0He has tended the hotel\u2019s 15-acre garden for four decades. \u00a0Alongside 200 Japanese\u00a0koi<\/i>\u00a0and tumbling waterfalls, Kassim and nine gardeners water and prune over 110 varieties of 133,000 plants, tropical flowers and fruit trees, ensuring the garden retains its widely known moniker as Singapore\u2019s second botanic garden. \u00a0Even the hotel\u2019s new Garden Wing herb garden – with 82 different plants that possess healing properties – is nurtured by the team of green fingers.<\/span><\/div>\n

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Having witnessed hotel milestones \u2013 the refurbishment of the Tower Wing, Garden Wing and The Valley Wing \u2013 Kassim delights in sharing memories of the transformations while highlighting notable herbs and plants on his garden tour every Friday and Saturday morning.\u00a0 In addition to his days among the flora and fauna, Kassim creates vivid landscaping designs for the hotel\u2019s public areas, returning the plants to the lush gardens after use.<\/span><\/div>\n

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Across continents at one of Shangri-La\u2019s Canadian hotels is Sheena Brady.\u00a0 As the tea sommelier for\u00a0Shangri-La Hotel, Toronto<\/a>, she understands that serving tea to welcome guests is a gesture and sign of respect that dates back thousands of years. \u00a0To ensure each cup of tea is at its best, Sheena tastes the teas daily as the leaves, like all natural products, can vary by season and storage conditions.\u00a0 Her interpretation of the tea drinking culture extends to working with the hotel\u2019s bartenders and culinary team to concoct tea-infused beverages and cocktails and tea-infused pastries from the hotel\u2019s 68 premium teas.<\/span><\/div>\n

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When not crafting a brew to suit a guest\u2019s mood, Sheena prepares bespoke tea amenities and gifts, and coordinates tea ceremonies for events. \u00a0This autumn, she will offer tea enthusiasts a series of classes on tea basics, tea history, cooking with tea, food and tea pairings, and tea cocktails.<\/span><\/div>\n

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\"IMG\"Equally dedicated to elevating guests\u2019 experience is Sheena\u2019s counterpart, Kenneth Law, at\u00a0Kowloon Shangri-La, Hong Kong<\/a>.\u00a0 One of only a few qualified and nationally recognised tea masters in Hong Kong, Kenneth\u2019s knowledge of the history of tea and how it is grown, harvested and processed is an appreciation he imparts with his peers-in-training. \u00a0Keen to keep traditions intact, Kenneth stocks the hotel and its long-established Michelin two-star Shang Palace\u2019s tea collection with rare and aged teas, namely Private Reserve 1998 Fermented Ripe Pu\u2019Er, which is exclusively owned by Shangri-La; Private Reserve 2000 Unfermented Raw Pu\u2019Er and other fine classifications.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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When it comes to artistic expression,\u00a0Kerry Hotel, Pudong in Shanghai<\/a>\u00a0has a K-pop star of another genre. \u00a0Fran\u00e7ois Pietri, the hotel\u2019s executive pastry chef, has literately embraced the hotel\u2019s spirited philosophy. \u00a0Inspired by his fast-paced adopted home, he created Kerry Pops – a dessert to be eaten on the go. \u00a0The sweet mini globes are made in either chocolate, vanilla or fruity biscuit and wrapped with dark, white or flavoured chocolate.\u00a0 Decorated with multi-coloured sprinkles and swirls, the six varieties are a daily sell out at the hotel\u2019s The Cook.<\/span><\/div>\n

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Art in another form is exhibited at\u00a0Island Shangri-La, Hong Kong<\/a>. \u00a0Guests are greeted in the lobby by three octagonal-shaped chandeliers, each weighing three tonnes and spanning over two metres in diametre.\u00a0 The hotel pays further homage to crystal with 606 Austrian chandeliers in the guestrooms and 161 chandeliers dotted around the public areas.\u00a0 Hand-crafted by artisans to harmonise the hotel\u2019s classic design, the chandeliers are largely pendant and tear drop styles, which are characteristic of the light installations at other Shangri-La hotels in Asia.<\/span><\/div>\n

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Keeping the chandeliers spotless is the responsibility of Executive Housekeeper Christine Wong.\u00a0 Her task of cleaning the light features every three months turns into a meticulous melody when more than a million pieces of crystal are hand treated.<\/span><\/div>\n

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From crystals to corals:\u00a0Shangri-La\u2019s Mactan Resort & Spa<\/a>, Cebu in the Philippines was the group\u2019s first resort to establish a six-hectare marine sanctuary for over 160 species of fish, clams and coral as part of\u00a0Shangri-La\u2019s Reef Care Project<\/a>.<\/span><\/div>\n

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Managing the sanctuary and keeping its occupants \u201cunder her wing\u201d is Irene Tan, the resort\u2019s marine biologist. \u00a0With her caring nature, she observes the plant and animal life forms from above and below the water.\u00a0 Her commitment to the surrounding marine life has enabled developments to be initiated for the sanctuary; when not on dry land, Irene is at coastal and dive clean-ups.\u00a0 While directing tours of the sanctuary, she humbly shares details of the on-going coral recovery programmes and how ships were sunk to form artificial reefs and encourage coral and fish proliferation.<\/span><\/div>\n

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Hong Kong-based Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, one of the world\u2019s premier hotel companies, currently owns and\/or manages more than 80 hotels under the Shangri-La brand with a room inventory of over 34,000.\u00a0 Over four decades the group has established its brand hallmark of \u201chospitality from the heart\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n

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The group has a substantial development pipeline with upcoming projects in mainland China, India, Mongolia, Philippines, Qatar, Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom.\u00a0 For more information and reservations, please contact a travel professional or access the website at\u00a0www.shangri-la.com<\/a>.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Through the years, Shangri-La has welcomed guests into the sanctuary of its hotels and resorts with warmth and graciousness.\u00a0 The unique sense of arrival is created by attentive and caring colleagues who keep hospitality at the forefront and genuine from the heart.\u00a0 The same level of dedication persists in all hotel areas so that whether […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12367"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12367\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}