When it opened, the Shangri-La Makati was “one of the first international five-star properties at a time where few large chains were present in the Philippines capital”. It was developed by the Ayala family with an aim to keep the area as Manila’s luxury address. Originally it opened with 703 rooms over its 28 floors, at a cost of $118 million. It was the first new hotel in Makati in 17 years and featured the largest meeting spaces in the city. The hotel has undergone several renovations over the years, including 3 restaurant overhauls and the refurbishing of more than 200 rooms in 2001 with finer optic cabling and broadband internet. The cost per room of the renovation was around $30,000. The entire renovation, which continued until the end of 2002, cost $130 million. The Rizal ballroom was renovated in 2009. A second ballroom named “Isabela” opened in November 2013 with an aim to provide a modern event space with interchangeable furniture and audiovisual technology. In 2010 the hotel embarked on a program called “Green Housekeeping” in order to reduce the use of chemicals and improve cleanliness, with initiatives like low-temperature washing and lower electricity use. The same year it was the first hotel in the Philippines to equip its concierge team with iPads. The hotel achieves an average 80 percent occupancy, most of which are corporate clients such as the American Embassy. The current manager is Alain Borgers, from Belgium, former manager of the first Shangri-La in Europe, the Shangri-La Hotel, Paris. He was also the GM of Makati Shangri-La in 1999.
Design and construction
The hotel was designed by Kanko Kikaku Sekkeisha, Yozo Shibata & Association & G. Formoso & Partners, both companies of which have designed multiple Shangri-La properties. During the 2002 renovations, General Manager Richard Riley directed and designed the amenities. The design team included specialists from the US, Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo, including Bilky Llinas, Leese Robertson Freeman Ltd., Warner Wong, Wilson Associates, BUZdesign, Adam Tihany, and Alan Chang.
Makati Shangri-La has six restaurants and bars. It also has an in-house deli bakery “Sinfully Circles by Makati Shangri-La". Past the grand staircase at the lobby is Lobby Lounge. The venue was noted in 2013 for leading a popular phenomenon in Manila for people to drink British afternoon tea in the summertime. Makati Shangri-La was judged the overall winner in the professional division of Chefs on Parade in 2011, the longest cooking competition in the Philippines, and awarded the COP Presidential Trophy. The hotel's other outlets includes the Japanese restaurant Inagiku, Circles Event Cafe, an all-day dining restaurant, Shang Palace, Shangri-La's brand of Cantonese cuisine restaurant, Sage Bespoke Grill, the hotel's Pool Bar located at the fourth level, and Sage Bar formerly Conway's, the hotel bar.
Events
The hotel has multiple ballrooms and event spaces, and continues to add more, including the Isabela, named after Spain’s Queen Isabela, in November 2013. The Isabela includes works of art by Filipino painter RH Lascano, and is designed by Hong Kong-based LRF Design. The Makati Shangri-La is also the home to the ABS-CBN Ball, an annual red carpet event featuring ABS-CBN artists. in which the ball itself is held in the Rizal Ballroom. However, the 2019 event will be held instead at the Shangri-La at the Fort, Manila.
