Rasa Sayang Resort and Spa of Shangri-La in Penang Voted One of the Top 5 Hotels in Asia

Shangri-La's Rasa Sayang Resort and Spa, Penang was among a handful of hotels worldwide that received high ratings from readers of Conde Nast Traveller magazine. The tenth annual Readers’ Travel Awards 2007 places the resort among the top five in its Overseas Leisure Hotels - Asia and the Indian Subcontinent category.

The results of the awards were published in the magazine's October 2007 issue. Shangri-La's Rasa Sayang Resort and Spa, Penang received a rating of 95.53% which places it fourth when compared with leading hotels in Asia and the Indian Subcontinent. The resort is the highest ranked Malaysian hotel on the list.

Shangri-La's Rasa Sayang Resort and Spa, Penang placed 22nd among Conde Nast’s Top 100 best hotels in the world.

The Readers' Travel awards are based on a survey completed by the readers of the publication who are frequent travellers. The five characteristics of: ambience/decor, leisure facilities, service/staff, environmental/friendliness and location were evaluated. The publication calculated the average rating of each characteristic and tabulated each property's overall score.

Arbind K Shrestha, general manager of Shangri-La's Rasa Sayang Resort and Spa, Penang was elated with the recognition given by the awards. "To be ranked among the world's best is an immense honour, more so when we consider that the Rasa Sayang is only in its first year of operation since its reopening following an 21-month closure to undergo a USD29 million redevelopment programme,” he said.

“The management had wanted to reposition Shangri-La’s Rasa Sayang Resort and Spa, Penang as the region’s premier deluxe resort and this accolade is indeed timely in reminding us that we are on the right track” added Mr Shrestha.

Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts Wins Number of awards from Business Traveller Asia - Pacific

Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore was voted Best Business Hotel in the World, Best Business Hotel in Asia-Pacific and Best Business Hotel in Singapore. Island Shangri-La, Hong Kong and China World Hotel, Beijing each won the Best Hotel awards in their cities. Also, Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur; Makati Shangri-La, Manila; and Shangri-La’s Far Eastern Plaza, Taipei were named Best Business Hotel in their cities. This is the highest number of awards won by Shangri-La in the history of the Business Traveller Asia-Pacific Readers Poll.

The poll was conducted among the magazine’s readership of frequent travellers based mainly in the Asia-Pacific region. Results were compiled by Taylor Nelson Sofres Hong Kong and will be published in the October 2007 issue of Business Traveller Asia-Pacific.