Shangri-La Hotels in Ulaanbaatar

I have traveled to many places far and wide, and NEVER expected to have one of the finest hotels I have every stayed in be in Mongolia! As part of my Mongolian Luxury Tours, I had THREE opportuinities to stay at the Blue Sky (arrival, return from Gobi desert, return from Western Mongolia) and each time was superb. The hotel is beautiful, and the rooms, service, and friendliness made each stay very wonderful and welcoming. You can not go wrong with this hotel. It is GREAT!!!

No doubt that the Ramada UB City Center is one of the best hotels in the city. What I loved the most about this hotel is that it is connected to a large mall with many stores and food outlets - so convenient for shopping and eating. Hansang Restaurant and Cafe Restime are also a part of the hotel building, and both were great! The rooms are super comfortable (the one I had featured an amazing panoramic view of UB city - breathtaking), and the shower is huge!! Finally, the staff were super helpful in assisting me with organising airport transfers and car rental for the day, where I got to see the beautiful Terelj National Park. Overall, I had a memorable stay here- would definitely recommend!

The stay was average. Front desk staff speaks good English. I visited in late January. The room was way too warm for my liking so my sleep wasn't too good. The air conditioning doesn't work in winter and lowering down the temperature takes forever. The only way to cool down is to open the window, but with the air quality being very bad - not advisable. I ordered room service from the Irish place upstairs, but the guy there does not speak good English so instead of pumpkin soup I got some meat cream soup. The thing I did not like and which kinda spoiled my morning plans as I had an arranged meeting, was the fact that the breakfast which was supposed to start at 7am, was 30 minutes late. If you tell people it's from 7am, then please stick to it. No other complaints. Oh, maybe just the omnipresent smell of coal in the entire city, thus also in rooms, but I guess it's just me, a visitor not being used to it.

I stayed there over 7 nights. On the first day I arrived at 12 noon and the check-in time was 2.00 pm. After a 13 hour flight and car ride from the airport to the hotel I just wanted to get into the room and have a hot shower. Usually in all other cities and hotels in Asia, they would have allowed me to check in earlier if they had a room. In this case, they had a room but wanted to charge me the rate of 30% for that two hour stay. I paid for it as I was in no mood to argue over it and as my Mongolian business partners were with me and I did not want to cause a scene. The hotel toilet had a smell from the drainage pipe and they could not clear the smell even after I had complained. The service staff was generally pleasant although some of the restaurant staff need some further training. At the Chinese restaurant when I asked one of the waiter to change to a private room after being seated at the normal dining hall which was noisy, the waiter replied that he was busy. And asked me to go to the reception. Perhaps they are still a bit rough at the edges. Also, the 24 hour room service does not exist as is promoted in their brochure in the room. I had to go to the front desk and then I was directed to go to the coffee house to make my order. I asked why nobody picked up the 24 hour room service line and the front desk asked me what number I dialed. I replied 3222 as was in the brochure in the room and he told me it was 3150. I told him its 3222 as per the room brochure but he insisted it was 3150. I went back to my room to double check after placing the order at the coffee house and it was 3222 in the brochure. So either they have a wrong print or they have not updated with a new number. I was seated in the cafe many times and I noticed a gentleman who would go up to sign for a coffee at the cafe. I assumed he must be a senior staff of the hotel. If he was indeed a senior staff I thought he would be friendly enough to smile to the guests at the cafe and assume some if not all the guests are also guests of the hotel.

Stayed here 3 different times while on a tour of Mongolia. Staff at front desk are friendly and helpful. Room was comfortable but air conditioning was very cold and could not adjust so finally had to just turn it off. Hotel is in great location a block from the big square and close to a large mall and cashmere store on the corner and another across the street. (Note: entrance to the mall is on second floor from the cashmere store on the corner outside of hotel and to the right). I had one major issue- I turned on my “do not disturb” light when we left for the day and when I returned that evening the light was off and my room had been made up. I advised the tour guide who said something to the front desk person and she responded that the room had only been entered to leave new bottles of water - so I guess if you have the do not disturb sign on they still enter to leave water? It was upsetting because they never addressed the issue of making up the room. The other two times we were only there for a night and things were OK. Room had amenities such as soap, shampoo, conditioner and lotion as well as coffee and tea, but bring your own washcloth if you are used to using one. Also room has a safe. Breakfast buffet was good but not wonderful but it was the best we had out of all of the other places we stayed while in Mongolia. Hotel can also provide airport pick up and return for a fee if you contact them and advise arrival time and number of people and suitcases. Hotel is located about a one hour drive in normal traffic from airport and 20-30 min longer in heavy traffic.

This hotel does not meet the standards of other Kempinskis. My family and I travel a lot, like A LOT, and we've been to many Kempinski hotels. The problems started with our booking, which we made directly through the hotels' website (not a 3rd party). The booking states a 12:00 check in, but the hotel told us this was a mistake and their check in time is 2:00 pm. They allowed us to check in at noon without a fee, but it took series of emails in advance. We also booked the breakfast meal package through the website. On our first morning in the breakfast lounge, we were told we didn't get breakfast because we didn't have the meal package. Once again, I had to pull out my reservation receipt and prove (in front of other guests) that we had paid for the breakfast. They of course accepted the receipt and realized they made an error, but it was another hassle we shouldn't have had to deal with. The day before our departure, we requested the hotel have a cab ready for us to catch our early flight (we needed to leave the hotel around 3:30 am). The young man behind the desk indicated he would do so and that we could expect a 100,000 tugrik (about 29.00 USD) flat rate for the taxi ride (this is also what we paid to get to the hotel). After spending the day on the town, buying souvenirs, and spending our local currency (but saving taxi money), we returned to the hotel. I double checked with a different guy at the desk that we would have a taxi waiting for us. Afterall, as the evening Front Desk Receptionist, it would be his job to call the taxi company. It was good I double checked, because the other guy hadn't taken action and hadn't passed along the request. Moreover, when the taxi arrived in the wee hours of the morning, we were told by the Front Desk Receptionist that it was actually a 200,000 tugrik charge (double!). We were also told the first ”receptionist” we had spoken to earlier in the day was actually a Bell Hop and we were informed that he wasn't even supposed to be working behind the counter. As a result, we had no choice but to withdraw additional local currency (taxi couldn't take a card) from the hotel Front Desk (for a nice fee) in order to pay the taxi. What's particularly irksome is that we had plenty of cash which we would have saved if we had simply been told the correct amount. There were other issues, but this review is already lengthy... Overall, we had a less than stellar experience at this Kempinski. If you're going to Ulaanbaatar, I'd recommend you stay elsewhere. If we ever go back we'll probably stay at the Shangri-la. It's closer to the airport as well as the heart of the city.

We had a fantastic couple of weeks in Ulaanbaatar and chose the Ibis Styles Polaris on the recommendation of our daughter-in-law, a local. It is located on the airport side of the city so you can avoid the last hour of traffic congestion should you choose to be based in the central business district. We asked for a room with a view of the countryside but were upgraded to a suite which was on the north western corner and had both views across the valley that took in the city and views of the green hills. Our daughter also stayed at the Ibis and was also upgraded to a suite on the southern side with great views of the surrounding green hills. If you miss out on the views and opt for the breakfast inclusion, there are both excellent views and a great buffet breakfast selection. All of our encounters with Ibis personnel were hassle free. From the reception to dining and cleaning personnel, they were always helpful and genuinely pleasant to talk to. Language differences were not an issue. We were visiting for our son's wedding and we had the bride and groom book in to celebrate with us. And to top off a perfect stay, the staff arranged a surprise birthday cake for my wife, whose birthday was during the stay. Top marks all round Ibis.

There are many cars in the parking lot, not good for parking, good location, next to Genghis Khan Square, and the central building, eating, shopping are very convenient, the price is very high!

Bearing in mind that English is not one of their native languages (which was way better than my Mongolian to be sure) the staff was as helpful and patient as they could be with me. I stayed at the hotel for a week for business (in January, with -25'C weather - not my first choice!), and as it was close to my work place, it was ideal for me. Things I really liked were: the heated bathroom floors, the bath / shower options, the big towels, the comfort level of temperature in the rooms (I never felt cold in the hotel, which I was amazed about), the gym and the breakfast each day, and the staff bringing water whenever needed (the tap water is not considered potable). I took advantage of the airport pick-up and drop-off, as well as the drop-off to the work place, which was most convenient. I recommend this hotel to others considering staying here, if the location works for you.