Shangri La — Attraction in Tbilisi

I go to Shangri La casino whenever I visit Tbilisi because they used to serve delicious food in their restaurant and because service was always customer orientated so it was a relaxed environment to enjoy an evening (I bet a tiny portion of my net worth so if I lose or gain 500 GEL it makes little difference to me).

Unfortunately, the casino is in what seems like a terminal decline.

The slot machines are old and the odds are the worse I saw in any casino in the world.

The claim that there is an "over 94% chance of winning on slots" (they mean the earnings ratio for the casino is less than 6%) is laughable because as other punters wrote they can play for more than $100 on multiple slot machines and never get ahead on any of them (I speculate the casino's gain on slots is not 6% but rather 60% or even 70% which means 9 in 10 people playing slots will not stand a chance of winning hence everyone seems to be grumpy).

The food quality is also a shadow of its former self.

In the past they had lovely hand held menus. Now they have digital menus but there are only a couple of them and they are never on any of the tables.

When the casino is not crowded you sometimes have to wait for 20 minutes to just get a menu (!).

The service by the male waiters is excellent but most of the female waitresses is so bad it beggars belief.

Often these waitresses stand literally a meter from the curtain and speak in the loudest voices.

They are not visible but are so close yet they pretend not to hear customers calling them.

The Adjaruli khachapuri I had tasted awful and the cabbage stew is probably microwaved multiple times as the portions are larger than what most people can consume.

These are samples to illustrate a wider problem in the kitchen (the only item that reminded me of the restaurant"s former glory is the tiramisu. Even the "Turkish tea" was a weak lipton tea poured into a glass used for Turkish tea!!

They have a chef's name and photo on the digital menu but I high doubt he ever visits the Shangri La kitchen judging by the quality of food...

Last and unfortunately least they have very poor air ventilation.

In the past when the casino was crowded they opened the entrance door from time to time but now it is like a gas chamber and not a venue you are...

Visit date: May 9th, 2025 I visited Shangri La Casino in Tbilisi and had a mixed experience overall.

The staff were friendly and welcoming, but several aspects of the blackjack game felt confusing and inconsistent. There was no rule sheet at the table, so I had to learn the rules by trial and error — not ideal, even for experienced players.

Some of the rules were quite unusual:

Surrender was allowed after any number of cards (except, as far as I understood, when the dealer showed an Ace).

You could double down with any amount up to your original bet — for example, adding only 50 on a 100 bet.

At one point, another player who joined my hand was allowed to surrender their share while I continued playing, which at first seemed odd but made sense since it didn’t affect my outcome.

The minimum bet at the blackjack table was 25, with no flexibility.

There were also some surprising operational details. I couldn’t exchange cash for chips at the table — even for a modest amount like $200 — and was told to go to the cashier, apparently due to a policy requiring smaller transactions to be processed there.

As for the dress code: I brought extra clothes and shoes just in case, but it turned out I was allowed in wearing shorts and flip-flops. However, I was asked to remove my cap at the entrance. It would’ve been helpful to know the actual expectations ahead of time.

All in all, the experience felt disjointed — friendly staff, but confusing rules, inconsistent policies, and poor communication. With a few improvements in transparency and signage, this could be a much more enjoyable...

Avoid this place if you plan on winning!!! I visited Shangri La around 10 times during my vacation in Tbilisi. Each time, I won a small amount — usually around 25-50 USD. However, on the last day of my trip, I was suddenly denied entry without explanation. After insisting, they told me I had been blacklisted — a decision apparently made by the director. No reason was given.

It seems this casino has no problem taking your money, but if you start winning consistently, you're no longer welcome. If you lose, they'll greet you with open arms. But if you win? You're out. Very disappointing and unprofessional behavior. Stay away.

To answer you: Yes, you restrict entry based on winnings or gaming results. I have been always respectful and behave correctly in the casino. Dealers, chiefs, barmans… are like my friends and they appreciated me as well. So, the only reason I see is that you blacklisted me because I was a winning player. Btw, another player at the reception got blacklisted like me at the same time, when I asked him outside the casino, he told me that he won 500 USD during his previous visit… Finally, when I asked for more info about my blacklist, the woman at the reception called the director and the answer was that based on director discretion, you got blacklisted without more information… so yes, you hate winners and it is a common practice in unfair casino...