Oman

The resort is approximately 40 minutes’ drive from Muscat International Airport and 30 minutes’ drive from the city centre.

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Nature and culture come together in Muscat, where the mountains meet the sea, where history and heritage are unique. From the extraordinary architecture of the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque to the clear waters of the Gulf of Oman, go on an adventure at this hotel.

From simple walks in the park to exploring dramatic natural scenery, they have it all for nature lovers. Escape to a private island, go horseback riding at golden hour, kayak under the high cliffs, or just enjoy it all on one of the resort’s sandy beaches. that will tickle your taste buds.

The exterior, inspired by the clean lines of traditional Omani forts, is as simple as the interior is luxurious. Huge carved wooden doors lead into the lobby, which is adorned with shimmering gold-tiled fountains, colorful rugs and framed khanjars. Moorish-style arches frame ocean views from one end of the central courtyard, and the palm-filled space is especially atmospheric at night, when guests gather for free cocktails and canapés, accompanied by a harpist.

The infinity pool has plenty of sun loungers and is never crowded, while the picturesque private cove with a small white sand beach and natural rock arch is ideal for swimming, snorkelling and kayaking. Guests can also use the facilities of another resort, including the lazy river, beach, tennis courts, and CHI Spa.

Breakfast at Sultanah is excellent, with buffet and à la carte options as well as fresh smoothies and juices. Shahrazad Restaurant serves Moroccan, Lebanese and Omani cuisines, while the pool and beach bars serve salads, sandwiches and light meals.

The rest of the resort has five simple eateries, including Bait Al Bahr, a beachfront seafood restaurant, as well as two all-day restaurants and half a dozen cafes and bars.

The hotel is nestled between the rugged Hajar Mountains and the sandy beach at Musandam. A trip from Dubai Airport is available (takes about two hours), but only in four-wheel drive vehicles. The descent from the hilltop overlooking the bay is spectacular, and guests can paraglide in tandem to the resort or arrive by speedboat from the nearby port.

82 stone villas nestled in the midst of over 1500 date palms and sandy paths dotted with fig and pomegranate trees and strange roaming goats. Guests are advised to go barefoot and there are soft pedal bikes for each villa. Mobile phones are not recommended. Everything to make you feel the country as it is.

At the other end of the bay is the fishing village of Zygi, which has been converted into a resort.

There are two large swimming pools, one with sea water, with hammocks between palm trees and free homemade ice cream.

Activities include sailing, mountain biking, archery and parasailing and a tandem ultralight flight of around 760m above the coast and mountains is not to be missed.

The spa is another highlight, with experienced therapists and visiting practitioners. Stressed guests can sign up for a wellness screening during which staff measure and analyze key physiological biomarkers and then develop a personalized program of treatment, exercise and wellness therapy.

Five restaurants serve products from the resort’s organic garden. The Zighy Bar overlooks one of the pools and serves tapas and drinks; Sense on the Edge is a gourmet mountaintop restaurant open for dinner only, while Summer House offers good Mediterranean soups, salads, seafood, grills and pastas.

The hotel is a 20-minute drive from Muscat Airport and 10 minutes from the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque – one of the few in the country open to tourists (the carpet of the main prayer hall was created by 600 women who wove it for 4 years).

Guests are greeted by porters in traditional Omani clothes with khanjar daggers – the national emblem that can be found on the flag and banknotes – at the waist. During the day, sunglasses are needed to reflect the rays bouncing off the pristine white exterior walls. At night, the floor of the lobby is so polished you’ll wonder if you’re walking on water. Behind the front desk is an enticing maze of neatly trimmed bushes, Japanese-style ponds, Islamic arches and low-rise villas, with only one wing rising three stories high.

Thanks to its excellent facilities, the hotel enjoys a consistently high occupancy. The long pool is about the length of a football field (plus two more), as well as a private beach and tennis courts. The gym looks like a designer furniture showroom, with high-tech machines tastefully hidden behind mashrabiya screens, and the spa has treatment rooms with hot tubs and private hammams.

Featuring outdoor and indoor seating, an open kitchen and a ceiling full of chandeliers, the restaurant starts the day with a buffet breakfast.

Lunch, dinner and drinks are also served here. Omani seafood is served at the beach restaurant from October to April. The Arab courtyard is decorated in a Middle Eastern style in the courtyard next to the neighboring hookah bar.

The resort is located on a long palm-fringed beach at Salalah in the southern province of Dhofar, famous for its summer monsoons, tropical fruit plantations and ancient frankincense trade. A freshwater lagoon separates the resort from the World Heritage site of Al Balid, and the airport is 15 km away.

Inspired by ancient Omani fortresses, this whitewashed resort consists of a main building overlooking an infinity pool and low-rise villas connected by walkways lined with banana and coconut trees. The laconic interiors combine high ceilings, rope walls and marble floors with subtle Omani accents such as carved wooden doors and lanterns.

If you can get away from the infinity pool and beach, there are water sports, beach volleyball, tennis, sunset yoga, camel rides and cooking classes. Be sure to visit the spa with experienced therapists and pleasant treatments using local ingredients such as frankincense and coconut. And just try not to fall asleep during the four hands massage.

Local guru guides lead day trips to sights such as archaeological ruins, forts and fishing villages, or you can venture out into the desert.

Each villa has an assistant who will book spas, restaurants and excursions and cater to your every whim. Elsewhere, service is warm, casual, and friendly.

The elegant all-day Sakalan Restaurant has a terrace and floor-to-ceiling windows so you can enjoy views of the sea while you dine. Al Mina has a casual beach bar vibe with a Mediterranean lunch and dinner menu, cool cocktails and shisha.

The more formal Mekong Restaurant serves exceptional Thai, Chinese and Vietnamese cuisine. For a romantic dinner for two, choose a personalized menu served in a cozy dugout on the beach surrounded by lanterns.

Muscat International Airport is a 20-minute drive, while the main attractions of Mutrah Market and Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque can be reached in 15 minutes.

Departing from the traditional Omani hotel template, W Muscat is full of surprises. Like a chest of gems, the spectrum is bold and rich, while the subtle meanings give the décor a story. Note the glossy black table legs in the lobby topped with a bouquet of flowers? They are shaped like a local goat. Do you see how the eyes of the women in the burqa in the colored portraits follow you down the corridors? These are holograms.

The service staff always walks around the room with a smile and even the pets receive a warm welcome. Activities starting with morning yoga classes are part of the brand’s DNA. The AWAY Spa offers treatments using the latest in skin science, as well as traditional Arabic hammams and a well-equipped FIT Gym overlooking the WET Deck, complete with glamorous cabanas, in-water sun loungers and an expansive pool. Please note: During the Friday pool parties, the DJ plays at full volume.

All 279 rooms have balconies overlooking the sparkling Gulf of Oman. Art Deco details mingle with Arabic motifs for a liquorice platter. Minibars are often the highlight of the W Suites – double-breasted, stocked with cocktail sets and inspired by vintage luggage cases.

At Char Restaurant, the terrace and dining room are reminiscent of Omani dhows, and the grilled dishes are delicious.

Drinks are available at the Living Room Lobby Cocktail Bar and the stunning Siddharta Lounge By Buddha-Bar. Ba Ban Restaurant evokes memories of Shanghai in the 1930s.

The hotel is located at an altitude of 2,000 meters above sea level on the plateau of Saik Jabal Akhdar (Green Mountain), an area famous for its damask roses. On the outskirts of the modern village, there are hiking trails and abandoned villages. The hotel can only be reached by 4WD vehicle. It is a two hour drive from Muscat Airport and 30 minutes from the historic city of Nizwa.

Stone paths lined with native plants and traversed by narrow waterways inspired by traditional falaj (irrigation canals) connect a group of low buildings with carved wooden doors and graceful arches. The main building has a cozy courtyard with a fireplace, but the main attraction is the cliff-edge infinity pool and the observation deck, named after the late Diana, Princess of Wales, who visited the site in 1986.

The staff is friendly and attentive, with experienced mountain gurus (guides) from nearby villages, intuitive villa assistants (some of whom previously worked for Middle Eastern royalty) and highly trained spa therapists.

There is a wide range of activities from hiking, mountain biking and downhill to archery, sunrise yoga and landscape painting. Cultural activities include a cooking class with an Omani chef, which begins with a visit to the Nizwa Bazaar and 17th-century fort, and then learns how to cook dishes such as kabuli (spicy rice with beef) and paplu (soup from seafood). As with all Anantara hotels, it has an excellent spa; this one has a hammam, indoor pools, thermal spas and signature treatments using local ingredients like rose and pomegranate.

All 82 rooms have a balcony overlooking the canyon, while 32 one and two bedroom villas and a two-story royal villa have a private pool and assistant.

There are four restaurants, as well as a cafe and a hookah bar. Led by a Sicilian chef, Bella Vista Restaurant serves authentic Italian cuisine and fantastic wood-fired pizzas. The 24-hour Al Maisan Restaurant serves international cuisine and a tasty breakfast buffet with eggs cooked to order but no pork. In addition, the fort-like building houses a simple Moroccan tapas bar and a signature Arabic restaurant.

A 10-minute drive away is the National Museum of Oman, which houses the key to the country’s past, and the Bandar Al Roadha Marina is filled with maritime tour companies helping dolphin-watching adventures.

The property lives up to its palatial name, with a golden dome over the front entrance and towers rising above the sandstone façade. At the center of a cavernous, marble-clad lobby of cathedral proportions, the atrium reaches 38 meters, one-third the height of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, symbolizing a mountain the same size that once stood here. Whirlwinds of smoldering oud smoke fill the air with scents, while crystal chandeliers fill it with shimmering light.

Guests can stay very active with a large gym, aerobics studio, tennis courts and a water sports center on a palm-fringed private beach offering a mix of free and paid excuses to get wet; Kayaking and snorkelling equipment is provided free of charge. Along with the resort’s outdoor pools, there’s also a daily activity schedule, from fitness workouts to collage making.

Forgot your swimsuit? No problem, there is a shopping arcade in the basement that also sells souvenirs, from Gucci watches to the famous Omani perfume Amouage. A short drive away, Six Senses Spa offers Thai massages, scrubs and facials in spacious, rustic cave-like rooms, as well as a variety of yoga practices.

Located between the beach and the main pool, the open-air Blu Restaurant is the place to grab a crispy grilled hamburger with ham when you’re in the mood for sunbathing. The most atmospheric culinary experience is offered at the Beach Pavilion, with both indoor and outdoor seating, sea and mountain views by day and romantic lighting by night.

An international buffet breakfast is served at the 24-hour Khiran Kitchen.

The hotel occupies a vast deserted bay, giving a feeling of blissful remoteness, yet only 40 minutes by car from Muscat International Airport.

A 30-minute drive will take you to the heart of Muscat, where you will find the city’s cultural haven – the Royal Opera House, the Muttru Corniche with its cafes and restaurants on the shore of the harbor, as well as the Muttrah Bazaar, where you can buy gold jewelry, fragrant incense and copper khanjars ( traditional Omani daggers). Bandar Khairan, a collection of coral-covered rocky coves, is a 15-minute boat ride and rewards explorers with dolphin and turtle sightings.

Despite its large size (196 rooms), it does not seem imposing, largely due to the scale of the surrounding mountains of Al-Hajar and the long strip of golden sand in front of the entrance. It helps that all the hotel buildings are low – a maximum of six floors, as required by Omani law.

Designers used modern arabesques for the interior. Cream marble, light wood and glass dominate the public areas. Look close enough and you’ll see references to Omani heritage, such as the soaring arches and lattice screens featuring the Arabian star.
Grassy lawns, frangipani and coconut trees brought from Salalah give the garden a tropical feel.

Spa is great. It has a manicure and pedicure studio by Bastien Gonzalez, a hammam and 10 treatment rooms overlooking the sea. Sacra, a restorative Australian brand infused with frankincense, is used in massage. Wellness activities are fearless in nature, such as full moon SUP yoga, sunrise hikes to mountaintop meditation platforms, and guided open water swimming.

For complete peace of mind, couples can enjoy paired hammocks suspended from a floating platform a few hundred yards from the sea (with waiter service) or secluded dining on the beach. Daily afternoon tea in the lobby and Friday brunch at Peridot are hugely popular with locals and require advance booking. The dive center and gift shop is still ahead.

Peridot offers all-day dining in a relaxed yet formal setting with impeccable service. The breakfast buffet is something to look out for.

Beachfront Zuka offers a casual fresh lunch experience. Guests can enjoy quinoa salads, crispy squid and sushi rolls just inches from the sand to music. Anzo is a cozy lounge on the fifth floor with an Asian menu, and Brezza is the hotel’s Italian restaurant (which opened recently).