Accueil glacial, personnel peu agréable, mauvaise situation

Ich muss einem früheren Schreiber hier zustimmen, vor allem was über den Pool gesagt wurde. Da wir uns die ganze Zeit die Gegend angesehen haben, brauchten wir eigentlich aber auch keinen Pool. Wir entschieden uns für dieses Hotel, weil sie uns einen guten Preis für die Executive Suite angeboten hatten, ideal für unsere Familie. Die Executive Suite war aber nicht so „Executive“, es war eher ein normales Zimmer, nur mit 2 Zimmern, einem Wohnzimmer und einer Küchennische. Gefrühstückt haben wir mit dem Rest der Gäste. Wir hatten vorher gesagt, dass wir ein Doppelzimmer und ein Zimmer mit zwei Einzelbetten haben wollten. Beide Zimmer waren dann aber mit Doppelbetten ausgestattet. Nicht so toll, wenn die beiden Kinder ein Junge und ein Mädchen sind. Das die Teppiche helle Farben hatten, konnten man sehen, dass die Gäste vorher gekleckert hatten, es sah aus wie Curry. Es sah jedenfalls nicht sauber aus. Insgesamt hatten wir nicht das Gefühlt, als wenn die Suite richtig saubergemacht wurde – auf den Stühlen befanden sich z.B. Haare. Die Klimaanlage in unserem Zimmer war abgeschaltet. Man musste auf den Tisch steigen und hinter eine Schublade greifen, um an den Schalter zu gelangen! Die Badezimmer waren ganz schön, aus Marmor und sehr geräumig. Obwohl die Suite insgesamt sehr geräumig war, hatten wir dort ein beengendes Gefühl. Das lag sicherlich auch daran, dass die Aussicht auf eine Straße und die Rückseite des Hotel war und das die Zimmer recht dunkel wirkten. Wir haben uns beschwert und uns wurde eine andere Suite angeboten. Die roch dann aber und während jemand sich mit der Sprühdose daran machte, den Geruch zu übertünchen, zeigte man uns zwei Zimmer mit je zwei Einzelbetten, die aber auch nicht sauber waren. Wir verlangten, sofort gehen zu dürfen, ohne dass wir für die Suite zu zahlen brauchten, da wir gerade mal eine Stunde da waren. Aber sie haben das abgelehnt und so mussten wir dort eine Nacht verbringen. Das Hotelpersonal war während der ganzen Sache aber sehr zuvorkommend. Es ist kein 4, eher ein 3-Sterne-Hotel. Und obwohl es noch gar nicht alt ist, so sieht es nicht neu aus. Wir sind dann ins Crowne Plaza gegangen, was zwar teurer war, aber auch viel schöner.

Yup, have to agree with the previous reviewer especially about the pool. As we were traveling from the region with access to a pool, it wasn’t a necessity. Well we chose it cos they gave us a good rate for the executive suite which would suit our family. The Executive suite didn’t feel ‘executive’, it was just more of the same of an ordinary room i.e. 2 rooms + a living room, kitchenette. Breakfast with the rest of the guests. We had asked for one of the rooms to be double & 1 to be twin. Turned out both were double. Not convenient with kids being boy & girl. As the carpets were of a light colour the previous occupants had split what we thought were currys it just didn’t look clean. Wife thought the place had not been cleaned properly in general – chairs covered with hair. The AC was off in our bedroom. Turned out that you had to jump on to the dressing table and reach behind a large chest of drawers to get to the switch!. The bathrooms looked nice being marble & spacious. Despite being spacious we felt like we were boxed it as the views were to the road & back of the hotel and the rooms felt dark. We complained & were offered another suite. This had a smell, so while some one was dispatched to fetch a aerosol, they showed us 2 twin rooms which were also not clean. We demanded to be allowed to leave immediately without paying having been there only an hour, but our request was refused, so in the end we had to stay one night. The hotel staff was extremely courteous throughout the proceedings. Not really a 4 star hotel near to 3 star. Although recently built it didn’t feel new. We ended up at the Crowne Plaza, having to pay more but enjoyed a whole different experience.

This fairly new, small, hotel is located 5 minutes walk from the beach. Rooms are clean, modern and breakfast is pretty good. It's only restaurant does not serve alcohol and the hotel lacks a decent pool and bar/entertainment. A few restaurants located 4-5 minutes away on foot. (Didn't try them so can't give review.) This hotel and even all the fancy-shmancy hotels for that matter too are far from the main tourist areas of Mutrah and Old Muscat (and possibly Qurum and Ruwi if you want general shopping), so I won't criticize its location. It's as good (or as bad) as any other when you don't have your own car to drive. For me, the biggest drawback was its lack of a decent pool. It has a very, VERY, teeny tiny pool surrounded on all sides by the hotel's 4-story walls. It's like a pool in a room. It's only opening to the outside is the open roof. It was dark and looked so unappealing being located next to the restaurant/lobby that I didn't even feel like getting in. You may not give this much importance--but after you have been to Oman you will learn like I did that all tourist spots (souks, museums) are open in the morning and late afternoon. What this meant to me was this: after everything closed at 1:30pm, I had nothing to do, nowhere to go to escape all that HEAT until after 4pm. It would have been so nice to go back to the hotel, get in the pool, and relax. After a few days I ended changing up to the Al Falaj Hotel that wasn't as modern and did come with some out-dated rough spots in terms of furnishings. Nevertheless, at the same rate it came with a very nice pool and is much closer to Mutrah (souk) and shopping, which saved me from having to pay for and travel longer distance to reach these areas. It's not a bad budget-choice hotel if you want to go to the beach and stay there. Also, it is a better choice than the Al Falaj if you must have new/modern and you don't mind the lack of facilities. But I wouldn't recommend it unless you can get a better rate compared to other hotels in the same class that come with decent facilities and a pool.