The wide portfolio of accommodation in Oman offers the right place to stay and relax for every taste and budget. International hotel brands predominate in the luxury segment – from Shangri-La and Kempinski to Anantara and Six Senses to The Chedi and Alila, travelers are spoiled for choice. The premium brands St. Regis and Mandarin Oriental will also soon be celebrating new openings in the Omani capital Muscat. In addition to big hotel names, accommodation from smaller providers also offer all amenities – for example the new luxury tent camp from the provider Canvas Club in Rub al-Khali. Guests stay particularly authentically in accommodations from local hotel brands such as SAMA Resorts or individually managed guesthouses.
Glamping Deluxe: Canvas Club Rub al-Khali
In the very south of Oman, a three-hour drive from Salalah, a new luxury tent camp has opened in the middle of the spectacular dune landscape of the largest continuous sand desert in the world. The Canvas Club Rub al-Khali team follows the same concept here as in the already established sister camp Canvas Club Sharqiyah Sands near Bidiyah in central Oman. In addition to a desert adventure between endless expanses, up to 300 meter high, shimmering red sand dunes and campfire romance under the sparkling starry sky far from other hotels and surrounding villages, guests can expect a luxurious tent camp here, which can only be booked on request and exclusively. The Bedouin tents combine oriental flair with modern amenities such as a bathing tent and are always adapted to the number of guests. They therefore offer a very individual desert experience far from civilization. A team of five takes care of your physical well-being. In addition, multi-day expeditions such as a desert crossing can be booked via Canvas Club.
New hotel complex in the west of Muscat: The St. Regis Al Mouj Resort, Muscat
The five-star hotel The St. Regis Al Mouj Resort, Muscat with 250 rooms and 166 residences will open in the Al Mouj district of the Omani capital Muscat on April 1, 2024. The property is located on a 360-meter-long sandy beach, not far from the Al Mouj golf course, and has the largest double rooms in the Sultanate, with rooms starting at 60 square meters. Nine different restaurants and cafés await guests, including award-winning international establishments such as Em Sherif (Lebanese), Hakkasan (Cantonese) and Novikov Café (Mediterranean brasserie).
Local traditions are also taken into account in the resort’s F&B offering, for example in the specialty restaurant with its own Shuwa oven (earth oven in the garden) for preparin
g the popular Omani delicacy of the same name, which offers a fusion of Zanzibari and Omani cuisine. All guests enjoy butler service as well as buggy service to Al Mouj Golf Course and Al Mouj Marina; A Guerlain Spa with eleven treatment rooms and a hammam is available for relaxation. The largest pillarless ballroom in the capital at 1,350 square meters with capacity for 940 guests as well as four conference rooms with daylight complement the conference offering. The hotel implements an elaborate sustainability concept, including a vertical hydraulic baler, water-to-water heat pumps, guestroom and building management systems, a treated wastewater station and much more.
Exclusive location in the capital: Mandarin Oriental, Muscat
The opening of the Mandarin Oriental, Muscat with 103 rooms and 47 suites is planned for spring 2024 in the Shati Al-Qurum district of the Omani capital, around a five-minute drive from the Royal Opera House Muscat concert hall. The beach resort, designed by renowned French interior designer Xavier Cartron, includes five culinary establishments including Italian restaurant Essenza and patisserie shop The Mandarin Oriental Cake Shop, two outdoor swimming pools including a children’s pool, a kids club with playground, fitness center, a spa with eight treatment rooms, hammam and meditation garden as well as an extensive beach promenade. Suite guests have exclusive access to the private club TwoThree58 Club. The hotel also features 2,000 square meters of indoor event space including an 800 square meter ocean-view ballroom and three flexible meeting rooms.
Other international hotel brands have announced properties in Oman in the coming years, including Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts and Nikki Beach. The Sultanate’s accommodation offering has already grown steadily over the past year – including in the local hotel brand segment. SAMA Resorts put the SAMA Jabal Samhan Hotel into operation in June 2023 on the highest mountain of Dhofar in the south of the Sultanate and Oman’s portfolio of authentic guesthouses was also expanded with the Hanging Terraces Lodge, which opened last summer at around 2,000 meters in a mountain village on the Jabal Akhdar has opened its doors to travelers with just twelve rooms.
