Update from on the ground: the room renovations are nearly done and all that's left is one wing of rooms on the south side of the building. Based on a conversation I had with one of the managers two weeks ago, they're expecting the last rooms to be handed over before the summer. I had a tour of some of the renovated rooms and they're nicely done; bathrooms are a bit tight but that is to be expected since there are no changes to the footprint. It's a shame they left that ghastly exterior untouched...

In other news, the hotel was a ghost town two weeks ago with only 10 registered guests according to that same manager. He mentioned that closing the hotel was on the cards if business flatlined, but up until yesterday, I saw rooms available for reservation for over 100 OR per night... even though the hotel never had lights on or guests on the balconies in over a week. Today, I noticed at least seven occupied rooms based on people occupying the balconies and found out that the hotel has been taken over by the Omani government for use as a COVID-19 quarantine [along with the JW Marriott and Crowne Plaza hotels at the Oman Convention & Exhibition Center]. I checked the IHG app right after, and the hotel is not showing availability anymore through April.

Yikes.

khabah