Just checked out of a one-night stay. I'll preface this by saying I've been wanting to stay here since I was a kid, so between that anticipation and some things I'd read I went in with high expectations - but I tried to temper them given my previous poor experience with the Ritz-Carlton brand in Doha and with Marriott in general. Here are some of my observations:

• I pulled into the driveway and my partner pulled our belongings out of the car. The two Omani greeters told me I couldn't park my car on the driveway and instead told me to drive down to the main parking; valet was offered but I declined and drove my car down myself. On my walk up, a golf cart that went down to the parking area with me drove right by me and continued up without asking if I wanted a ride.
• Check in was perfunctory - courteous enough, but no welcome, no acknowledgement of status, no mention of the upgrade I'd been allotted in the app or any on-property benefits. I wasn't offered coffee or anything as I walked in, despite the station being set up and manned.
• As an Ambassador Elite, I was upgraded from a base mountain-view room to a sea-view executive suite, the category of which sits below the two kinds of Presidential Suites. The room had a separate living room and bedroom and was nice with high ceilings, beige furnishings with brown wood accents and a view of the mountains on one side and the sea on the other, so not a full sea-view as advertised.
• There was a welcome amenity of a Christmas card, welcome letter, tower of yogurts/fruits/granola, a cake and a bottle of red wine.
• The room's condition was good, but with a few glaring issues:
  • The mattress noticeably sagged in the center and the pillows weren't great so I didn't sleep well.
  • The AC units are individually controlled, but despite reducing it to the lowest temperature and highest fan settings, it was still very warm in the bedroom in the middle of the night and added to the general sleeping discomfort.
  • The faucets in the bathtub and shower spun cleanly off when twisting them open for use.
  • Annoyingly and disconcertingly in this age of COVID, a bottle of shampoo in the shower was half empty and obviously used by a previous guest, and the wine bottle opener and drink mixers were used and left in the fridge along with a used tissue.
• We had breakfast in the main restaurant, Al Khiran, and found it to be just alright. Your basic five-star staples like egg station, dairy, bakery, beans, mushrooms and the like are all there, but there isn't any imagination - not sure if this is a COVID-related cutback or not, especially since restaurants in Oman have been permitted to up their capacities and offerings since 12/1. The W, for example, used to have a glorious section pre-COVID with antipasti and salads; the only greens on the buffet at the Al Bustan were in the form of one bowl of wilted arugula.
• Service was nice from housekeeping staff and the restaurant teams, but the staff during check-in and the greeters/bellhops weren't especially helpful. I'm now two for two on Ritz-Carlton experiences where "luxury" is delivered in the form of several staff approaching you every few seconds to ask you if you need anything, but not particularly inspired, empowered or actually able to do anything [i.e. if you're standing in line for the reception and you get approached by different people asking you if everything is alright, then leaving because they're not able to do anything for you].
• COVID-related enforcements are mixed - signs everywhere telling you to be masked, all staff wear masks but the front desk staff who handle your passports/documents/cards don't wear gloves while the restaurant staff do. Adherence among guests is weaker still - several guests would walk into the buffet areas without a mask on at all or under their chins, and were always served without being told to properly mask up.

I was also at the hotel for a big Christmas brunch, which took place at their Beach Pavilion restaurant, and every last seat was sold out with live entertainment and such. I'm a pescatarian, and found that the food quality was also just alright - all the food on offer at all stations was pre-cooked, which somewhat detracted from the overall experience as some of the items got soggy or chewy after sitting for so long. By comparison, the Friday brunch at the Crowne Plaza in Qurum has a section where their pasta, meats and seafood are prepared on request and always arrive fresh and delicious.

I was at my table with my partner and a friend of ours, and she recognized the hotel's GM at the next table, and he said hello to us after she flagged him down. As a fan of the hotel and having followed his recent appointment as an Omani GM, I extended my congratulations to him - and he opened with a story of how he used to come to the hotel back in the day, "get smashed" at the bar and ride his boat in the water off the beach. As the evening rolled on, he kept bringing bottles of Taittinger to the party at his table, constantly drank and smoked, and would socialize between his table and the table of influential Omanis behind us. No roaming between tables to say hello, ask if things are alright or wish season's greetings or anything of the sort. As such, it was a bit off-putting to see a GM, especially of an iconic luxury property as this one, conduct himself in a manner that wasn't particularly composed or welcoming between hanging out with his friends and the other obviously rich and powerful among us. I'm certainly down for the craic and believe in having a good time but who knows, maybe I'm old-fashioned. Oh, and about being told I couldn't park on the driveway: a few of the fancy cars [Rolls-Royces, Range Rovers] with single and double-digit license plates owned by the high-rollers that I saw when checking in had their cars still parked upstairs when I checked out the following afternoon. This hotel is obviously where the moneyed and powerful come to play, and yes, they get preferential treatment.

All in all, an ok stay, I'm happy to have crossed this one off my list but I won't be rushing back as I'm not a fan of inconsistent experiences and feeling out of place in what is ultimately a rich kids club.

Oh well, c'est la vie.

khabah