I recently stayed at Alila Jabal Akhdar which is one of the most unique resorts I have ever stayed at and can provide an unforgettable experience in ways that other more standard resorts cannot.  Alila was not perfect but for me those issues were being dwarfed by the rest.

Location

First of all the resort is special not only because of its location but because of how you can get there.  Rather than rent a car or hire a driver for the 2.5-hour journey up the mountain, I used the services of Al Sharqiya Aviation for the 40-minute helicopter flight from Muscat to Alila.  While not directly related to Alila, the service I received from ASA was great from start to finish including the booking and advance preparation for the flight including flexibility with a last minute time change I requested for the departure flight.  ASA has a choice of H125 or H145 choppers and even offers door to door service from some hotels in Muscat, for example pick-up directly from Al Bustan Palace (Ritz Carlton) was possible as it has a landing spot there.  Alternatively, clients can travel to ASA’s hangar for takeoff.  

I have travelled by almost all possible ways of transportation to various hotels but helicopter was missing for me and Alila was the perfect opportunity to make an arrival in style.  Upon arriving at Alila the scenery was absolutely breathtaking with the resort sitting at the edge of a cliff on two sides and the helicopter circled the area so that we could have a perfect 360-degree view – the pictures don’t even do justice.  I have to stay, arriving to an island resort in the Maldives via seaplane is a great experience, but a private helicopter flight to Alila takes the cake.  

Check In

Upon arriving to the resort, Alila staff came to pick us up at the landing spot on Alila’s grounds for the short drive to our room.  Perhaps guests arriving by helicopter at Alila is less common than I expected (?), but the way the check-in was done was quite different than a standard hotel arrival.  Not only we were dropped off immediately to our room, but they did not bother us with paperwork, ID, or credit card requests – they left us in full privacy and assumed we were the guests they were expecting.  I guess if we were celebrities or royalty such treatment would be highly desirable but since we are normal down to earth people it felt very different than a standard hotel arrival, and I could see some hotel guests might feel like the service delivery was reactive rather than proactive because if we needed information about the resort we had to subsequently ask for it.  I guess it’s a delicate balance for the hotel to provide immediate privacy to guests that demand it, and possibly if we had arrived by car the check-in process would have been different.

Common Areas

As we could see from our flight, it is amazing that they could build a resort at this particular spot in the mountains – the location could not be more isolated at the far end of a road 2,000 meters above sea level and without much anywhere near Alila.  I do not recall being in a resort so quiet before, in part because there were not many guests, but also because beach resorts often have sea noise, resorts in forests have wind and trees, many resorts have lots of animals nearby… but at Alila it was often dead silence, day or night.

The hotel grounds were well-maintained and many common areas were designed to take maximum advantage of the location such as movie night on the edge of the cliff or massage tables on the extreme tip of the resort.  The view from the swimming pool was not bad either, and for the colder months they also have an indoor pool.  Where Alila might lack compared to Anantara (which is in a less exclusive location than Alila), is that Anantara has many villas with a private pool whereas at Alila only the top room category (2 villas I think) have a private pool.

There are hiking trails around the resort with some activities to keep guests occupied in the event that they don’t want to simply relax by the pool to get some sun.  Also the hotel grows its own veggies in the organic farm on the resort. 

Room

I booked the entry level room and used a Globalist Suite Award which upgrades to the “Jabal Terrace” room type.  The room was not a proper suite because there was no separate living room, however the bathroom was huge, and the outdoor space even bigger.  There was a small terrace in front of the bathroom, and on the other side, a very spacious terrace outside the bedroom with sun lounging chairs and a dining table.  

If I had one criticism of our room it would be that internet was very weak and at times unusable from the main terrace so it took away part of the enjoyment because it required me to sometimes sit at the smaller terrace with lesser views instead.

Dining

Since I booked with points, the stay was not all-inclusive although I had free breakfast as Globalist.  The breakfast was quite good in my opinion, entirely a la carte with a decent selection and we especially enjoyed the vegetarian dish of the day which was often a spicy Indian aloo dish.  The dinner menu at Rose Lounge was the same as for room service and was less impressive, however unlike previous reports on FT it was not the only dinner menu.  The menu at the Juniper restaurant was not bad, however all in all dining was not as “wow” as the location of the hotel itself and guests are captive on the resort so there is no alternative.  We found fine dining far more luxurious during our stay at Al Bustan Palace in Muscat prior to coming to Alila.  

Overall

Overall I think if Alila had more stand-alone villas, more room types with a private pool, and better dining, it would be even more attractive.  Nonetheless, Alila can provide a once in a lifetime experience and deserves a spot on the bucket list of a number of experienced travelers; adding the helicopter flight with elite personalized service was cherry on top for an unforgettable hotel stay.