vidrineb

I'm looking at staying here for a week or so in June next year but was wondering if anyone has any experience or recommendations on rooms or which of the three parts of this resort is the better choice. Planning on taking my fiance here for a little getaway after I have to go meet the parents in Scotland!

My first Shangri-La stay was last November when I booked a suite in the Cairns Australia location I fell in love with the brand and have been trying to plan my holidays around Shangri-La locations ever since(I know only a year not very impressive). In the past year after Cairns I've stayed at a few of other locations including Dubai, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Kowloon and was disappointed when I went to London earlier this month and the the opening of the new Shangri-La in the Shard had been pushed back to next year. I ended up staying at the Waldorf London instead and was unimpressed.

FinalCallDXB

Al Waha is setup for families, Al Husn is the opposite (no u16s in pool or dedicated beach area), and Al Bandar somewhere in between. I dislike the terrace rooms at Al Bandar - the terrace feels really exposed and overlooked to me. If you do stay then I can strongly recommend hiring a boat to take you out from the resort either into the surrounding coves or along to Mutrah.

vidrineb

Thanks for the advise FinalCallDXB, looks like I might be leaning toward the Al Husn since neither of us are really fans of children (no offense to anyone) and we will definitely be utilizing the boats to take us out for scuba diving alot of the time while there.

aa213bb

Though we didn't stay here - stayed at the RC - we did like the bits of the property we saw, and enjoyed our meal at Shahrazad http://www.shangri-la.com/muscat/bar...nts/shahrazad/

Would also encourage you to hire a car and self-drive a few days, exploring different parts of Oman. It's incredibly easy to get around - especially with SatNav - and there are many interesting and beautiful spots to see.

vidrineb

Thanks aa, never thought about hiring a car. Sounds like it could be a good idea to go exploring as I'm not usually the type to sit around at a Resort for my whole holiday. Was just planning on doing alot of scuba diving while there

cathaana

We have stayed at the Al Husn three times. It's really the only one of the three properties that could be considered luxury.
You can find some photos here (and a long trip report if you can read German).

vidrineb

Thanks for the link cathaana, and great report!

kamel123

Staid at Al Husn 1 1/2 years ago and can only recommend it.

The private beach area makes a real difference, as it is much nicer than the beach at the rest of the resort.

Service is excellent throughout, and up to Asian standards (most of the staff is from South East Asia, too). For example, when you step out of the hotel, you will be immediately approached and asked where to set up your sun lounger, and be provided with a nice cool bag with cold drinks. In the afternoon, tea is served in the interior courtyard, with excellent canapés.

We also liked the food. At breakfast, there is an A-la-carte menu of hot dishes that changes daily. Everything is very well presented and prepared. Throughout the resort, there is a large variety of restaurants to choose from. We thought the fish restaurant was best.

At the time, Al Husn did not accept children at all, which made for a very quiet and relaxed atmosphere. The other hotels in the resort, while nice, are clearly much more family oriented.

Also, at the same trip, we staid at the Chedi. While we did enjoy the Chedi, we are more likely to return to Al Husn, because of 1) nicer location / beach, 2) substantially better service (e.g., at the Chedi, we sometimes would not find space around the pool, and nobody would help)

vidrineb

Thanks for the info kamel, I think I might just go ahead and plan on making this stay. This will be the first of the Shangri-La "Resorts" that I stay at and I'm sure it will be just as great as every other Shangri-La experience I've had thus far!

smudge

My wife and I stayed at the Al husn last summer and had a great time. Couple of things we found. Somewhat to be expected given the location the wine options tend to be poor and overpriced - we stuck with cocktails and nonalcoholic. Food was pretty good throughout but quite pricey. We had particular success with the 'Asian' place which has a number of counters. Its the first you come to when walking to the group of restaurants and shops to the rear of the hotel. There was never a lot of people there so lacked a little atmosphere but the service was top and the Thai curry I had was memorable. I wouldn't bother with the Lebanese place though. We also hired a 4x4, there's as wadi to drive just to the south along the coast, and jebel shams of course.