Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah, Muscat

Good choice of breakfast. Beautiful location. Watersports available on calm days. Clean rooms. Bottled water provided. Only drawback is that the buffet, lunch, drinks and ice lollies are too expensive.

I went with a friend, and it was a truly enjoyable experience. I felt relaxed and thoroughly enjoyed my time at the hotel. I didn’t even visit the city center because I was content spending time at the beach, enjoying the atmosphere and the overall vibe.

STAY AWAY FROM THIS HOTEL This is the most overpriced hotel I have ever stayed at. Guests are charged at every possible opportunity. Simply check the prices online and you’ll see for yourself. The food is extremely overpriced for the quality provided, and the portion sizes are laughably small. Staff appeared to be very poorly trained overall. Service was nearly impossible to obtain while using the beach chairs, and being charged for non-motorised beach activities such as canoes is disgraceful — something we have never experienced at any other hotel. Room cleaning was consistently carried out very late in the afternoon (around 3–4 pm), which was highly inconvenient and disruptive. The hotel appears to exploit its remote location. Guests are effectively forced to remain on-site due to the lack of nearby alternatives, and as a result are charged extraordinary prices for what is ultimately a sub-par experience. The pricing of food, beverages, activities, and services is completely unjustified given the quality, service standards, and overall experience. Rather than feeling valued as guests, we felt taken advantage of

i was disappointed by the way how the checkin was handled and it seemed the staff were not in sync. another incident with room name etc. and as mentioned by others, for the price paid it is not meeting expectations. all extras are also super expensive and there is no luxury touch. i felt more professional on the half price resorts in emirates. i hope it saves someone from overspending and disappointment i need to cope with now. And also they changed the owner to Hilton. Hilton al Bandar

Just landed this morning expecting a hotel that reflected the pictures. But was disappointed. Granted we landed at 6am but had to navigate our way to our rooms with no help using our phones as torches would have expected someone to take us! Rooms are very dated and basic and not the 5 star I expected.maybe been spoilt by living in Dubai. Hotel is more 4 star max and that is probably being generous Staff are friendly but surprised a 5 star hotel does not offer table service if you don’t sit at the pool bar Only had lunch today and the buffet was passable reminded me of those cheap European all inclusive holidays Granted this is only day one so let’s see how rest of the trip is

I am writing to formally express my deep disappointment with my recent stay and dining experience at your hotel. The experience was far below expectations and completely inconsistent with the standards associated with the Shangri-La brand. Firstly, I was extremely disturbed to be served food containing insects/ants during the breakfast buffet. This reflects a serious lack of food safety and hygiene standards. Despite bringing this to the attention of the staff, there was no genuine apology or sense of accountability, which made the situation even more unacceptable. Secondly, the level of hospitality displayed by the staff was extremely poor. The staff members were blunt, unprofessional, and clearly not trained to interact respectfully with guests. During breakfast, when I requested water to be served at the table, I was rudely told that it was “self-service.” This response clearly demonstrates a lack of basic hospitality and does not align with the service standards expected from a Shangri-La property. Overall, the staff showed zero hospitality, poor communication skills, and a complete disregard for guest experience. This raises serious concerns about staff training, service quality, and adherence to both hospitality and food safety norms. I strongly urge the management to investigate this matter thoroughly and take immediate corrective actions. Such experiences damage the reputation of a globally respected brand and should not be repeated with any guest. I expect this complaint to be taken seriously and addressed promptly.

We stayed here for some beachside R&R at the end of our holiday for 3 nights and it was perfect from that perspective, but there were a few things that could have been improved to make our stay better. First the positives: - Helpful and attentive staff who were all friendly and keen to assist - Lovely sandy beach and nice pools - Plenty of sun loungers around so no issues with finding a nice spot to chill - Really nice view from our seaview room - Excellent breakfast - I had a really good experience at the Spa with the traditional Hamam - There's a nice Piano lounge at Al Bandar which has 2 happy hours from 6-7pm and 10-11pm and the 2-4-1 cocktails are nice, staff are lovely too - Kettle and tea/coffee in the room - Plenty of water provided in the room Some things that could have been better - Food and drinks are pretty expensive - for the price you'd expect an exceptional experience but that is not the case - We ordered a starter and main courses at the fish restaurant. The menu clearly separates the appetisers from the mains, but everything came at once. We made it clear that was not what we expected, the starter was taken away, no acknowledgement or apology. It felt like the waitress was trying to pretend it never happened. That was a bit odd. We were looking forward to a leisurely dinner, but in the end it was very quick! - Drinks often came after the food or with the food, so if you are expecting an aperitif, or just want your drinks first, order your drinks and wait until they arrive before ordering anything else. - We found that the Piano lounge (the only place for pre-dinner drinks that does not use plastic glasses) was closed for a private event without any warning. There were no signs or any communication to indicate that this would be the case so we were really disappointed to make our way over on our last day only to find that it was not open to us. - The Chi spa only has a steam room, rain shower and small hot tub so was a little underwhelming - On check-in we were told that 2 of the restaurants offered all you can eat buffets (not what we wanted), but we found that one also offered al a carte (Al Tanoor) - Our room was slightly dated, but nice enough

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5 — Exceptional Kids Club Experience Our experience with the hotel’s Kids Club was absolutely outstanding. From the moment we arrived, the team made our child feel welcomed, safe, and genuinely excited to be there. The staff are incredibly caring, patient, and creative — they truly go above and beyond to engage every child, no matter their personality or age. The daily activities were thoughtfully designed, combining fun with learning: arts & crafts, sensory play, imaginative games, and little adventures that kept our daughter smiling from ear to ear. The play area is spotless, colourful, and well-equipped, and you can feel that safety and happiness are their top priorities.

From the moment we arrived, everything was taken care of. We actually made our booking at al Husn (another and supposedly more upscale hotel at the same complex), but about 2 months after we had booked our room they decided to sell all rooms at the hotel to a large private gathering and basically threw us out of the already confirmed room - wr managed to stay a few days there. So we had to be moved to al Bandar, and I can only say that we are very glad that it happened that way. The guest relations manager Christel took care of everything and made sure that any request was taken care of within short time. She also followed up everything through quick responses through WhatsApp. Due to the fact that one of us has milk allergy, we needed some extra attention during the meals, and from the first day chef Emad took care of us at all meals. He made sure that dinner and any meal was served to the table, and completely milk free. He came out before every meal, made his suggestions or asked simply what do you want to eat. Then made it work. This is the sign of a true chef who obviously has a great interest in his work and a very high standard. At breakfast, also chef Moorthi and chef Mani took it upon themselves to make sure that everything was OK. Food was prepared in the separate part of the kitchen, and served to the table with a guarantee of no dairy product. There was not a single day where there was a slip up of this. Also the entire restaurant staff from the manager Moazat, Michelle, Sydney, Anton, Aye, Amy, Ei, Pharul, Samheet and everyone else. We didn’t manage to get everyone’s name, and that we are not mentioning them is not at sign that they didn’t do their job. Everybody was doing their job perfectly. We also want to mention our room attendant Dharmendar who decorated our bed with nice figures every day. All the people working at the beach and poolside were also extremely helpful, from the lifeguards to the people distributing towels. We specially interacted with Ravi, but again we didn’t manage to get everyone’s name. Also worth mentioning is the frankincense sommelier Khalid, who took us on the fantastic journey through the hotel and telling us about the story behind each building. We had pre-dinner drinks at the piano lounge every day, and a great thank you to Mark and Chehan and their team for making and serving fantastic, cocktails and drinks. In the spa, we can mention Mega, but again, everyone was very attentive and did their best to make our stay as good as possible. This is a fantastic hotel and a true five star service. As of January 1st 2026 this hotel will no longer be operating under the Shangri-La brand, but will be taken over by Hilton. My only advice to the new owners is to keep the fantastic and dedicated staff , that go out of their way to give the guests five star experience. And for anybody suffering from food allergies you need not fear. This is taken care of in detail by chef Emad and his team. A short note on transfer to and from the hotel: we chose to book the meet and greet service with Primeclass, and we were met by the airplane stairs and driven through the airport, fast track passport control, and then straight transferred to a limousine to the hotel. Going back, we were picked up by limousine, taken to the first class terminal and luggage checked in for us. Afterwards, we got a small hotel room inside the prime class lounge to sleep some hours before our flight at 3 o’clock in the morning. This was a service beyond expectation. Especially if you have a late night flight, this service is superb.

Amazing place for family and the kids. We enjoyed the place and the hospitality. All the best for the crew. Kids club the clean and organised