Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah, Muscat

One of the nicest resort experiences we’ve had. Very family friendly. And the staff is excellent

We were looking forward to ending our holiday with two nights in this hotel, but it was a little disappointing. The hotel is great in that it is clean, spacious, the staff are helpful, etc., but it is very much a resort (we should really have anticipated this a little more) and we felt we could have been anywhere in the world. It doesn't feel Omani in any way really. Having said that, our 10 year old loved the pools, the turtle talk was interesting, the breakfast buffet is fantastic, and we had a lovely meal in Bait al Bar one evening (better than the packed buffet restaurant). If you want to visit Muscat itself you'd probably be better off staying closer to the city, although I think the hotel operates a shuttle bus. We stayed in the Intercontinental earlier in the holiday which has a more Omani feel and is closer to the city.

Brilliant stay children absolutely loved the amenities and the hotel

Lovely staff great beach a wonderful place to relax

This is a resort that is best suited for a family get away. It is a great place to go and detox from the chaos of the normal rat race and have beautiful bonding moments with the family. We took the kids for a 5 day break and thoroughly enjoyed it.

We really enjoyed the resort. The service was excellent and the staff very friendly.

Great location, easy access to sister hotels. Good restaurants. They need more beach beds and umbrellas on the beach.

It was a wonderful experience to spend our weekend and my birthday here, though it was only for a day staycation but it was indeed worth it and memorable. The room was so lovely, clean, smeels good and facing the beach and lazy pool was such a view. All the staff that we met were all so accomodating and gracious. The reception also generously approved our request for a late check-out. And I was so touched and surprised that they prepared for me a birthday cake, such a sweet gesture. For the breakfast buffet, it was good but couldn't enjoy much coz i got sick. The only downside we got to experience was that the AC was not 'cold' enough as we were sweating in the middle of our sleep. But overall, our experience was great and lovely and def worth it.

The good stories… (the bad further below) Shangri-la Al Waha (Family Resort) Feb 17-22, 2025 Overall, verrrrry considerate staff and great place to take kids. The Kids Cool Zone we used minimally as our 4 y/o wanted to swim all day every day but had some fun activities scheduled hourly, every day! Henna, movies, bracelet-making are some to mention. Female staff very sweet there. The beach was clean and all lifeguards very attentive. Clean premises overall. Any staff member we encountered was very friendly and willing to help. Assistant Manager Ali of Al Waha buffet area was more than generous, warm, welcoming, always greeted us with friendliness and thankfully held our baby while we ate! Manager Rusiru was also kindly accommodating in giving us a new baby bottle as we misplaced the water bottle for our 9 month old. Very thoughtful! The other server staff always had a smile from time to time there was confusion and incorrect food brought from the omelette station to our table… communication error maybe? Room turn-down was great, Esha and her colleague (forgot his name) went out of their way to give us extra snacks, (Snickers bars, Oreos for our little one), delivered 1L bottles of water promptly when we asked. If we asked them to return at a later time as the baby was sleeping, they came back promptly at that time. Impressive! The crab, dog & fish made out of towels placed on our beds were super cute! We were always greeted by a smile from Esha and her colleague. Based on observation I would say most food service areas outside of the morning/evening buffet were short of staff due to the multi-day Indian wedding that took place at Al Husn. Swim areas luckily appeared adequately staffed. We were hoping for more Omani local delicacies (shuwa/mushkak) to be served at the restaurants and buffet - mostly western cuisine or Southeast Asian cuisine was served. For this reason we preferred to eat outside the resort. As we were finishing our last breakfast before going to the airport, the staff Nandar, Rusiru, Ali, Thaw, & Ishra serenaded us with a very yummy chocolate cake, a card with personalized messages from the staff, and Polaroid photos! Such an amazing farewell touch! Never experienced this before. Very well done! Assira (Shout out to PUTRA!!!) Putra at the pool food bar always asked us the right questions if we needed something but in a way to make us comfortable. So friendly, kind, wonderful smile, open, attentive. Good man. Sadly we didn’t have time to say goodbye. When Putra wasn’t working, we noticed the difference in service level THE NOT THAT GREAT PART!!….. Bait Al Bahr Tuesday Feb. 18, 2025, Reso @18:45 Dinner for 4 (2 adults, 2 kids). We sat down @18:45, we were one of the first five tables to be seated for dinner. No other patrons in the restaurant. Order placed by 19:05 latest. Appetizers arrived maybe around 19:40, main entrees didn’t arrive until 20:29. Our 4 y/o’s simple spaghetti with butter dish we ordered came out as spaghetti with tomato sauce. With a 4 y/o & 9 month old, an hour and 25 min wait for our main dish is less than ideal. Asked multiple staff members many times about the food ETA, some employees walked around appearing to not even really know what they were there for, supremely delayed response times from said staffers. These employees appeared to be walking aimlessly in circles, almost. After many “I’m sorry” apologies from server staff, asked to speak to manager, and was met with more “I’m sorrry” remarks from the manager with little confidence that our issue was being remedied. Only after we were insistent that no one even came over to check on us or give food updates, one meal was comped. Not an ideal setting for a family in my opinion.

We were able to spend 10 wonderful days at Al Bandar. The quality was absolutely overwhelming. The whole team was incredibly friendly and helpful. Our children were treated with so much kindness and warmth by everyone. The level of the resort and the service is just oustanding. We would like to say a special thank you to the people who treated us like royalty day after day: - Daisy - Shintia - Charitha - Anu - Suhail - Anton - Parul - Dawood Their friendly manner made our holiday perfect.