Mandarin Oriental, Muscat

Everything about the hotel, its facilities and location were exceptional, but we have to mention the friendliness of the hotel staff. Every member of staff we dealt with could not do enough to make our stay extra special. Would 100% recommend this hotel to anyone visiting Muscat.

Amazing from start to finish. The hotel is new and situated about 15 mins from the main mosque and similar time to the malls and Mutrah. Given it has only been open a year, the facilities are top quality, with the service to match. The rooms are decent size, come with decent toiletries and plush slippers and gowns, really giving you a luxurious stay. The pool was never crowded and very peaceful, little tiffin bags are given with cold water and loungers set up for you. There is sun lotion and after sun available also for people to use, brilliant touch. Breakfast was amazing, mix of a la carte and buffet and very friendly staff. We split our stay here and in Shangri la which cost the same, however the hotels and the experience were miles apart. Although Shangri la has the views as an advantage, you just dont get the luxurious stay vibes compared to the MO.

Everything from rooms, pool, spa, resto are top notch. Relaxing atmosphere, ocean views.

Absolutely unforgettable stay! From the very first moment we were welcomed with heartfelt warmth, but what truly amazed us was the exceptional service at breakfast – Maryam is simply outstanding: incredibly kind, attentive, and full of genuine care. She, together with the whole team, made every morning feel perfect. Sultan surprised us before my birthday with a beautiful gesture, the pool area is breathtaking, Essenza offers a stunning ambience, and the room view was extraordinary. This is by far the best hotel experience imaginable – thanks to the phenomenal staff who made our honeymoon magical!

Apparently this is the newest hotel in Muscat and it’s been open 12 months. Its entrance leads to an elegant and not massive lobby lounge with Reception and Concierge desks discreetly tucked away at opposite sides. My family occupied sea view rooms. Each was slightly different in layout. Fortunately, the one I occupied was the best layout. Modern, elegant, comfortable, with superb view of the sea. But watch out that there is no area for those who need to spend time on a laptop for work of for virtual meetings - it was a first time for me. Fortunately I managed to use the dressing table as my work desk. Is it realistic for the owners or management to contemplate a hotel room with no working area? The other observation is that the shower stall is badly designed - when closing or opening the door, water simply flows out into the bathroom area - and exposes the hotel to being sued when a guest finally does slip, fall and injure himself! The restaurant on the LG floor serves what was misleadingly seen at the onset as a minimalist breakfast buffet. But when discovering that its complemented by an a la carte menu, we soon realised that whats being offered is actually a wide variety. And the daily Asian specials are really very good and a welcome change to the daily Omani cuisine The hotel opens to a long beach which is active at sundown when the locals boulevard up and down. Very tranquil. The only weaknesses are the inconsistency of service levels. In room, laundry lists are forgotten to be placed daily. At the lobby lounge, it was difficult to attract service attention. At the breakfast room, orders were not consistently acted upon. At the concierge desk, the concierges were frequently absent. A note that both concierges are good but need to be challenged to show their best, otherwise they may just deliver “same old same old” service levels. But what does stand out is that notwithstanding inconsistent service levels, the staff are all friendly and try hard to please - perhaps because they are from so many nationalities The standout has to be Cheryl from Guest Relations. She raises the bar for personal attention. The other senior managers are diverse in nationalities and experienced led by an experienced GM . Hopefully they will be able to impart their experience in service excellence to all their staff - that will make this property a stand out in terms of hardware and software. Muscat is a contrast to the fancy skyscrapers of the other Gulf States and Emirates. It is surrounded by beautiful mountains and canyons and proximate to the sea rich with marine life. It is calm. I enjoyed the contrast - and the MO does stand out as the hotel property which I hope to return

The best thing about this property is the staff. Special mention to Kygean, Hilton & Otman who are a credit to the MO brand in every way. Slightly annoying that the club lounge was closed for the duration of our stay, evening drinks being moved to Essenza instead. If it wasn’t for the amazing Kygean and his unrivalled drinks knowledge & charm, we wouldn’t have enjoyed the experience as much. We also asked to move room given we were in a Mountain View suite overlooking the main road outside and would have preferred an ocean view. We had a conversation with management who promised to come back to us around availability, but never did. Slightly poor in this respect - even if there were no other rooms available, it would have been good to have had this communicated to us. Very limited for evening dinner also with only one restaurant option. All in all a pleasant enough stay over the week but better options exist in Oman - we decided to cut our stay short at the MO and move to the Jumeirah Bay for our final 2 days (I will review this separately).

Liked the place and atmosphere. Everything is really really clean and the hotel is really fresh. Food was tasty. The restaurant supervisor was really helpful and caring. So I definitely recommend to visit this place

We had a wonderful stay at Mandarin Oriental Muscat! Very warm and attentive colleagues in the whole hotel. Especially Marsya welcomed us warmly at check-in, which set the tone of our stay. At breakfast Sara and Otman were very engaging and attentive. Sanjeet at the pool was was very friendly and proactive throughout our time there. Our highlight was Zacharia from the Concierge team, he had fantastic recommendations and his hospitable personality made our stay unforgettable.

I attended a wedding at Mandarin Oriental and the staff, especially Anusha, was very helpful throughout the ceremony. Their support and professionalism made the experience truly enjoyable. Highly appreciate the excellent service!

One of the most beautiful MOs hotels I have ever stayed in. The Omani touch was present in every corner of this hotel which gave it a special charm. The room decor, the lobby, the art work done by the Omani artis Alia Al Farsi, everything in this hotel preserved the Omani identity ! Of course, not to forget the warm Omani hospitality and the professionalism the staff has. I am a MO fan and will always be a fan of this hotel. Will surely be my hotel every time I am in Muscat!