Shangri La Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa

Just returned from a very enjoyable week at Al-Bandar and can see it’s obviously going to be a terrific, big resort, but it’s not really there yet! Although the construction work is not obtrusive (although there is a continual background drone presumably from a generator running the power at Al-Husn), there is a considerable amount of building still to be done on the Chi Spa, Heritage Village, Amphitheatre, and Al-Husn and several of the restaurants have yet to open. It looks as though it will be several months indeed before it is all up and running, and I’d advise waiting until next season before spending the fairly considerable amounts of money needed to stay here (there do not seem to be many real cheap deals now). The resort location is beautiful, approx 45 minutes drive from the airport (do not use the overpriced hotel limos for OR30 – local taxis are fine, waiting at the airport and cost OR15). The resort looks like being split into traditional economy class – business class – first class divisions, with steps up in quality and space as one upgrades. Press pictures of the Al Husn look fabulous, with images to rival the Chedi. Anyway, the current state of play at Al-Bandar: nice room, very well appointed, with small, rather bleak and not very private terrace. Staff were universally lovely across the resort – nothing was too much trouble. Wireless broadband was not yet working but available free of charge in the business centre, and the lazy river was out of action all week due to heavy rainstorms before we arrived. The gym has some terrific Life Fitness equipment, but looks to be too small for a full capacity resort – already all machines were occupied Food and drink is relatively expensive (London prices), and current restaurant choice is limited. The buffet at Al Tanoor was very good, Samba was OK, and reasonable snacky foods at Tapas, Circles and the Surf Cafe. However, the food did sometimes seem to promise more flavour than it actually delivered. Happy Hour (6-7 pm) at the piano bar not well advertised, but good value in “2 for 1” drinks, and a lovely place to spend an early evening hour. As previously described the situation with sunbeds is now reasonably good, and it’s unusual not to be able to find one. However, the BIG issue now is lack of shade, for there are way too few umbrellas and areas of shade on the beach and around the pool, and, critically, in the eating areas. In the summer this is really going to be a huge problem, especially at lunchtimes, if they don’t sort it. Key locations for sunbeds were always taken by 9 am (probably much earlier – I don’t know – we stayed in bed)! Finally, one issue to be resolved – on several days, especially in the evenings, there was a pervasive smell hanging over the resort, officially described as seaweed, but could equally be sewage! However, offshore the sea was covered with thick green algae/plankton so maybe it was just the seaweed ….. time will tell! All in all, a lovely resort, but it needs time to settle in.

Just got back yesterday from the Al Waha, and my comments would echo many of those above. The hotel will I think be great, but there are still some teething problems and inconsistencies. Firstly I would say if you have already booked dont worry at all! We had a great week, the weather is fantastic the hotels are in a beautiful location it is peaceful and generally all of a very high standard. You will have a great time! We were worried after reading the reports from the week before we were due to travel, but realised this was also Half Term week, and although the hotel has no real excuse they had probaby not seen this amount of people all at once since it opened. There is about a 50 / 50 split of Shangri La staff who have been brought in from other resorts to train Omani staff up and locals, and i think this explains some of the inconsistancies and preocuppation occasionally. Although in the week after half term we found the hotel to be almost 100% couples with young childeren. Great hotel if you have young kids as its so child friendly and the staff are very keen to look after families. Unfortunatley we dont have kids and found the incessant baby crying both on plane journeys and around the pool to be a bit wearing after a week, but my tip is to head for the beach area next to the hotel - much quieter! The Al Bandar looks more "coupley" and if I went back (assuming we havent had kids by then!)I would book there. The Al Bandar generally is a lot more thought out and stylish with beautiful cane double beds and large cup beds around the pool with deep cushions, and teak sun loungers on the beach. The Al Waha is more functional! Sun beds were still being bagged by 8am - and it was possible to get one after breakfast - but only just! You do find yourself sadly doing the same as everyone else, if you want a good spot! One nice touch is that the staff put mineral water in your room twice a day, morning and at evening turn down, they also come round a few times a day with chilled mineral water and slices of watermelon, de-lish!! Although i was peturbed to be told at 10:40 am that they couldnt give me any water until 11am ! (tip if you run low call Guest Services they will bring as many bottles as you like to your room!) We loved the happy hour at the Piano Bar at the Al Bandar and went there every night from 6 - 7pm before dinner. You get a voucher for every drink you buy in this hour to allow you to have a free one to the same value at any point that night (Tip if you dont see the cocktail you want on the menu they will make up whatever you want if you ask!)The beautiful oriental waitresses bring round free nuts, cheese, olives and snacks and the view from the balcony as the sun goes down and the stars come out while you sip cocktails is gorgeous! Food we thought was expensive, and my husband got food poisoning quite severly one night (after eating in the Al Tanoor - the Middle Eastern restaurant at the Al Bandar we think) which kind of ruined our last 2 days. Lunch can easily cost you £25 for two at the Surf Cafe - and we werent that impressed with it. Dinner around £50 for two, no booze. Breakfast was fantastic, loads of amazing fresh fruit, omletes and eggs cooked to order, breads, pastries - gorgeous! Although we only ever recieved the coffee and tea we had ordered on 2 out of 5 days (the rest of the day they bought it just as we were leaving - after about 30 mins) The Lazy River is out of action at the moment, the say because the "water is dirty" (didnt look it!) but they also have planks over it as they are painting the sea food restaurant which lies half way along it. This was a bit of a disappoinment as we were keen to try it! We took the hotel complimentary bus to the Souk (Tip book your place on the mini bus at least a couple of days early as they get booked up quickly) The Souk was a disappointment also - we got there at about 4pm and it was 80% closed up, and to be honest was a bit like walking around Slough market! ; ) Not much handcrafted beautiful objects d'art and jewelery (like I was hoping for) The best moments were comedic as we sat out the 55 mins of our 1 hour stop of before catching the mini bus back at a cafe along the front, we were treated to an arabic slanging match by passers by who sat down at a table with another couple of tourists, and a gang of kids waving an old coke bottle full of snakes at any tourist women sitting at the cafe!! Big tip - as a women, you are best to cover up arms and legs with floaty type clothes, arab men are not used to seeing any flesh , and unless you want to get stared at its best to respect the muslim dress. Flights wise we flew with Gulf Air and I can't agree with previous reports as we were reasonably impressed. Inflight entertainment is quite good and they have an outside camera above the cockpit which is quite cool. Food wasn't great but what do you expect! One critisism though the films were meant to have changed in March (we flew on the third) and they were still showing Febs so no Harry Potter which I think the whole plane was looking forward to! All in all i would say its great for what we went for - 5 days in the sun at a luxury hotel - but if you dont like kid noise - stay at the Al Bandar and dont expect there to be to much to do outside of the hotels! The Omanis are wonderful happy and friendly people, and the Shangri La really tried its best and I am sure will go from strength to strength. Hope this review was helpful!

We have now returned from our family holiday at the Al Waha hotel, Muscat. I stayed with my wife and daughter from the 12th Feb - 20th of Feb. I have read a few of the other reports about the hotel and can only assume that the people who think they had value for money must have got their holidays very cheap. I agree with one of the other reports that the hotel is currently operating like a 3 or 4 * hotel and will probably get to a 5* rating , but I didn't pay 3* money! Most of the staff were very, very good. I just felt they lacked direction from their management. The food at the samba is very good. The Al Tanoor not so good. Having had a chat with one of the waiters, I know I'm not alone in thinking there should be more curries etc to choose from. The surf cafe was also quite poor. I don't really want to slate the hotel as it is in a lovely location, with nice pools,beach and the lazy river is a great hit with the kids. I just wish they had sold it as a promotional offer or something, so you could have made allowances for things like the lack of sunbeds or waiting an hour for ice cream,40 minutes for cocktails,one 6 slice toaster between a couple of hundred people,rooms not being ready on arrival(waited 7 hours!). I would say choose another destination this year and maybe give it a go next year. Some of you may think I'm being a bit pickie but, you just don't get problems like this when you stay at somewhere like the Royal Meridian. I also see a few people complaining about Gulf Air. All I want to say is:- Can it be right that due to the flight the day before being cancelled our seats were taken and we were forced to fly home either the next day or via Bahrain. Yes we were compensated, but no where near enough, when you consider loosing a days work. As they knew about this problem.W hy didn't the charter another plane?. I for one will not fly with this company again.

We stayed at the Al Bandar for 7 days in february and I have nothing but praise for this new resort. Yes, there is still some construction being done and not all the restaurants were completed. However, i believe this was reflected in the discounted price that we paid. The staff were, without expection, polite, courteous, friendly and did their utmost to make this a special stay. The food at both hotels was excellent. Generally I am not that impressed with buffet style dining in hotels, but this was outstanding. My waistline has reflected this since our return. There was no problem with sunbeds - I assume that any previous difficulties have now been resolved. I have to agree, partially, with a previous reviewers comments about Gulf Air. Out outbound flight was once of the worst scheduled flights I have experienced. We waited over 3 hours for our meal to be served and one of the cabin crew had a stand up yelling match with a customer - something i have never seen before. The return flight, however, was fine, food served on time and friendly cabin crew. It clearly depends on the staff on the day. All in all this was a great holiday, very relaxing and we felt very pampered at the hotel.......

The hotel complex is made up three hotels, two of which are open, Al Waha and Al Bandar. Al-Waha is a family oriented hotel while Al Bandar claims to cater to business travelers. We went to check into our four rooms in Al-Waha but we found the rooms to be cramped and the patio rooms which we had booked and paid for were already taken. It took 3 hours for them to sort out other patio rooms in Al Bandar and we transfered there. The rooms were more spacious and the furnishings were much nicer, although Al Waha is more expensive. We ordered cots for the kids which took over an hour to get- by this time it was 3:30 am.The cots arrived but were broken!!! It took about another 45 minutes to get an extra bed. I found this ridiculous. Next day we alerted the reception that there would be an additional person arriving and we would need an extra bed, they said no. We had paid extra for a triple room but they would not give us a bed for the third person until we threw a fit. Then, all of a sudden, the extra bed would not be a problem. This was the jist of the stay- they respond well if you throw fits. Overall the staff are friendly, but very inexperienced. They just smile and say yes even if they dont understand what you are saying. NEVER depend on the concierge for anything. Ever peice of information we got from him was inacurate and all arrangements he made for us were messed up. Do it yourself and save yourself a headache. The beach is nice. The pools are amazing. Each hotel has three or four interconnected pools.The lazy river is a slow moving river which carries you in an inner tube between the two hotel pool areas. It is a pleasant way to get around for adults and kids alike. There are no shops open in the hotel-no gift store, no magazines, no toiletries. There is nowhere near the hotel to get supplies or food so make sure you bring everything you need with you-especially mosquito repellant!!!! It is a valuable commodity in a hotel of this many people with this many mosquitos ;-) Also bring your own buckets and spades for the kids, as I said there is no where to shop and the kids club is always out of buckets.

Having just spent the last five nights at the Shangri-La Al Waha I thought I would add to the comments of other TripdAvisor members. With much comment on TripAdvisor and from our agent, plus Shangri La’s own website; we had high hopes for this 5* star resort with it’s 19 restaurants etc etc. The tone of our stay was set at check–in when we were advised that the double room we had booked was not available until tomorrow!! We decided that the lobby really wasn’t the best place to stay so we managed to get a twin room and were assured we would be moved tomorrow. We were beginning to realise that all was not as it should be. When we asked which bars were open – we were told that the Piano Lounge was the only one open at the Al Bandar. We then tried to book in to the hotels only non-buffet restaurant – the Italian Capri Court – we were told that it was fully booked for the next two nights. Unfortunately, it was not worth the wait. The next morning the whole horror started to unravel – the orange towel ghosts had struck and by 9am all loungers were taken. But from that day on we were out there with our towels before returning back to bed and getting breakfast, something I haven’t done since the hey days of Majorca and mainland Spain!! If you didn’t succumb to this you did not get sun beds and you had no chance of any shade. It is true that all the restaurants are buffet – the Samba has an A la Carte option which is very good (but you have to ask for it), when we visited Al Tanoor, which according to the info in the room also had A la Carte we were politely told that they had dropped it! In fact we felt the choice of restaurants on offer was so poor, we got the hotel to put a car on for us when we ate out at The Chedi and Al Bustan. The staff were always pleasant but their lack of English, coupled with my lack of Arabic meant communication was amusing! All in all I would say if you have a family and like buffet food, don’t mind having no shade (there is a serious lack of it throughout the resort) and like lifting pushchairs up and down steps – then go. However I would wait at least 3-4 months for the spa, bars, alternative restaurants, and the third hotel to be opened so that you can at least experience the whole resort without the builders, diggers, decorators etc….. which are continuously in view and earshot. If not – go to the Al Bustan, true 5* from start to finish. I would just finish with the comment that this our third visit to Oman and if like us you like to get as far away from moaning, loud brits - well bad news as it seems they have found Oman.

When we arrived in the morning we had to wait a little while for our room but we were taken on a guided tour of the resort by a very nice young lady. We were very impressed with the design of the Hotel and you could see a lot of thought had gone into creating pleasant and luxurious surroundings. I would like to compliment the Staff at the Al Bandar for excellent, friendly service and the food was exceptional,my hat off to the chefs. Lazy River - long may it flow.

Well it's pouring with rain here in Oman so unfortunately there is not much left to do but to write a review for all of you coming here in the next few months who will hopefully experience better weather. The hotel is trying hard to be five star and will I'm sure it will succeed in time but at the moment it is hovering between 3 and 4. Plus points- nice beach, excellent buffet breakfast/ dinner,well furnished rooms. Negative points- loud construction noise from Al Husn building site next door, staff who obviously can't cope with so many guests, and lack of restaurants, many of which are still being built! Make sure your travel agent knows this! Room service is very slow with rooms not being cleaned before late afternoon. The sunbed problem which is mentioned in other reviews has been addressed and now there are plenty for everyone. For any of you worried about travelling to a Muslim country at the present time, Omani people are extremely ( and genuinely) friendly.

We have just returned from 8 nights at the Al Waha, Shangri La hotel and I agree with some of the other comments. The hotel was just not ready for the full occupancy and could not cope with the number of guests. It became a joke trying to get a sunbed in the shade and we were not prepared to get up at 6.30 am in order to secure a place. The beach staff really tried their best but we spent a couple of days at the Dive Centre to avoid the crowds and the mayhem. The transportation situation was a nightmare, it took us 4 days until we could get a place on the complimentary bus and the hotel did not provide a taxi service. We had to order taxis from Muscat, thus incurring the fare for them to reach the hotel. I asked the front desk if Muscat had a "designer" shopping mall and they advised me to go to the mall near the airport. I reiterated that I wanted a mall with chanel, prada etc. and they assured me this mall would be perfect. It was quite a surprise when the taxi dropped us off, the shops consisted of Mothercare, Claire's Accessories, Woolworths and Next (not quite what I wanted). That little jaunt (we spent about an hour there) cost approx. £50 for the return trip! We went for lunch at the Al Bustan and fell in love with the place, so tranquil and sophisticated and would have returned for dinner one night but unfortunately it was fully booked. All in all we found the Shangri La resort and spa very disappointing and even when they complete the resort, we would not return as it is too big and impersonal. In addition, we felt it will become rather segregated with the first, second and third rate hotels on the site. However after holidaying in Dubai, Qatar and Abu Dhabi, we would certainly return to Oman.

I stayed at The Shangri-La from 10th to 22nd Feb with my husband and 10 yr old. We embarked on our trip with an open mind as the resort is so new and not fully operational. Having stayed at Mina A' Salam, Dubai in September, we were interested in experiencing what Oman had to offer. I have read the previous reviews and mostly agree with what they have to say. However, I must add to those of you flying Gulf Air, I just don't know where the person who has slated them is coming from. We flew with them and they were fantastic - so I can only assume that they had a one-off bad experience. Having checked in at Al Waha, we were a little disappointed with our bedroom as it had two twin beds and nowhere for our Son. The porter immediately rang down to reception and this was sorted within 10 minutes. The issue with the sunbeds was beyond a joke - not on behalf of the hotel but by the brits who were staying there at the time! If a bed could not be found, staff went out of their way to find them for us. On more than one occasion however, we left our beds to go on the lazy river only to come back to find our beds stolen by our fellow countrymen! The first week of our trip the hotel was at a 90 percent occupancy and they were certainly short of beds and it was obvious they were caught out. However, the following week a delivery of beds arrived. The resort is in a beautiful setting and yes, is a little out of the way but management put on extra suttle services and taxi's were easy to come by - we used the bus into town and then got a cab back at around OR5 which you cann't complain about. We found Management extremely helpful and very available - all I can say is if you have a problem, ask to speak to the duty manager and deal with the problem in a polite manner - unfortunately, we saw too often our fellow countrymen shouting and bawling in reception - this solves nothing. The little bit of building work which is going on around the seafood restaurant is of no bother whatsoever and I would say the staff were absolutely wonderful and so willing to make your visit one to remember. Yes there are a few teething problems, but give them a chance to sort it out for you and behave in a civilized manner and they will come up trumps. We visited the Al Bustan for their Indian Buffet and it was fantastic and a little cheaper at RO11 per head. The Al Bustan is a beautiful hotel but has been open over 20 years, so obviously they've had time to get it right. I would only say that Al Waha is somewhat lacking the Wow Factor - Al Bandar is slightly better and I would also say that if you've not got children or have one's slightly older, Al Bandar would be better. The guys from the kid's club organise daily activities and always involve those children, like mine, who didn't attend the kids club in anything going on around the pool and on the beach. The location is wonderful and the people of Oman are some of the friendliest I have ever met. We went on a trip to the Wadi & Desert and our guide offered to take us on a private tour the following day. He took us to the Fish Souq; Omani Museum and to the most fantastic and a real must - Sultan Qaboos Mosque. It was absolutely beautiful. He then took on a drive around and showed us areas and points of interest we'd never have seen - it cost us RO25 which was fantastic considering the taxi's were quoting us RO10 each way just to the Mosque. I have a name and contact if anyone would be interested. The Oman Dive Centre is a beautiful setting and well worth a visit - book any dive or boat trips directly with them as it's cheaper. They will also pick you up from the hotel at a small cost. I would agree with an earlier reviewer that visiting Lu Lu - the Hypermarket just outside Mutrah - is well worth it especially if you've got a few children in tow - stock up on soda's and crisps etc. It's also a great place to have a look around and see whats on offer. Some friends of ours picked up some 'picnic' food that cost them next to nothing and ate like kings on their balcony! Just get the shuttle into Mutrah Souq and then a cab to Lu Lu's then a cab back to either Mutrah Souq in time for the returning shuttle or direct to the hotel. The hotel provide a shuttle between Al Waha and Al Bandar if you don't feel like walking to Al Tanoor or Samba. Some shops were beginning to open beside Al Tanoor just before we left and the guy selling Pashmina's has some of the most beautiful I have ever seen- reasonably priced and a very nice guy too. We bought phonecards at the Souq for RO2 which gave us about 8 mins. We used the phones in the souq. Just ask someone if you need one and they'll shout to someone who'll produce them! There's a clinic at Al Bandar and they are really helpful but there's also a guy at The Muscat Pharmacy in Mutrah Souq who just has everything! We just needed some Gaviscon for some over indulgence in good food, and hey presto. The Times of Oman is available in the lobby each day free of charge and the shop at Al Waha has the Mail and Express if, like my husband, you need to know whats going on! Otherwise, if you're like me, enjoy the beautiful setting and relax and unwind. Give them the chance to solve any problem you have and you won't be disappointed. Enjoy.