We are big fans of the Shangri-La just outside Muscat at Barr Al Jissah. We’ve enjoyed several restaurants there including Shahrazard (Moroccan Restaurant), the new Asia restaurant and feasted like kings and queens at the Al Tanoor seafood buffet as well as Samba’s international buffet. We jumped at this summer’s opportunity for residents to stay at this fine hotel for only 60 OR which included all taxes and buffet breakfast.
Because we came with kids, we stayed at Al Waha Hotel pictured here. There are actually 3 hotels at the Shangri-La: Al Waha (mostly for families with kids), Al Bandar and Al Husn (which is an adults only luxury hotel).
All guests get this nice resort map which comes in very handy as there is plenty to see and do!
My wife got a quick pic of me swimming (on the right) as the sun was setting.
This is very shallow pool that our son enjoyed a lot during our stay. Al Waha is a parents paradise as there is so much for the kids to do here, including the SplashPad and Adventure Zone. They also have babysitting services (for a small fee) if you want to enjoy a romantic evening at one of their fine restaurants.
Of course there’s nothing like enjoying room service at the Shangri-La!
You can always get a beverage from Assira Bar when hanging out by the pool. (orange juice was 2.5 rials…) Like the Al Bustan Palace Ritz Carlton Hotel, they provide ice cold bottled water in a small cooler for all guests lounging at the pool!
The pools at the Shangri-La are fantastic! And as I blogged about already, the Lazy River is also a lot of fun and a definite must-do at the Shangri-La.
There are plenty of recreational activities for every member of the family, including: kayaking, camel and horse ride, “turtle talk” tour for the kids, table tennis, badminton, billiards and snooker, water polo, beach volleyball, triathlon fun and mini-golf. The Recreational Activity timetable is provided in the room brochure. The hotel even provides free shuttle service to Muttrah Souk and to Qurum City Centre (with a stop at Bait al Zubair Museum available on request).
Giant sized game of chess, anyone? 😉
Some great family memories were had here!
Just to confirm – No, we did not climb into a time machine and enjoy our stay 90 years from now in the year 2102. Our stay was in fact in the year 2012. 🙂
Shangri-La remains our favorite hotel/resort in the Sultanate for so many reasons. Any other great fans of Shangri-La’s Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa out there? If so, what do you enjoy most about the resort? Reservations can be made at their website, www.shangri-la.com/muscat or through email at slmu@shangri-la.com (Tel: (968) 2477-6666
Andy in Oman 
Hi there,
I happened upon your blog through Jennifer at “My Sardinan Life”. I too am an expat and like ‘meeting’ other fellow Canadians. Look forward to seeing more. CTB
CTB,
Always good to hear from another Canadian expat! Thanks for the visit. Jennifer’s blog is really quite something. Let me know if you have a blog as well so I can check it out. All the best!
In most aspects this is really a nice hotel (as you can read in most other reviews)However, the following is a very disturbing fact:There are three separate(d) hotels within the Al Jissah resort. l Husn (First), Al Bandar (Business) and Al Waha (Coach) – if you understand the comparison with an airliner.All guests are allowed to use the facilities of all three, except for the Al Husn area, which is exclusively for Al Husn guests (understandable). This includes beach, beach chairs, restaurants etc.In deed this is unfortunate for the Al Bandar guests: the families from Al Waha (with all kinds of children) are streaming into the Al Bandar area most of the time (which has the nicer beach, nicer beach chairs, better restaurant etc.). Comparing the Al Waha area with Al Bandar, including the restaurant, this is understandable. Which is not to say that Al Waha is not value for the (lesser) money.And who wouldn’t like to pay for coach and use the business class inbetween?While we stayed at the hotel there were also conferences, football players and bicyclists partly crowding the place. But this was perhaps a coincidence.
Sugel,
Thanks for your thoughts. Interesting comparison between the 3 hotels at Shangri-La and the different classes of seats in an airliner. It kind of makes sense and I see where you’re coming from. I wouldn’t say that Al Bandar “has a nicer beach though”. Al Bandar and Al Waha are placed along the same beach. There is no Al Waha Beach and Al Bandar beach. You might get the wrong impression that because the beach is called Bandar Beach that it’s therefore meant for the Bandar hotel. Bandar Hotel is even marketed as “the resort’s focal point” so there’ bound to be a bit of traffic when it’s located in the central spot with many of the fine restaurants. 🙂 The fact that there are no walls of separation between hotels (except Al Husn as you’ve mentioned-but guests from the other 2 hotels can still enjoy itsr restaurants!) is what I believe is the charm of the Shangri-La’s Barr al Jissah resort.