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Shangri-La Al Husn Resort & Spa

Shangri-La Al Husn Resort & Spa

Muscat, Oman

With a dramatic setting overlooking the Sea of Oman, the Shangri-La Al Husn Resort & Spa offers Omani hospitality and Arabian luxury with a wide range of lavish dining and leisure facilities.

The location is one of the Shangri-La's key attractions as the hotel is backed by rugged mountains that arc down into the turquoise waters of the Gulf of Oman. The name means 'castle', and it aptly has sweeping views of the bay from its commanding location on the sandstone heights up above. The lavish interior, with ornate plasterwork, Arabian alcoves and luxurious furnishings reflects the style of a Sultan's palace.

Two sister properties, Shangri-La Al Bandar and Shangri-La Al Waha, sit next door, just below Al Husn's hilltop setting. Guests at Al Husn are free to use the facilities at these sister properties, opening up a wide range of dining and leisure possibilities.

Al Husn is only open to adults. Families are welcome to stay at the two sister properties next door, which have a larger range of children-focused entertainment.

OUR OPINION:

We think that Al Husn has been well-designed with traditional Arabic artistry, and provides the ultimate in luxury. The resort has excellent facilities, and with luxuriant gardens and meandering waterways, feels very spacious. 

The beaches that the resort is built around are a dramatic change to palm-fringed white sand hotels — an ideal option if you’re looking for something a little different. With a wide range of restaurants and cafés across all three sister hotels, this would suit those who would like a secluded location without compromising on dining choices.

OUR RATING: Deluxe

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Rooms

The 180 spacious, richly decorated rooms all have a balcony with views of the pool, beach or sea. The decor is contemporary with Omani influences including opulent fabrics, carved wooden furniture and Arabian lantern-style light fittings.

Location

The Shangri-La enjoys a secluded location, set in its own bay. In front of the resort lies a long stretch of golden beach which shelves gently down into the blue waters of the Sea of Oman, while behind the hotel, the rugged sandstone mountains provide a dramatic backdrop.

The hotel’s beach is private, and stretches for a kilometer (0.6 miles), while down a short path, there is also a smaller, secluded beach at the edge of the mountains, called Turtle Beach.

The hotel provides complimentary shuttles to Muscat, 15 minutes’ drive away. It’s a good idea to reserve seats a day ahead or, alternatively, taxis are easy to arrange. There are no local restaurants or shops within the immediate vicinity of the hotel, but the resort offers a wide range of dining options.

Food and drink

One of the highlights of the resort is the huge range and quality of dining options open to guests. As well as the dining options at Al Husn, guests can also eat at the restaurants of the two sister properties next door.

At Al Husn, the stylish Sultanah restaurant is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, serving an international menu of à la carte dishes. Shahrazad restaurant has a richly opulent Moroccan interior, serving subtly spiced Moroccan dishes, accompanied by live Moroccan music. A smart-casual dress code is required.

At Al Bandar hotel, Tapas and Sablah is set in a large square with views over the gardens to the sea beyond. Open for dinner, it offers a mix of Mediterranean and Asian tapas, as well as Middle Eastern mezze. Some evenings, traditional music or dancing takes place on the square, and hookah pipes are also available.

Capri Court, also open for dinner, offers Italian cuisine in a stylish restaurant overlooking the gardens and beachfront. Al Tanoor is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, serving buffet meals with a wide choice of Arabian, Mediterranean, Indian and other international dishes.

Set on the beachfront between Al Bandar and Al Waha hotel, Bait al Bahr is a charming, intimate seafood restaurant, with both indoor and outdoor dining, overlooking the sea. Enjoy one of the à la carte dishes, or wander over to the Seafood Market to take your pick from the array of fresh fish caught by one of their dedicated fishermen from the local village.

Al Waha hotel offers two relaxed, family-friendly dining choices. Samba is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, offering buffet meals with flavors of Asia, the Mediterranean and Latin America. The Surf Café is open all day serving burgers, sandwiches and salads, alongside internet stations.

At the hotel’s souq area, there is a choice of three dining options; an all-day café, a contemporary Asian restaurant with four show kitchens, preparing the best of Asian cuisine, and a Lebanese restaurant serving Middle Eastern cuisine.

There’s also a wide range of bars and lounges, including beach and pool bars.

Please note that hotel restaurants can be busy at the weekend (Friday and Saturday) with local residents and ex pats. We recommend you ask your specialist to pre-book for you.

Families

Al Husn is only open to adults and we recommend families to stay at Al Waha or Al Bandar, as the atmosphere there is family-friendly with better facilities for children.

Facilities and activities

The hotel has plenty of activities to keep guests occupied in between their poolside relaxation, many of these include water sports with snorkeling tours, dolphin watching and diving all available at the Marina. The private sandy beach and impressive infinity pool overlooking the Gulf of Oman, are exclusively reserved for hotel guests.

The onsite Hareer Spa offers a wide range of relaxing and restorative spa treatments using L’Occitane products. The spa is the first in the Sultanate of Oman to use L’Occitane. Ingredients in the treatments draw on nature and authenticity of origin. 

There is a full onsite fitness center open 24 hours a day for those dedicated to exercising during their stay.

Local excursions

There are daily dolphin and whale-watching excursions, as well as snorkeling trips, and sunset cruises.

This is a good location if you’re keen to explore more of Oman. Muscat is only a short drive away, and is a fascinating city with lots to explore whether you’re interested in shopping, history or architecture. A variety of sightseeing excursions is available from the hotel.

Diving

The dive center has scuba diving and snorkeling facilities, and is a PADI Five Star Gold Palm Resort. For the best snorkeling, we would advise taking a boat offshore, which can be arranged by the hotel.

The dive center welcomes beginners and certified divers for daily scuba-diving trips. Courses start in the hotel pool, and later move to the ocean to discover the rich waters of the Arabian Sea, full of brightly colored fish, turtles and other sea life.

Spa Facilities

The Shangri-La group is renowned for its spa facilities. Al Husn guests can use the facilities of its sister resort at CHI, The Spa, set between Al Bandar and Al Waha hotels which has a peaceful water oasis and 12 treatment villas.

Tour ideas in Muscat

Our itineraries are there to spark ideas for how you could include a stay at Shangri-La Al Husn Resort & Spa as part of your trip. Treat them simply as suggestions, because every aspect of the trip we create for you will be yours to define.

Location & places nearby

Places & hotels on the map

    Alternative places to stay nearby

    Where possible, we like to offer a range of accommodation for each stop of your trip, chosen by our specialists as some of their favorite places to stay. To help you make the right choice, we give each property a rating based on its facilities and service, but we also look for hotels with distinct character or a location that can't be bettered.

    Experiences while staying here

    The following activities are designed to give you the most authentic experiences of the area where you're staying. We work with local guides, who use their knowledge and often a resident's eye to show you the main sights and more out-of-the-way attractions. Our specialists can also suggest outdoor pursuits and activities, such as cooking classes, that will introduce you to the traditions of the area's inhabitants.

    • Muscat City Tour
      Lanterns at Sultan Qaboos Mosque, Oman

      Muscat City Tour

      Muscat City Tour

      Begin at Sultan Qaboos Mosque, completed in 2001, it is an enormous place of worship. With a large men's prayer hall, an adjacent women's prayer hall and further space in the courtyards and passageways, a total of 20,000 worshipers can gather at one time, making this one of the largest mosques in the world.

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    Muscat and nearby places