Just saw this on Al Nahda Resort & Spa’s facebook page and thought I’d share it with you all:
RO 39 for single or double occupancy on a bed and breakfast basis.
RO 49 for single or double occupancy on a half board basis.
… Taxes included. All rates are based on a maximum of two adults sharing. Reservations must be made in advance.Valid for stays throughout May 2013.
Posted in Hotel
Tagged Al Nadha Resort & Spa, Al Nahda May special Oman, hotel offers Oman, hotel promotion Oman
“ITALIAN MASTER CHEF SERIES AT GRAND HYATT MUSCAT - Tuscany is set to welcome the first out of three Italian Master Chef series in May. Grand Hyatt’s award winning signature restaurant, Tuscany is set to host a five-day Italian Master Chef series from 8 to 12 May with Exclusive Sponsorship from Qatar Airways, a world class international airline offering 5-star travel experience of exceptional quality & comfort. 
Argentinean Chef de Cuisine, Francisco Canzano has extensive experience within the Hyatt brand. He started his career in Paris where he worked for the acclaimed Park Hyatt Paris Place Vendôme. On weekends he also worked in local brassieres adding accumulative experience in French and international cuisine. His next move was to Italy at the Park Hyatt Milan, where he learned all the secrets of the Italian kitchens and continued to pursue his career with a speciality in Italian cuisine. Chef Franco then moved to the Grand Hyatt Regency in Spain and learned more about Mediterranean cuisine. After spending years in Europe, Chef Franco made his way back to his home town Buenos Aires, where he worked at the Park Hyatt for six years as Chef de Cuisine at the main all-day dining restaurant. Chef Franco recently moved to Doha in January, where he quickly gained popularity preparing a fantastic variety of high quality food at Rocca, Grand Hyatt Doha.
Grand Hyatt Muscat’s General Manager, Garry Friend with Chef Francisco Canzano from Grand Hyatt Muscat’s facebook page.
On the last day of the Master Chef Series, Chef Franco will host a cooking class for interested and up & coming chefs on Sunday, 12 May. The cooking class will feature unique Italian ingredients and professional cooking techniques priced at RO 18 per person. Everyone is welcome to join, cook and indulge in delicious food.
For reservations or more information, visit muscat.grand@hyatt.com, call +968 2464 1234 or email muscat.dining@hyatt.com. Check the hotels Facebook page for more updates facebook.com/GrandHyattMuscat .
If you’ve never been to Tuscany, this is a great opportunity to check it out. Read our review of this fine dining restaraurant from about a year and half ago.
The family and I were recently invited to Wadi Shab Resort (between Quriyat and Sur in Tiwi) by the manager, Suman. Just the week before, one of my friends’s mentioned that she stayed there with her friend and enjoyed it so we didn’t hesitate to accept the gracious offer to check out the place in exchange for an honest review.
The manager wants to get the word out that the resort is now open for business, or a “soft opening” as they like to call it here in the Sultanate. He thought it would be nice to advertise the resort and what it has to offer here on this blog.
There are 34 guest rooms available at the resort: 17 standard rooms, 14 deluxe rooms and 3 luxury suite rooms. All the rooms have a direct view of the sea; one of the best beach locations on the whole Eastern coast.
We really enjoyed the small pool at the resort. With such a great beach location, we were surprised that they even had a pool. Definitely a bonus!
With fantastic views of the Sea of Oman and the majestic Hajar Mountains in the back, you couldn’t ask for a better location. We have been saying for years whenever we visit the East Coast that they need a hotel between Quriyat and Sur and we’re glad that there is finally such a place!
It’s just a short walk down to the beach.
The gorgeous beach at Wadi Shab Resort.
As much as I loved the beach at Wadi Shab Resort, I wish I had brought my reef boots as it was hard on the feet at some points.
The beach along Wadi Shab Resort must be about 5 kilometers long. Give yourself an hour or more to go exploring the coast towards Tiwi as there are some fabulous cliffs and rock formations. (I will be posting about this in a separate post when I get the chance.)
This is the view from our room in the early afternoon.
And this is the view from our room just after sunrise.
We were very satisfied with the room. The bed we slept in was unbelievably comfortable and the rooms had all the amenities one would expect from a 4 or 5 star resort in Muscat. Room amenities include: Flat Screen LED tv with many satellite channels (the other room had another flat screened tv as well), fridge (2 in luxury), telephone, hair dryer, safe box, electric kettle and complimentary tea/coffee, alarm clock, iron on request, baby cot on request and free wifi access in rooms and public areas.
There are actually 2 rooms that come with the luxury suite including a large sitting room with pull-out sofa-bed. The minifridge items are not overly priced like other hotels/resorts in the Sultanate. Example prices include chocolate bars for 300 baizas, softdrinks for 300 and mineral water is complimentary. We were also surprised at how low the room services were. (I had a burger and fries for 1.5 OR as a quick example.)
No complaints about the bathrooms. I like the large walk-in showers. It was nice to see that the luxury suite came with 2 bathrooms.
Yes, they do have a restaurant at Wadi Shab Resort. It’s quite simple but it does the trick! That’s the restaurant in the pic above with the backdrop of the Hajar Mountains. The indoor seating is the box-like orange section while the boat looking section is outdoor seating. It’s pretty clever to have their restaurant shaped like a boat and it looks quite charming lit up at night:
They have a nightly buffet if/when there are enough guests staying at the resort. We don’t know what it would cost for the dinner buffet as we only learned when trying to pay the bill that the manager arranged for our bill to be taken care of. Sweet! There is also the option of Beach Barbecue (BBQ) if you ask the resort in advance.
This is the restaurant inside during the breakfast buffet. Reserving the room is easy on their website and meal options are quite cheap (just learned)and can also be selected online (or later at the hotel) including breakfast buffet (4 OR/person), lunch (5 OR), dinner (6 OR), half board (10 OR), or full board (150 OR). The breakfast was great and we enjoyed a lovely scene of fishermen at work with their nets early in the morning:
Another beautiful morning view from the restaurant
This is the sight you’ll see as you approach Tiwi and the turn-off for Wadi Shab Resort. We were concerned that we might have problems locating the resort but there are clear green signs in several locations letting you know you’re going in the right direction and also informing you as to how many kilometers to the resort.
This is what the resort looks like along the Quriyat-Sur coastal highway. It took us 2 hours to reach the hotel from our home in Muscat – 30 minutes till we reached the Bouscher-Amerat mountain road and another hour and a half along the Muscat-Sur highway (no need to drive through Quriyat!!!). Once you make the turnoff and drive back in the direction of Muscat, you should be able to see the resort in the distance like in this pic:
You might want to read another review from another blogger who was there around the same time as us. The blog is “Omanly” (“ideas to improve the tourism of Oman”) and they shared their thoughts on Wadi Shab Resort here.
A big thanks to Suman (pictured here with Ahmed who works the frontdesk) and the entire staff at Wadi Shab Resort for giving us the royal treatment during our unforgettable stay!
Be sure to check out Wadi Shab Resort’s website at www.wadishabresort.com . Tel: +968-2475-7667, Fax: +968-2475-7668, email: wadishab@travelcity-oman.com
I posted this image more than a week ago (along with 2 other events advertised) after it was sent to me from Grand Hyatt Muscat. They wisely send out such promotions to those in media, including simple bloggers like myself. I hit the reply button and asked them to book us some seats for the launch of the buffet on Friday, April 19th and I’m glad we went as it was one of the best Friday brunches we’ve ever experienced in Muscat! I’ll let the pics do the talking!
The General Manager of Grand Hyatt Muscat, Garry Friend with guest of honor, Matthew vanKan, who performed at a sold-out concert the same evening at the Muscat Jazz Club (aka Copacabana).
If you do go for the brunch + alcohol deal, you should realize that alcohol is not served until 2pm on Fridays. We were more than satisfied with the brunch + unlimited soft drinks for 22 rials (all inclusive).
Carl the friendly DJ! Musicians are also part of the live music offered during this special brunch.
Probably my favorite pic from the brunch! 
The incredible Grand Hyatt chefs take a short pause for a group pic.
Just one of several plates I enjoyed… Eat today and diet tomorrow! 
Plenty of desserts!
Anyone familar with Mocha Cafe might realize from this pic that tables have been cleared away to make way for all the extra food provided in their Friday brunch!
We were very impressed with this new Friday “Beverly Hills Brunch” at Grand Hyatt Muscat! The best part was when we asked for the bill and the waitress came back to tell us that “the bill has been completely taken care of”! WOW! What a pleasant surprise! That had to be Nicole! We were more than ready to pay 22 rials (tax and unlimited soft drinks included) each for the buffet as the food was so delicious. I was especially impressed with the sushi, lobster and steak. The waitress informed me that the Beverly Hills Brunch will run until May 11th and then close due to the summer heat. I really hope that this brunch becomes a norm at the Hyatt as it really is a fantastic option for family dining on Fridays! You’ve got 3 weeks to try this buffet out before they close shop for the summer…I’d definitely make a reservation if you’re planning on attending as they were quite busy even on the first week of this promotion. (Tel: +968-2464-1234)
If you missed, it, Matthew vanKan‘s performance at Muscat Jazz Club (aka Copacabana), Grand Hyatt Muscat was stellar! Can this man ever sing! This was his first performance in Muscat and it was a sold out event to an exclusive crowd of 200 (to ensure everyone had an unhindered view of the stage). 
A big thanks to Nicole Bassit who reserved us some of the best VIP seats in the house just in front of the stage to the right. Here’s a small sample of what the evening was like. This is Matthew vanKan singing “I’ve Got You Under My Skin“: If you ever get a chance to see Matthew vanKan live, don’t hesitate to buy a ticket. He’s got a fantastic voice and is quite the entertainer.
To see what I mean about being a great entertainer, watch this next clip of him singing “What a Wonderful World” and see how he handles a table of men who can’t sing very well (table next to ours…), haha! Classic!
Like any great entertainer, Mr. vanKan would also give some history or deep thoughts behind some of the songs he sang. As one quick example, this is how he introduced the classic song “Mr. Bojangles”: “This song, I think, everyone loves it but I’m not sure that everybody has thought about what it really means. And I was on the tube in London a few days back. And realized, you know somebody fell over and nobody got up to help or do anything about it. And it just seemed really strange to me that that could happen and nobody kind of reached out. My Gran died a couple of years ago and she was like my #1 fan. And when someone is gone you realize the questions you didn’t ask, the things you don’t know about them. This whole life that’s lived, and especially with the elderly, you sort of forget that they’ve done all the things that we’ve done and more, and lived through much more than we ever have. You’re not necessarily that aware and it’s very easy to dismiss people as you walk past them or meet them through your lives and that’s the story of Mr. Bojangles. With that in mind, listen to the words and I’ll try not to cry. This is Mr. Bojangles.” And here he is singing Bojangles at the Grand Hyatt Muscat:
Listen to Matthrew vanKan on Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/#matthew-vankan
Check out his bio, music, events, gallery and even contact him at his website: http://www.vankan.co.uk/
Listen to his songs on Reverbnation: http://www.reverbnation.com/matthewvankan/songs
While you’re at it, make sure to “like” his music page on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/matthewvankanmusic
You can also follow him on twitter at: http://twitter.com/matthewvankan
