Alila Jabal Akhdar

Like it and hope to come back

Amazing Alila Jabal Akhdar - properly chilled We had a great time staying for 3 nights in late March and we enjoyed both the hotel and the hospitality provided by the staff very much. It was rather a long drive from Ras Al Jinz but was worth the effort. It was the Ramadan month so was not crowded. Temperature was cold and windy on day one, with morning only low teens, but gets very warm later. We stayed at the ridge view room which is spacious enough for us (thanks for the upgrade!). There is a lot to explore but my wife said she’s totally fine even just staying in the room. Unlike other reviewers, I found the food selection wonderful. We enjoyed the breakfast selection / cliff edge dinner. The F&B team Cousin / Soumen / Mirage took good care of us and Mirage even went extra mile to help me carry my little one back (both my kids fell asleep during dinner). Activities wise, Via Ferrata by Adil is the highlight but we also tried Yoga (Tiny) / Meditation (Three) / Kids club (Nur) / Starfazing and Geology walk by a knowledgeable lady (apologies for missing her name). All activities are very interesting. Although most activities need advance booking but often I find there were only 1-5 ppl sign up for the session. The infinity pool is a great place to empty your mind. There are small minor points that I think can be improved to make the experience to the excellent level. the bath tub hand held shower head leaks even when I turn the water to faucet only. Making the bath tub area wet sometimes. The toilet water sink was not aligned properly if you look at the gap to the wall but it functions perfectly. If there can be a small clothes spinner / dryer at the gym that would be great. I have seen this at other Hyatt properties such as Andaz / Park Hyatt. I chewed on a spiky thing (seems to me a large 2cm fish bone but guess could be lamb bones?) in the lamb served at the cliff edge dinner. Luckily I was not hurt and the chef assured he will further investigate it. Alila Jabal Akhdar is no doubt the highlight of our Oman trip this time. We would be happy to go back and try different rooms again. 3 nights is a minimum for this place I would say.

If you want to experience the Omani mountains, this is the place to go. Beautiful architecture, remote location with nothing but a tiny village around, great setup with a gorgeous view into the canyon and spectacular sunsets. The rooms are beautiful with a great view (we had the Jabal Terrace room and our three kids had the Loft suite) and the quality of the food at the Juniper restaurant is amazing. I love steaks and eat them all over the world but surprisingly I had the best steak in my life here. The servce in the Rose lounge does not match the high standard of the hotel. Not very professional and long wait at every stay and also at Juniper, the service was average except from Mrs.Khine Nyein who was the most lovely and waitress and we were happy th have her on our table most of the days. Also Mrs. Mvundla is to mentionas she was extraordinary in pre-arrival organization and reservation services. There are lots of romantic places and great hikes and activities. I have been reading in some comments about the high prices in the restaurants - yes - the restaurants are not cheap. But you get great quality in a remote location. Unfortunately there are a lot of for top of the notch food. Recommendation for my german unhappy countrypeople who are booking a 5-star hotel and expect McDonalds prices: 200 m left on the entry gate is the Murtafat Al-Sarab coffeeshop :-)