Centara Muscat Hotel Oman

This was one of the worst hotel stays I’ve had.

The room smelled strongly of sewage, making it impossible to relax. On top of that, despite the hotel advertising a non-smoking policy, other guests were openly smoking. Staff failed to enforce this, and I was forced to move rooms because of the smoke and smell.

The night shift team were dismissive and unhelpful when these issues were raised, which only added to the frustration.

There were also clear maintenance problems throughout the hotel: minor leaks in the room, visible damage, and loose tiles in the swimming pool, which is a serious safety concern.

In the Thai restaurant on site, I was bitten (likely insects), which raises hygiene concerns and should never happen in a hotel restaurant.

Finally, I strongly advise guests not to use the hotel’s airport shuttle. I was overcharged and felt taken advantage of — getting a local taxi would have been far better and cheaper.

This hotel does not meet the standard it advertises. Poor management, lack of policy enforcement, hygiene concerns, and dismissive staff made this an extremely unpleasant stay. I would not return.

We stayed two nights at the Cantara hotel in Muscat and found it perfectly adequate for our needs. It is located about a 15-minute drive from the airport on very straightforward dual carriage way roads. The area around the hotel is pretty ordinary, but there are plenty of small places to eat nearby and a Spar supermarket opposite. It is a 20-minute drive to old Muscat where most of the tourist sites of interest are located. These include the fish market (full of characters and a lot of fish! Go in the morning.) The Muttrah corniche, which makes a very pleasant walk from the fish market around the coast and gives good views of the Fort on the hill above you. The highlight of this area is Muttrah souk. We visited the souk in the morning and found it very pleasant indeed. All the shops were open, but it was relatively quiet so we could enjoy things without it being a hassle. It is one of the few places where you can buy gold, frankincense and myrrh all in the same place! The guidebook told us that it is much livelier in the evenings and if that's what you enjoy this would be ideal. However, Muscat is a very spread out city! So, if you stay at the Cantara hotel you will either need to take a taxi to see what you want to, or as we did, hire a rental car from the airport. The hotel itself was very good. Our room was large with everything you would expect; a large comfortable double bed, tea and coffee facilities, a fridge, ironing board and hair dryer, easy chairs, a desk for working and plenty of hanging space in the wardrobe. Best of all was the hotel’s very pleasant medium sized outdoor pool on the roof with very warm water! It was a lovely place to relax at the end of the day and catch the evening sunshine. We ate breakfast in the hotel which was a fabulous range of breakfasts from around the world ranging from American pancakes and syrup two Chinese delicacies – and also European cheeses, yoghurts and fruit together with English cereal and bread. We liked this hotel and would certainly come back to it again.