Al Bustan Palace, a Ritz-Carlton Hotel — Hotel in Muscat

We had a stay at Al Bustan Palace (Ritz Carlton) which overlapped Valentine’s Day and had a relaxing time in what is arguably one of the best hotels in Muscat and surrounding areas, where royalty from neighboring countries are occasional guests. The hotel provides a little bit of everything for all tastes, from the old school luxury for couples who want a premium experience, to activities for families with young children. This is a difficult balance to achieve for any hotel but AB Palace does a fairly good job in my opinion.

I booked the entry level room and was upgraded as Marriott Ambassador Elite to the Exec Suite with sea view which was highly appreciated.

The room was nice and there was plenty of space, however it could have been designed differently. The library room near the entrance was somewhat of a window-less (second) living room and we did not spend much time there. The terrace had nice sea views and mountains in the back from our high floor; the negative was that internet reception from the balcony was poor so when I needed to use my phone or laptop I had to go back inside the room which mitigated the appeal of the outdoor space.

The common areas are the strength of the hotel. They had classical music performers in the atrium during afternoon tea and live jazz music in the Al Maha lounge bar for the more mature crowd; kids did not partake in afternoon tea and did not go to the jazz bar (except for our well-behaved daughter of course!) and regarding dining, families with children tended to pick the buffet rather than the upscale a la carte restaurants. In the afternoon children mostly went to the slides and water splash park, but I can imagine some adults might not be happy at the main pool with some children around, although there is still a solution for that, some rooms have direct access to a semi-private pool shared by a few rooms.

The dinner buffet had a different country theme each night so guests on a long stay would not get bored. The food quality was quite good – it was not a low-end buffet by any stretch of the imagination. But where the hotel stood out the most was with the fine dining restaurants. The China Mood restaurant had an extensive a la carte menu along with a signature set menu. The Pavilion restaurant near the beach had the best location and they organized a special Valentine’s Day set menu which was enjoyable.

Breakfast was not as impressive as the various dinners we had but there was enough variety including Indian and Asian dishes. The main point of improvement would be to have more a la carte options rather than only eggs.

Service was a mixed bag during our stay. It started well upon arrival with in-room check-in, also staff in restaurants / bars in the evening were excellent. I made frequent use of the mobile chat function for various requests and service was good from them as well; they got back to me quickly with suggestions from the concierge. In addition, housekeeping was done exactly when requested every day. One area where service could have been better was during the breakfast buffet where staff tended to be busy and some orders were missed. Also when I asked to organize a hotel car to drop us off at two different locations, it seemed the driver was not prepared and was simply told to drive us around; he did not know exactly where to drive and he was relying on me for directions which was not a good idea.

Overall Al Bustan Palace is a resort with very impressive architecture, facilities, and a large estate perfect for relaxing on a resort close to Muscat. It was more family-oriented than I expected and we will return for sure. Guests who want a quiet time would be able to do so for the most part, depending how they choose their venues...

Ritz Carlton rushes to a reputation that is known beyond the borders of the hotel industry. The service and individual support should be second to none. This was the reason why we chose the Al Bustan Palace. We booked for 2 adults and 2 babies.Because we expected a late arrival around 9 pm we wanted ensure that the baby cots were safe in our room we called again 1 week before arrival. On the day of arrival at 10 pm we heard from the reception that there was no booking in the Hotel System. (We had the written booking confirmation of the hotel against it) It took 20 minutes until a room could be found. We asked again about the baby cots and we were assured that everything was done. Once in the room there were no baby cots. This was communicated to the hotel but nothing happened ... After 30 minutes with screaming babies we called again and 20 minutes later the baby cots finally came. By the time we all slept, it was 1 am. Unfortunately, we sometimes woke up again at night because the light in the bathroom could only be switched on when the main light switch was activated.

Our room was beautifully situated, as you can imagine from a 5 star hotel with exclusive requirements. The loud outside sounded directly at the elevator with a lot of night traffic, sleep in open window was out of the question; there was an air conditioner outside ( we did not use the air condition because of the two 11 month old babies ) and the supply route to the hotel was right below us. Usually you get a lockable trash can for the diapers in upscale hotels. Unfortunately, there was no such thing on request. So no air conditioning, used diapers by 2 babies or a lot of noise for 5 more days... The next morning we would like to take a shower, which was only cold water in this 5 star hotel. We also went to the front desk. This would be a good opportunity for average management to just swap rooms. Not here, man is waiting for us to go to the room .... It was noon until all things were fixed. Half of the light must be switched off so that you can switch on the light in the bathroom separately!

On the second day there was a wedding in the hotel, very close to our room. The music played until midnight and the babies couldn't sleep for hours. Around 1 am we all fell asleep. On the fourth night there was a call from the reception at 1am. Once again both babies were awake and it took 1 hour to sleep. When I went to the reception at 2 am to be less than happy to ask why they had to wake a family of 4 at 1 am , they became quite unfriendly. It was a piece of luggage that was delivered after 4 days. Therefore I would have to take this personally at night at 1 am .... „This is not the job of reception“ At least at the front desk it was very serious about cuddling customers.

Unfortunately, the management did not respond sensibly. All in all, we had few days in this hotel.

It has a great location and beautiful garden. The entrance hall is overwhelming. Almost all employees are incredibly friendly and courteous. But these are all things you can and should expect in a hotel with room prices from € 500. It is unacceptable that such a house is served black tea without knowing how long the bag has been in the water, that you have to wait 50 minutes for lunch at 2 p.m. or 20 minutes in an aging fitness center one of the few not broken devices.

This review is based on our individual experience and our expectations of this hotel. Many great people looked after us and our babies very well and did a fantastic job. However, this cannot hide the inability of reception and management to recognize problems and solve them with enthusiastic customers in the end. Here Al Buscan has...

Where to start? Impressive lobby. Like seriously impressive. We refered to it as the ice cave, since it was also cooled down to sub zero temperatures - at least that was the feeling when you came in from outside. Al Bustan palace is supposedly the hotel in Muscat, where international delegations arrive and sultans mingle. This certainly obliges to 5-star service, amenities and food of course. Well. Let me explain to you why I wasn’t that impressed after all. Our room was quite small and facing the parking lot. They called it „mountain view“, but I guess you get what you pay for and that‘s absolutely fine by me… everything appears a bit old-fashioned though not exactly outdated. Except for the lighting system and plumbing. If you‘re an early bird, prepare for a cold shower to help you get your blood flowing faster… we didn‘t manage to get warm water even after letting it run for more than 10 minutes straight at 6:30 am. If you bring a lot of devices that need charging, you might want to carry some multiplier sockets as well. We had to unplug the coffeemaker to find at least one outlet for us to use… at the bedside there was exactly one USB outlet on one side of the bed - you may have to fight for who gets to charge his or her phone close to the pillow. A not so perfect event was lifting the cover of the sinkhole in the shower/bathtub since we had the feeling that drainage was impaired. The residue and hair clot of some former guests was an unpleasant discovery - but it‘s removal solved the drainage issue at least. If your better half follows a different morning routine and schedule, you might have some fun with the room‘s interesting lighting concept. My spouse likes to hit the shower early, but to achieve lighting in the bathroom, you have to switch on the master which simultaneously turns on literally all room lights… so me as the one still trying to enjoy some napping immediately felt like being on the red carpet at the academy awards. A few areas in the floors and hallways need maintenance like some obvious water damages of wooden panels and such. Oh, and finally some important information if you come by car/rental and have to leave early… we discovered that no valet service was available at 7:00 am. I was somewhat caught off guard when the concierge just handed me my car key while we were waiting with all of our luggage, ready to rush to the airport, pointed to some remote parking location and informed me that my car was to be found in spot B something… to my question if I had to get it myself he responded that he didn‘t drive. Alright. On the other end: the premises of Al Bustan, especially the outside/pool/beach areas are stunningly beautiful and in a very good shape. Breakfast is incredible with an endless selection of high quality food items, outdoor seating options in abundance and very swift and friendly service. One morning I found myself chewing on a piece of plastic that made its way into my shakshuka… but these things can happen in a busy kitchen. The gym is quite fantastic too, you can run the treadmill and enjoy an unblocked ocean view. No one was using the tennis courts, but there are plenty. The staff was helpful, attentive and friendly throughout, except maybe for the guy that handled our luggage, who seemed a bit upset that reception had sent him in the wrong direction initially. All in all we didn‘t feel that the Ritz-Carlton was very good value for money in Muscat, given there are other choices in the same category . If you book and pay for a five star hotel, I believe you might deserve a little more that just a massive lobby with crystal...