Stayed at the Chedi for a week beginning of March and loved it. Very relaxing, staff can not do enough to help you and make you feel welcome. The Spa had an excellent choice and very professional. Room service twice a day with fresh fruit daily. Water was distributed free whilst on the beach and around the pool and surrounding areas kept immaculate. We will definitely be going again later this year.

Decent hotel but nothing special and certainly nothing to rave about. The standard rooms are just that and a not somewhere you want to spend time in the evening or during bad weather (it rained two days out of five in Feb 05). The lack of outside space came as a real surprise, the minibar was stocked with just drinks and two toblerones and they don't even have doors on the wardrobes. The restaurant food was good but service lacked polish and my reservations (which were made by email 3 wks in advance, as the restaurant gets busy) were lost. Poolside dining was okay but we had to send food back of three occasions, as it wasn't cooked. The hotel was very busy during our stay (it seemed the entire population of Chelsea were on holiday - you could certainly hear them!) and I really don't appreciate having to hit the pool at 8:30am every day in order to secure a sun bed (limited supply) but no other choice and assistance from poolside staff non-existent. We arrived on a Gulf Air flight at 8am but had to wait until 1pm before our room was ready - no day room or any staff assistance, so we sat in one of the lounges for 4hrs. Back to Dubai it is!

We stayed here in February 2004 and LOVED it. In response to the other reviewer about lack of terraces/balconies - there is a TOP TIP.
In the Main Serai building where the Standard Serai rooms are located, on the second floor there are about 4 rooms which have access (through french doors) to a huge, "shared" balcony - about 25 meters long by 3m wide. In order to get to it you have to move the desk in the room and open the french doors, but once you are out there it is, indeed, a delight. We got allocated this room by insisting that we had to be in a room where the windows could be opened. These are the only 4 Serai rooms where this can be done! We were in room 2256 in case that helps.
We also spent a half day dolphin watching and fishing which was a long day ( you are out of the hotel for far more than half a day) but we saw over 500 dolphins and caught fish too!

We have recently returned from an excellent week at the Chedi. Hotel is set in lovely grounds, well designed with the soothing sound of water from either the fountains or the sea. Service on the whole was good and food excellent. Standard room had everything you needed although some people may not like the open plan layout. Pools were great and good to have adults only one. Great place to relax and wind down. It was also worth exploring the country, trip into the mountains near Nizwa gave an insight into Omani life.

We stayed at the Chedi in October 2004 for 10 nights. From the ice cold minted fruit juice provided as we checked in to the jasmine scented frozen flannels delivered to you as you lounged by the pool side, the hotel took service to a new level. It was very hot when we stayed and we loved the icy blast of the air conditioning in our beautifully furnished room. The staff were friendly and attentive but discreet. The food both at the pool bars and the restaurant was exceptional. The spa sublime. We tend to be very active holiday people (trip before was a trek in the Namib) and wondered how we would cope with doing nothing. Oh too easily is the answer. It took us five days to venture out of the hotel grounds but it was well worth it when we did. Wadi bashing was a fantastic day out and Muscat is fascinating. Food and drink at the Chedi are expensive so it won't be a cheap holiday but you will come back feeling totally relaxed. Adults only pool is huge plus point.

Stayed at Grand Hyatt 1 week in Feb 2005 and visited Chedi for a meal to check out whether we had chosen the correct hotel to stay in.

Poorest meal quality of the week, no comparison to the very good food we experienced in all four restaurants at the Hyatt. Service was unwelcoming and not very professional at restaurant reception. although our waiter was nice.

Hotel reluctant to take any booking from the Hyatt for any day of the week, before 9.45pm, regardless of availability. We arrived for a drink and checked directly with restaurant reception for a table which was no problem at all. When we later mentioned we were staying at the Hyatt. they then tried hard to get out of their commitment to us, but we persisted. Plenty of table availability as it turned out, and quick service to the table, so kitchen did not appear to be under any pressure.

Appeared a beautifully designed hotel, but this alone does not make for a good hotel. We were pleased with our choice of the Hyatt, which has high standards and is truly welcoming, and in a better, more upmarket, central position without so much aircraft noise.

Hotel staff believe their own PR, we think.

Staffing issues referred to by previous reviews are the same for all hotels in Muscat, and don't stop other hotels providing truly good service.

In addition to our mumble here's a few photos

Fantastic hotel, stunning design, amazing food. Spent 4 days here and came back thoroughly relaxed. Great for a long weekend due to new non stop flights on Gulf (only 7 hours) - but would get bored after 7 nights.

What is CRUCIAL! - save up and get a suite (good value) - you need a balcony or terrace in this heat, the Superior & Deluxe Rooms do not have. Better to save your money if you intend to stay in the cheaper rooms - this isn't snobbery but bad design of the hotels not to give all rooms a balcony.

Oman is a great place, very difficult to get to other restuarants from the Chedi, but who cares when the food is this good! The limited staff numbers people mention is because of strict regulation on the number of non-Omanis that hotels can employ - make it very difficult to get enough suitable staff - although I think the hotel are very aware of this. No idea how the new Shangri-La will cope when it opens.

Beats Dubai hands down...

The Chedi Muscat

Some facts from our visit... apologies in advance for the ramble but I hope you find it useful

1] The hotel is very child friendly and families are well segregated from the beautiful people area of the resort (who have their own beautiful people infinity pool).

2] The food is excellent and I would not fail the wine list given the circumstances. The service we experienced was exceptionally good -- but then again we are quite a friendly bunch. The staff could not do enough for our party and our daughter. It did not seem like a heavy partiers kind of place.

3] The Hotel is run lean and very efficiently for normal loads -- however they had service problems in peak periods - this goes for cleaning rooms in a timely manner and food arriving quickly in the restaurant. We were told that they were hiring more staff...

4] The restaurant is very very popular and the hotel has great difficulty keeping outsiders out and space kept for guests.

5] The Hotel is a monument to design - and as such it is also a monument to style over function. Don't bring a lot of luggage... and you will be ok if you get into the spirit of the place.

6] The beach is stony - and not the idyllic white powder that you may expect. It seems strange that hotel with such style would be located so near a large desalination plant (same beach).

7] There are at least 100 commercial aircraft movements in and out of Muscat Airport. Given the wind direction they may flight right over the hotel -- as most did during our stay. Military aircraft (RAF Nimrods) were especially noisy. The noise seems out of place with the serenity of the location. We got used to the noise - other guests did not.

8] Peak periods - the hotel lacked the number of deck chairs during the Christmas rush. This led to a very unrelaxed rush in the morning to grab a chair -- this was most un-5 star aspect of the resort. The beach staff had great difficult dealing with the load.

9] We not impressed with the GM - he would make little effort to welcome the guests - despite the various problems they faced. This was invariably left to (local, south Asian) departmental heads to fend off with limited success. We did hear numerous grumbles... and a few "I am never coming back..."

10] Do not expect the usual 5 star hospitality of a late check out, or access to a day room. They cannot deliver and the best you can get to pay for another night. Given the flight times - you should not expect an early check-in either (regardless if you have booked a suite or not). Given the flight times in and out of Muscat - this is something the Hotel should work on.

In conclusion: The Chedi may well be a victim of its own success. It may be too popular for its own good - not enough staff or facilities for guests in peak periods. It may have been too full to allow management any flexibility to resolve problems. Still, the staff treated my family royally - so much so that if they are still there we will definitely go back (...but maybe not in peak season)

The Chedi is without doubt a beautiful hotel but is a real example of style over substance - both in terms of functionality and the most important element of all hotels - customer service.

Customer service from the management can only be descibed as appalling - from inflexibility on minor requests such as early or late check ins to really serious failings in dealing with bigger issues.

The wing of the hotel that I stayed in suffered a power cut for one of the nights that I was there and when I tried to report the problem and later establish the extent of the problem and what was being done about it the front desk staff were rude, ill informed and utterly unhelpful - nothing was done to try and make the time more comfortable - candles weren't even offered.

I spoke repeatedly to management staff on the night, the Tuesday, Wednesday and by Thursday the General Manager deigned to see me - his staff had been unable to explain to him that I was complaining about the staff response to the power cut and not the power cut itself and so he had felt my complaint was not worthy of any personal attention and just the standard printed letter and cheap bottle of wine. Even after speaking with him and his agreement that the service was unacceptable he took only a token 20 rials off my bill.

I can only say that I have never had the misfortune to stay at a hotel where the management are so unwilling to provide real service to the guests and try and assist you when you are inconvenienced and upset.

I would never stay there again and would suggest that you try one of the other range of lovely hotels in Oman and just use the restaurant at The Chedi to experience the beautiful surroundings with none of the problems!