Mandarin Oriental, Muscat

Mandarin Oriental, Muscat is a new prestige icon on the Shatti Al Qurm beach promenade, next to the Royal Opera House — contemporary Omani-inspired design by the architect Xavier Cartron, drawing on local marble, frankincense and kuma-hat motifs. Opened in the early 2020s to 9.6-out-of-ten guest scores, it is urban-luxe in feel, on the public Qurum Beach promenade in the Sarooj district, about fifteen minutes from the city centre. Its 150 rooms and suites are noted as unusually large, from Deluxe Rooms with local-marble baths and standalone tubs to Premier Sea View Rooms, Club Sea View Suites with 30-square-metre balconies and TwoThree58 lounge access, and a 166-square-metre Presidential Suite with a fireplace; separate serviced-apartment residences sit alongside. Five restaurants and two pool bars include the Italian Essenza — Naples-style pizza, A5 Wagyu and table-side tiramisu — the Sawa lobby lounge with seasonal afternoon teas, a beachfront restaurant and the Mandarin Cake Shop. The legendary Mandarin Oriental spa runs eight treatment rooms with a traditional hammam, sauna, steam and couples rooms, and two pools and a children's pool complete a stay where culture sits on the doorstep. It anchors Shatti Al Qurm as the capital's prestige urban-beach address.