Majestic Muscat: Al Qurum Elite Neighborhood

View from Crowne Plaza Muscat Club Lounge
View from Crowne Plaza Muscat Club Lounge Terrace

 

I chose Muscat as my summer holiday destination because I wanted to get away to a nearby peaceful and quiet place. And I’m glad to say that I couldn’t have made a better decision. Luckily, as a GCC national, I don’t require a visit visa for Oman. This fact is considered a great privilege, since an advance application for a visit visa is required for most countries with my Saudi passport.

Browsing through the mainly positive reviews of the Crowne Plaza Muscat on Trip Advisor will make anyone looking for a mid-range hotel choose to stay there. And as a note to all my readers and followers, I assure you that I paid the regular room charges for my stay at the Crowne Plaza Muscat. So this is by no means a sponsored post. It is a genuine review of my experience at the hotel and in Muscat in general.

The unique element about this hotel is its location. It’s situated on top of a hill in the “Al Qurum” area. The area is around 25 minutes away by car from Muscat International airport. It’s a well-reputed residential upscale area, that is home to many of the country’s ministers, PDO (Oman’s leading oil and gas company), and the residential compounds of PDO’s employees and other company facilities.

Crowne Plaza Muscat is a four-star property:

Crowne Plaza Muscat is a four star property
Crowne Plaza Muscat is a four star property

 

After my Hong Kong hotel room view, I decided to choose a sea-view room this time around 🙂  Here’s my breathtaking view from my room at Crowne Plaza Muscat:

sea-view room at Crowne Plaza Muscat
sea-view room at Crowne Plaza Muscat

 

Another view from my room window:

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A view of the swimming pool from the same window 🙂

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While at my peaceful sea-view room, I could hear the sound of the waves and the birds chirping throughout the day. Just being in the room felt so relaxing and serene. It resembled living in the outdoors or in a forest for my whole stay there. I even decided to keep my mobile phone switched off throughout my vacation – which caused a lot of family and friends to get worried about me. This meant that I came back to my apartment building’s reception in Dubai to a security guard requesting me to call my worried father, and looking at me as if I’m a crazy woman! not to mention a sweet note slipped under my door from my besties in Dubai, wondering where I have disappeared! Of course all of that commotion can only prove one thing: that none of my close friends in Dubai take the time to read my blog posts! Sigh…oh well, I hope that I will gain loyal readers from across the world who are genuinely interested in reading my blog posts! I will post a picture of that note later on my Facebook Page. So stay tuned for that 🙂

 

Here’s a look at my home for a total of 8 days….

Sea-view Room at Crowne Plaza Muscat
Sea-view Room at Crowne Plaza Muscat

 

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On my first day, I needed to get a few things from a grocery store, so I headed to Al Qurum City Center. It’s basically a local mall for the lovely Qurum area. It’s part of the popular City Center shopping mall chain that has a number of malls around the GCC. The taxis is Oman do not have meters like the ones in Dubai. So you can find the fixed rates on a sign board at the hotel, airport and at malls. The taxi fare from Crowne Plaza Muscat to Qurum City Center is 4 OMR.  There’s a Carrefour hypermarket in the shopping mall. But it’s not nearly as busy as the one in Dubai! I was there on a Thursday afternoon (around 3:30 pm) and the halls of the supermarket were haunted! It was a shocking scene for someone who frequents Dubai’s MOE Carrefour to say the least! Apparently, the residents have other more popular options for their grocery shopping aside from the UAE-renowned Carrefour.

I was glad to see a Borders bookstore at Qurum City Center! I managed to get a copy of a travel magazine and two notebooks for my University September semester (which started yesterday b.t.w.). Here’s a photo of Borders at Qurum City Center.

Borders bookstore at Qurum City Center
Borders bookstore at Qurum City Center

 

It takes around 5 minutes to get to the mall from Crowne Plaza Muscat. It’s a small-sized mall with only one floor including a number of high-street retail shops, a Starbucks, a food court, a Chili’s restaurant, a cinema and the Carrefour. I would say it’s a nice quiet place to go to when you need to kill some time, want to get some groceries, or do some people watching at the Starbucks 🙂

I’ll be posting the remaining photos on my Facebook Page at the end of these series of travel posts. So stay tuned to find out more about the beautiful and captivating city of Muscat…

 

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Note: Airport taxis are located outside the arrival hall in Muscat airport. The cost from the airport to Crowne Plaza Muscat is 10 OMR per way. It’s a fixed rate that you must pay at the airport taxi station, which is located outside the arrival hall at Muscat airport. Muscat airport can be quite busy and overwhelming, so don’t let that put you off a highly peaceful and beautiful city 🙂

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Nada Al Ghowainim

I am a 30-something Dubai-based Saudi female lifestyle blogger and writer. I am on an endless journey of self-discovery and self-development. Learn More About Me

12 thoughts on “Majestic Muscat: Al Qurum Elite Neighborhood”

  1. Sounds like you had a wonderful holiday Nadia. I’m looking forward to hearing more about your stay in Muscat. It’s a beguiling city. I’ve been there on business but never for a holiday. You’re so brave btw to turn your mobile off during your holiday. It must have felt so liberating!

  2. Just one word for this, “WOW!!”

    beautifully crafted piece and I just love the breathtaking images. Great job! 🙂 🙂

  3. Kevin,
    Thanks for the comment! Yes I did. It was very relaxing and believe it or not, I felt like I could use a few more days lounging on the beach.
    This is only an introductory post. So stay tuned to hear about what I was up to during my stay.
    And switching off my mobile was the ultimate liberating and unwinding element of my trip 🙂

  4. Umar,
    Thanks for the positive feedback on the piece! I’m so glad that you liked it. Hopefully you will like the future posts on my Muscat trip just as much. There will be more photos of nature and of other things that I was up to…A complete guide to Muscat city is coming your way shortly 😉

  5. Hi Nada,

    Visiting a destination which I dream to visit one day, I felt like I am with you in this post. seems really nice! hope you enjoyed it and cant wait to read the review’s about the other days. Big kiss to you from Kuwait XXX

  6. Hi Hasoon!
    Thank you for taking time to comment on this post. I’m glad that I could deliver a clear picture of the place. The next post should be up tomorrow, so stay tuned…I’m sure you will enjoy the rest of the posts xxx

  7. Hi Julie!
    Great to hear from you 🙂 Yes, I managed to get some rest. But it wasn’t enough…hopefully I can take a longer vacation next summer and visit you in France 🙂 Stay tuned for the other posts from this trip and thank you for your continuous support for this blog! XXX

  8. hi..mam..breathtaking view..i loved to go there..but who knows… i might one day.. with my prince… in my dreams.. lol! a very good destination.. approved! Hope we see each other…wer until 31 of sept.

    luv and kisses,
    Cel

  9. Hi Cel!
    Thanks for dropping by my blog! I really appreciate it.
    Oman is nearby, so you can easily plan a trip to go there. Watch this space for more posts on my trip to Muscat. Stay safe and see you soon!
    XXX

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