I found this hotel quite old and as other people have said, slow checkin and checkout and unfriendly staff. The rooms were in desperate need of remodeling. Bed was old and needed to be replaced. Bathroom had parts of wall broken around the tub area and not fixed. The room did seem clean though. The restaurant was old, the food was not great and I would avoid eating there again. The pool was ok. Very large and clean. I found it hard to believe that it is rated at three stars and would say it is more like a 2 to 2 1/2 star at most. I am a business traveler and would stay here if another hotel was unavailable because it at least clean, but would first try to book a different hotel.

Unfortunately, I had to stay there for three nights... Most of negative comments can be confirmed. Concerning the strange smell, apparently, nobody listend to the noise (Psshht) every minute and looked up: In the bathroom, above the toilet AND in the entrance above the door to the bathroom are installed these automatic spray engines as used in public toilets... they give all minutes a dose of this awful perfume (somewhere between skunk and musk). Grip the cover firmly right and left, give it a strong pull and the cover flips down. Get out the spray and/or the batteries, open the window for 30 minutes and switch the air condition to max. -> no more smell. For the rest, the hotel reminds me strongly to the hotels in earlier years in the former "socialist" countries (e.g. Hungary, CZ, RDA): aweful breakfast room, three servers, but don't try to ask for something, they disapear immediately and it takes a lot of time until you see them again. The scrambled eggs on the buffet are made from some artificial egg-powder (tastes urgh), if you ask to get freshly made scrambled eggs, they confirm, and some 20 minutes later you get something that tastes and looks identical to the stuff on the buffet. Coffee on the buffet is only Nescafe, but they ask you, if you want fresh coffee. If so, it takes only 15 minutes until they serve you freshly made.....Nescafe. Better don't ask for tea. Hot water is served immediately, but the tea bags only 20 minutes later. We skipped any meal at this place for the rest of our stay.

Leider musste ich hier drei Nächte verbringen. Die meisten negativen Kommentare hier kann ich nur bestätigen. Die Sache mit dem seltsamen Geruch: Ich glaube, dass niemand vorher dieses „Pssshht-Geräusch“ aufgefallen ist, das man alle paar Minuten hören konnte. Im Bad, über der Toilette und über der Eingangstür waren automatische Sprays installiert, wie man sie sonst nur von öffentlichen Toiletten kennt. Alle paar Minuten versprühen sie dieses schreckliche Parfüm (der Duft ist zwischen Stinktier und Moschus angesiedelt). Man kann den Deckel mit ein wenig Kraftanstrengung nach vorne hin aufmachen und dann entweder das Spray oder die Batterien rausnehmen. Dann 30 Minuten das Fenster öffnen und die Klimaanlage auf „Max.“ stellen und der Geruch ist verschwunden. Der Rest des Hotels erinnerte mich stark an Hotels sozialistischer Länder früherer Tage (z.B. Ungarn, CSSR, DDR): Schreckliches Frühstückszimmer mit drei Bedienungen, die aber, sobald man etwas fragte, spurlos verschwanden und einige Zeit nicht mehr auftauchten. Die Rühreier am Büfett waren aus künstlichem Eierpulver gemacht (schmeckte schrecklich). Wenn man nach frischen Rühreiern fragte, dann kamen sie 20 Minuten mit etwas wieder, das genauso aussah und schmeckte wie das Zeug vom Büfett. Als Kaffee gab es nur Nescafe, sie fragen aber, ob man frischen Kaffee wünscht. Nach 15 Minuten kamen sie dann wieder und servierten...Nescafe. Nach Tee sollten Sie besser gar nicht fragen. Heißes Wasser wurde sofort, die Teebeutel dann wieder 20 Minuten später serviert. Wir sind nach diesem Erlebnis dort nicht mehr Essen gegangen.

Overall the hotel was just okay. (With the exception of one staff member), the service was unfriendly, the food there is terrible, and the building is pretty shabby. They were generous with the free baskets of fruit and bottles of booze though....... and the room was comfortable, but despite the low rate: 40 Omani rials, I would never go back.

Have stayed here many times. It is probably not the very best hotel in Muscat, but the staff are very friendly, the atmosphere homely, and it feels very welcoming. Some of the larger places in town are too anonymous, and impersonal, I especially like the pool at the Holiday Inn, and Churchill's the pub, there is also a sports bar. The food is good, I tend to use the restaraunt a la carte menu, or room service, never had a problem. Also, the room rates are very favourable when compared to the grander places !