As Marriott loyalists, we naturally gravitate towards Marriott properties when we were doing our research on a city. This led us to find out about the W Muscat Hotel when we were planning our trip to the Middle East.
While looking at reservation options, we also realized that it costs very few Marriott Points to book a night at this W property. We immediately jumped on the opportunity and even used a Marriott Suite Night Award to get further upgrades on our stay.
This is a review of our 1-night stay at the W Muscat, Marvelous Suite.
Location
W Muscat is located in the Qurum Beach area of the city, right beside the famous Royal Opera House.
It is a 30-minute drive from Muscat International Airport.
Booking
We booked the base Wonderful King Room at W Muscat for 32,500 Marriott Points. In addition, we’ve also used a Suite Night Award certificate right after booking our room to be upgraded to the Marvelous Suite.
The Marvelous Suite would have cost us 240 OMR (US$623). In our opinion, this is an incredible redemption.
We went in late May which is typically a non-peak travel season in Oman. This is when temperatures in the country soar to above 40 degrees Celsius in the middle of the day.
Check-in
We reached the hotel at 11:45 am and were able to check into our room despite being significantly earlier than the standard check-in time.
During check-in, we were confirmed a late checkout time of 4 pm because of our Platinum Elite Bonvoy status. Similar to our experience at W Bali, the staff was very flexible and even offered a later check-out time if we needed it.
We tried to ask for a further upgrade to the WOW Suite at check-in. Unfortunately, we were told that the hotel was at high occupancy and it wasn’t available to us.
While waiting for our check-in to be processed, the staff served us a cup of local Date Milk drink.
Marvelous Suite
The Marvelous Suite is the largest upgradable room option in W Muscat. We received an email a week prior to our stay to notify us that our stay was upgraded to the Marvelous Suite.
We were surprised and happy because there were many other suite configurations at W Muscat that we could possibly have received.
Our room was located on the highest floor (8), giving us a panoramic view of the entire property through our balcony.
Living Room
The suite is separated into 2 distinct sections – the living area and the bedroom. They are separated by a huge wooden sliding panel which completely seals them off from each other.
Our Marvelous Suite came with a balcony that directly faces the Gulf Seas. Because of the position of the property, we got an incredible sunset view directly from our balcony.
While we were out at the pool, the staff left some fruits and desserts in our room. In addition, we also received a special platter of pastries from a friend we met while diving a weekend ago who happened to work in the hotel!
This was the most elaborate welcome amenity we’ve ever received from a hotel.
W MixBar (Minibar)
The minibar is stocked with a ton of snacks and beverages for guests. Apart from the tea bags and the coffee capsules, everything else is chargeable.
We can only wish that all hotels will follow in the footsteps of Regent Phu Quoc where all minibar items are complimentary.
Bedroom
The bedroom features a huge king-sized bed and an attached bathroom.
Similar to Marvelous Suites in other W Hotels around the world, we have the gigantic round bathtub sitting beside the king bed. The bathtub was so huge that it could have easily fitted 4 adults in it at the same time.
For a suite of this grandeur, we were surprised that it didn’t come with his-and-hers handwashing basins. It didn’t matter to us but definitely something to take note of for couples who prefer their own basins.
The room features a walk-in wardrobe that is probably larger than the size of my room back home. I seriously doubt anyone will take full advantage of it unless you’re having a multi-month stay in the hotel.
Bathroom
Bathroom amenities are Momo shower products by Davines, an Italian cosmetic company.
The scent of the amenities is on the stronger side. However, we really liked it and it ranks as one of our favourite bathroom amenities.
Breakfast
Daily breakfast at W Muscat is located at the Harvest restaurant located on the ground floor of the property.
It costs 16 OMR (US$41) per person per night for room rates that do not come with breakfast entitlements. Breakfast runs from 6:30 am to 11 am daily.
The breakfast selection is one of the best hotel breakfasts we’ve ever had. Probably only topped by the selections at Conrad Maldives.
At the Egg Station, apart from choosing eggs, you can even request custom-made Dosas.
Amenities
Swimming Pool
The swimming pool at W Muscat sits right smack in the middle of the property. Due to its size, there are plenty of day beds and tanning beds even during peak periods. These are all complimentary for all guests staying on the property.
We visited the pool multiple times and spent a significant amount of time here throughout our one-night stay. On our second visit, the staff offered us complimentary glasses of fruit juices because of our loyalty status.
Gym
I have never been impressed with hotel gyms and fitness centres in general. They are often small in size and do not offer enough equipment for a proper workout.
In this regard, the gym at W Muscat did pretty well. There is plenty of equipment and even a fully assisted bench press machine.
Away Spa
Away Spa is the Spa and Wellness brand of W Hotels. For W Muscat, it’s located right beside the fitness centre on the second floor.
Within the spa, there’s a free Hammam area for guests of the hotel. There are also various lounging areas to hang out and rest in.
Summary
We had a marvellous time during our stay at W Muscat. This was one of the best hotel experiences we’ve ever had, taking into account both the hard and soft products.
The service quality was incredible and we felt very taken care of throughout our time there. There was also repeated recognition of our status levels with Marriott through the fruit baskets in our room and complimentary drinks at the poolside.
We’ve never felt happier after staying at a property and we’d highly recommend the W Muscat to anyone planning a trip to the city.
