Barka' Hotels

tamerinho
Reviews: 43

3 out of 5 stars User Rating

Al Sawadi Beach resort: Good resort, needs perfection

Nice 4 star resort located almost 1 hour by car from Muscat airport to the direction of Sohar.

Hotel is clean, equipped with a swimming pool, tennis and squash courts, Gym, volleyball, horseriding track, and it has also a very nice beach.

There are 2 restaurants, one offering international cuisine, and the other offering indian food, in addition also to the pool bar. Food is excellent.

they have also 3 night sports with live singers from Russia, Phillippines, and Morocco.

The reception staff though need to be more professional as I had a problem with my door key (one of those automatic cards), and they kept me waiting for more than 30 minutes from 11 PM to 11:30 PM until they sent one person from maintenance to open the door, the same gentleman anckolwedged that there is some problem with the door circuit.

The following morning the incident happened once more and they even accused me of simply not knowing how to open the door. I answered them appropriately.

While the food at the restaurant is delicious, the sevice in case of a' la carte is really slow.

Good hotel, but needs perfection.

Opinion of Price: less expensive than average
Related to: Diving and Snorkeling, Family Travel
Written August 29, 2008

DesertRat
Reviews: 561

4 out of 5 stars User Rating

2.5 out of 5 stars Helpfulness

Al-Sawadi Beach Resort: An out-of-the-way 5-star beach retreat

My wife and I stayed here only weeks after its opening in 1996, and have just returned to visit it again a few days ago. In those days, it was pretty bare-bones: newly-planted shrubs and trees, virtually no shade, and cold, rather charmless rooms. It was not a place we ever wanted to stay in again.

What we found this time was a very much more pleasant and inviting place. The gardens were beautiful with frangipani and bougainvillea all in glorious bloom. The pool area had plenty of shade with palm trees now upwards of 10 meters high. And the food had much improved.

Although we didn't stay the night in the Al-Sawadi, we're going to return and try our luck again. I think it'll be much, much better than in '95. Incidentally, while talking with the assistant manager, I found out that it has an 80-85% occupancy rate during most of the year.

The hotel provides the following services & amenities:

Rooms with sea or garden view
Coral Reef Café
Water sports
Temperature controlled swimming pool
Kiddies’ pool and playground
Jacuzzi with 6-person capacity
Two lighted, hard-surface tennis courts
Air-conditioned squash court
Flood-lit volleyball court
9-hole mini golf putting green
Health club with workout machines
Sauna located in Health Club
Live band entertainment

Opinion of Price: more expensive than average
Related to: Beaches, Windsurfing, Diving and Snorkeling
Written April 23, 2005

The entrance to the Sawadi Beach Resort

DesertRat
Reviews: 561

Forget it in Barka': Hotels? Hotels? What are those??

There's no point trying to stay in Barka. There are no accommodations whatever -- at least not yet. The nearest would probably be the Al-Sawadi Beach Resort some 30kms to the northwest along the coast. The other option would be in Seeb, which is about the same distance in the other direction.

Opinion of Price: N/A
Related to: Road Trip
Written November 29, 2003

Our Members Say

Al Sawadi Beach resort: Good resort, needs perfection

Al-Sawadi Beach Resort: An out-of-the-way 5-star beach retreat

Forget it in Barka': Hotels? Hotels? What are those??

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