Anantara to open Middle East’s highest five-star resort in Oman this year

The highest five-star hotel in the Middle East will open its doors in Oman in mid-2016, luxury hotel operator Anantara Hotels, Resorts and Spas announced on Thursday.

The company will be opening two new resorts in the sultanate this year including Anantara Al Jabal Al Akhdar Resort and the Al Baleed Resort – Salalah by Anantara. The two represent Anantara’s first properties in the country.

Located in the Saiq Plateau on Oman’s Green Mountain – a 30-minute drive from Nizwa – Anantara Al Jabal Al Akhdar is situated 2,000 metres above sea level, making it one of the highest in the world, Anantara said in a statement.

Designed to reflect traditional Omani architecture, the resort will include 82 premier and deluxe rooms and 33 one, two and three bedroom villas with private swimming pools, separate living spaces and personal butler services.

The resort will offer six restaurants and lounges including a speciality Arabian grill, a poolside Italian restaurant, an all-day dining venue, a café and a deli.

Meanwhile the Al Baleed Resort is located between a beach and a freshwater lagoon in Salalah and features tropical gardens and walkways surrounded by palm trees. It features 40 premier and deluxe rooms and 88 one, two and three bedroom villas. The villas will offer private pools – the first of their kind in Salalah – and personal butler services.

The resort will include three dining options offering South East Asian and Mediterranean cuisines.

Both the resorts will include temperature-controlled infinity swimming pools, gyms, tennis courts, an Anantara Spa, meeting rooms and banqueting facilities.

Chief operating officer of Minor Hotel Group Robert Kunkler said: “The opening of not one but two Anantara Resorts in Oman in mid-2016 reflects our rapid growth in the region.

“Both resorts will be very unique, very luxurious and will offer the very best in hospitality.”

Regionally, Anantara currently has properties in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, with other projects in the pipeline.