Local hotel's summer offers.

Summer is well and truly here. Summer's a funny time here, people tend to fly off to cooler climes in an effort to at least beat the heat for a little while. It's a scorcher of a summer globally, with Europe getting a good dose of sun, and those pasty white Brits are even experiencing sustained sunny periods of more than 42 minutes at a time. I'm told Ice Cream van's are having a fantastic season, and for once there wont be the stock story for a slow news day of the lollipop guy grumbling that his sales are low due to no sun. Even over the pond, in Toronto they are seeing temperatures exceeding 40'C this week. Sweaty stuff.

If you're like me, and actually work for a living and can't just slip off for the summer, then you might be considering a weekend at one of the lovely 5* hotels here in Oman. There's the Chedi, InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Al Bustan or the Shangri-la to choose from locally. Or you could avail yourself of one of Oman Air's summer vacation weekends down in Salalah at the new Mariott, or Crowne Plaza or Hilton.

Oman Air are offering return flights, 3 nights stay, breakfast (& dinners in some hotels) for RO 139/person until 13th July (and then it shoots up to RO 178/pp). That's not bad for a 3 day escape. Did I mention already that Saturday is a confirmed public holiday?

A little closer to home, the InterContinental Hotels Group (which controls the InterContinental, Crowne Plaza and Al Bustan here in Muscat) have a 3 for 2 offer running at all of their locations.

The Chedi have a few packages, but I've only included the two best ones here:

SUPERIOR ROOM - OMR 88.920 all in.
- breakfast for 2 in The Restaurant per night
- 10% discount on Food and Beverages in The Restaurant
- 25% discount on any Spa Treatments

CHEDI CLUB SUITE ROOM - OMR 169.650 all in.

- breakfast for 2 in The Restaurant per night
- 10% discount on Food and Beverages in The Restaurant
- 25% discount on any Spa Treatments
- Complimentary Cocktails & Canapés in the library
- Complimentary mini-bar, laundry and internet access

I'd highly recommend going for the Suite package. All of the rooms are great, but those suites... the tub takes an hour to fill!

And finally, the Shangri-la at the Barr al Jissah resort has two offers this summer:

For a minimum of two nights @ RO 110/ night you get breakfast and dinner in a standard room at Al Waha.

Or, if you only want to stay one night, you can get the 50% off published rate offer, and that means you can get a regular room in the Al Waha with breakfast and dinner for RO 90.


Now in order to actually get these deals, you must of course have your resident card to prove you are in fact a resident here - so don't forget to mention that when booking! I'm looking forward to a weekend at the Bustan in a few weeks - does anyone have any recommendations on which spa treatments to go for?!

Well done Holland! 3-2! What an awesome game! Now to just beat ze Germans!

Enjoy the long weekend everyone!

le fin.