Need to know
Rooms
In total, 115, including 33 suites.
Check–Out
Noon, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 2pm, also flexible.
More details
Rates include breakfast.
Also
The ground-floor Premier Canyon View Rooms are wheelchair accessible, as are all the restaurants.
At the hotel
Free WiFi throughout, tennis court, bicycles to borrow, kids’ playroom and playground, gym, free valet parking. In rooms: air-conditioning, minibar, Nespresso coffee machine, LED TV, Bluetooth sound-system, iPod dock, free bottled water and Elemis bath products.
Our favourite rooms
It’s got to be a One-Bedroom Cliff Pool Villa, where canyon views are constant thanks to your sliding windows, deck and private pool. The bathrooms are enormous, there’s a cosy living room as you enter and the beds are vast. Even the entry-level Deluxe Canyon-View Rooms showcase the famous verdant mountain since they’re up on the first floor; avoid their ground-floor counterparts if gorge-gazing is a dealbreaker. For green-fingered guests, who prize a patch of paradise above mountain views, go for a Garden Pool Villa. Families, groups and VIPs will love the multi-bedroom villa options, which come with their own private entrances.
Poolside
There’s a heated, infinity-edged number up by Diana’s Point (as well as one in your room if you’ve booked wisely).
Spa
The mosaic-lined spa is designed to resemble a traditional hammam, with separate entrances and areas for men and women. There are five treatment rooms, two of which have twin beds for couples. Pilates, yoga and personal training are also available.
Packing tips
Take a hint from the locals and opt for cooling natural fabrics; pristine white dishdashas for men, optional.
Also
The hotel can lay claim to being the highest five-star retreat in the whole of the Middle East – and long before there was an Anantara outpost, there was a visiting prince and princess.
Children
All ages welcome. Extra beds and cots can be added to rooms for OMR20, and there are interconnecting options. Babysitting is available with a day’s notice. There’s a club for kids and another for teens, an indoor playroom and outdoor playground.
Best for
Babies and up.
Recommended rooms
The multi-room villas will give you the most space, but extra beds and cots can be added to all rooms. Some rooms can interconnect via the outdoor deck.
Crèche
There are kids’-club offerings for varying age groups.
Activities
The hotel is well-equipped to keep families entertained, with an outdoor playground, indoor playroom, bicycles to borrow, a tennis court and pool table. Braver/older/crazier kids can try abseiling along the via ferrata on the cliff edge.
Swimming pool
A lifeguard is on duty at the communal pool.
Meals
Children are welcome in Bella Vista and Al Maisan, but not Al Qalaa or either of the bars. Highchairs are provided and meals can be adapted – Bella Vista has a dedicated children’s menu.
Babysitting
Can be booked a day in advance.
No need to pack
Pencils, paper and paints, board games.