The sultanate of Oman is without doubt my favourite Muslim country, the friendliest Arab country that I have visited. The Omani people are just friendly open humble and very hospitable. It is very easy to hear a Salaam Aleikum or Inshallah or Peace with be with you from strangers in Oman.
so when you are a guest worker here: majority of whom are from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Philippines and India, you cannot be arrogant or unfriendly..
and on my first stay at the Hilton Garden Inn, a property only about one year old, every single person was personification of Oman plus their country of origin.
I was checked in by Christine from Philippines. I had lost my credit card at the security check in at an Indian airport on my way over to Muscat and I had no hopes of retrieving them easily but they understood that my stay has been paid for and i had no further problems.
At the reception I was able to befriend Lily from Indonesia, Idrees from Pakistan, Rana from Himachal Pradesh, Abdul Aziz from Ghana. I was given a nice room.
The next morning arriving for Breakfast, I was greeted with a warm welcome by Palas from Calcutta who had worked in the cruise ship industry out of Miami and his ebullience perhaps embellished by that experience. The breakfast was a slow , 2 hour experience for me, as I was reading a book on Mindulness by Thich Nhat Hanh, the vietnamese monk , being aware of each morsel of food and the surroundings. the mindfulness enhanced my contact with Mikka and Nina from Philippines, Kajal from Bombay and Vivek from Kottayam and other friendly serving staff and chef..
Housekeeping was at your beck and call and I had everything I needed: Jedd from Philippines, Mohammed from Bangladesh
All in all, a very pleasant stay.
For visitors, two pointers:
download OTaxi app, and go outside the hotel and request a taxi with your app. The regular taxis are expensive, even by Omani standards.
Within walking distance of the hotel are a wide variety of restaurants: indian, turkish, kuwaiti, omani, lebanese and the restaurants are reasonably priced.
Muttrah Souq is only a 3 OMR ride away.
I look forward to a return stay at Muscat and hopefully a friend from Iran would join me.
so when you are a guest worker here: majority of whom are from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Philippines and India, you cannot be arrogant or unfriendly..
and on my first stay at the Hilton Garden Inn, a property only about one year old, every single person was personification of Oman plus their country of origin.
I was checked in by Christine from Philippines. I had lost my credit card at the security check in at an Indian airport on my way over to Muscat and I had no hopes of retrieving them easily but they understood that my stay has been paid for and i had no further problems.
At the reception I was able to befriend Lily from Indonesia, Idrees from Pakistan, Rana from Himachal Pradesh, Abdul Aziz from Ghana. I was given a nice room.
The next morning arriving for Breakfast, I was greeted with a warm welcome by Palas from Calcutta who had worked in the cruise ship industry out of Miami and his ebullience perhaps embellished by that experience. The breakfast was a slow , 2 hour experience for me, as I was reading a book on Mindulness by Thich Nhat Hanh, the vietnamese monk , being aware of each morsel of food and the surroundings. the mindfulness enhanced my contact with Mikka and Nina from Philippines, Kajal from Bombay and Vivek from Kottayam and other friendly serving staff and chef..
Housekeeping was at your beck and call and I had everything I needed: Jedd from Philippines, Mohammed from Bangladesh
All in all, a very pleasant stay.
For visitors, two pointers:
download OTaxi app, and go outside the hotel and request a taxi with your app. The regular taxis are expensive, even by Omani standards.
Within walking distance of the hotel are a wide variety of restaurants: indian, turkish, kuwaiti, omani, lebanese and the restaurants are reasonably priced.
Muttrah Souq is only a 3 OMR ride away.
I look forward to a return stay at Muscat and hopefully a friend from Iran would join me.
