Muscat Plaza Hotel

Don't let the pictures fool you! This hotel and I stayed in a lot of hotels in my extensive travels was one of the worst hotels I've stayed in. I have no idea how this hotel has 3 stars. I would say from the 10 stars that sounds about right. Because from the moment you walk into the hotel the experience is just shocking. We entered the hotel to check in and we were asked to wait in the lobby. Mind you there were no lines or anything like that, it was empty but the lady who had to check us in was not at her place. No worries but after 20 minutes and no sight of anybody attending to us I went back to ask where the lady was and if we could check in and we were asked again to wait. Without me knowing I entered the restaurant and behold the person who had to check us in was relaxing having a breakfast and just minding her own business. After that we could proceed to check in. All the time while we waited in the lobby you could literally see the hotel falling apart, from the walls to the ceiling everything was in a state of decay. The room we got, upon opening the door the smell of cigarette/smoke literally punched us in the face and it was so overwhelming that I couldn't even stand in the room longer than a couple of seconds. We asked for another room and thankfully we got another room. About the room itself, the same decay you find in the hotel lobby and surroundings of this hotel is also reflected in the rooms. The wall had everywhere stripes and a lot of places like the shower, the toilet etc. were overdue and should've been replaced years ago. The room itself was so dirty that we didnt feel comfortable walking barefooted because you could literally feel things on the floor. The bed sheets and bed cover also had stripes and spots, although they smelled clean, it just looked dirty. And this was the whole theme of this hotel, everything what you would expect was either not there or just poor. From the refrigerator not working, to the tv not working, to the shower having a ridiculous low pressure, to missing cards where you could ask the room to be cleaned, the wifi was horrible often not working and if it did, it felt like 1995 internet speeds. The room was not cleaned once during our stay and also nothing was changed (towels). The breakfast option in the hotel was ok, although you don't have many choices you could start your day with it. Service overall was just a low point in my years of travel if I am being honest and mind you I am not someone who feels entitled and spoiled, but at least basic service for a 3 star hotel is something you expect. The pluspoint of this hotel is the location, it's excellent everything is close by, from barbers, to coffeeshops, to restaurants and it's easy to move from this hotel to all the main attractions/places in Muscat. And the 24/7 supermarket on the ground floor, if you need a quick drink or bite."

Booked this for our 1st time visit to Oman and we stayed here for 12 days. If you are only staying 2-3 days this hotel may be ok - but for longer stays I would not recommend. Positives: Great location if you like genuine Asian food - excellent cheap and mid-price restaurants within a few minutes walking distance - Indian Vegetarian and non-veg restaurants too. Mosque within walking distance Friendly helpful cleaning staff - most of them try their best to make your stay comfortable. Very big room sizes Good Wifi Comfortable beds. Free water bottles on request Fairly easy to get OTaxi within 2-3 minutes each time. Negatives: Mould in the bathroom, water leaks out of the shower onto the main bathroom floor - making a slip hazard No caddy in the shower to hold your soap or shampoo etc, so you have to keep bending down to the floor to get or put your shampoo bottle. Shower pressure was very very low - so no refreshing shower after a long day out. It was enough to wash your body but takes several minutes (water was hot OK). Some of the sockets in the room do not work - so you have to keep unplugging things to use something else. When we asked for an iron, the gave us a barely functional one with steam controls missing and no heat level markings so you are scared to use it in case you get a shock and/or burn your clothes. The 1st ironing board we were given belonged in the bin - I am not exaggerating - the cover to the board was ripped in multiple places, and bits of metal were sticking out - guaranteed to rip your clothes when ironing. The 2nd ironing board was new but the cover did not stay in place - so you spent twice as long constantly re-adjusting the cover than ironing your clothes. The hairdryer had a difference plug than the sockets in the room - luckily I had my own converter. The access card for our room door kept resetting every single day for the 1st 6 days. Every evening we come back, go up to our room and the card does not work - so we have to go back down again to get the card programmed. One on evening, I had to go up and down the lift 4 times - yes 4 times - because the lady on reception seemed to hear the number 3 when I say 2 - I don't know how to confuse room xx2 for xx3 - English is my 1st language and I speak at conferences, and with English speaking colleagues and clients around the word every working day. Even though, the first two times I went down the card actually had a sticker with the room number on it - but she still managed to program the wrong room number twice. On the 3 visit, she gave me a new card - but still programmed the wrong room number. On the 4th visit she finally said 'ah you mean xx2 not xx3' - and then she laughed and shared a private joke with her colleague. I got the feeling she was bored of the job and liked to play games with the hotel guests to cheer herself up. Eventually after 6 days of this, I complained to a male member of staff on the desk and he programmed the card once and it worked fine for the remaining days. The small fridge freezer remained on 24x7 - even on the lowest setting - so you heard the constant buzzing sound all day and night. It even froze and ruined some of our fruit which was in the fridge section and not in the freezer section. The batteries in the safety deposit box had corroded and you could not operate or program it. They gave us some keys for the safe, but they did not work properly - so we were scared to lock anything in the safe - in case you could not unlock it again - funny hah! The shampoo and shower gel bottles were called something like Eco wash - but they were almost always only half full - so you had to use a single bottle of each every time you showered - so we probably used at least 45-50 bottles between us during our stay - what a waste of plastic.

My overall experience at Muscat Plaza Hotel was somewhat good. Unfortunately, they lacked many things. For example, the room wasn't fully prepared, and I had to ask for toothpaste, slippers, and a toothbrush. Additionally, the gym lacked many tools. They only had a treadmill, which is not what I consider a gym. It also closed too early at 9:00 PM. I was only satisfied with the reception assistance and support

It’s reasonably priced, and I have no particular complaints.

Good and spacious room

Clean and hospitable