ADNEC - Rat Pack June 8th

The Chedi, Muscat

I just have to let you know about the most wonderful hotel I have ever stayed in, The Chedi in Muscat, Oman. I recently got the chance to take a girly road trip and have a weekend at this paradise hotel! Me and my friend Charlotte left Dubai and drove to Oman... the drive is amazing- watching the city turn to yellow desert, to red desert with huge dunes finally to great rocky mountains! The drive took us about 4 hours and we had an 80s music fest along the way!

We arrived at the Chedi and were instantly enveloped in an aura of calm...the lobby there is absolutely stunning with high ceilings and arabic seating. The check in was done on the comfy seats and we sipped our fruit juice in perfect peace! We had the fortune to be upgraded to a suite- which actually turned out to be a private villa- we had to restrain ourselves as we were being shown round to stop ourselves from jumping up and down at the sheer luxury of our rooms! So after lots of oohing and aahing we headed off to the Spa. Charlotte had the most amazing facial that was tuned to her personality and a relaxing foot massage and I had a pedicure and a Balinese massage- just what i needed after the long drive. The perfect way to start a weekend break!

We chilled in our suite for a while both totally relaxed and the stresses and strains of Dubai all forgotten. We ate our evening meal in The Restaurant where they have open kitchens and you can watch the chefs prepare the gorgeous food. Charlotte had a Chicken Tikka curry dish and I plumped for the Nasi Goreng- both were delicious! Then it was off to bed as we were both totally relaxed and ready for an early night.

The next day we had room service breakfast served from picnic baskets on our own private patio and it was off to the pool for us. The Chedi has two fantastic pools- an Infinity pool and a shaded pool. We opted for the shaded one and grabbed our ever so comfortable sun beds and whiled away the day chatting, reading and listening to our Ipods (they were in our suite- what a fab touch!).

After a day of not moving apart from dipping in the chilled pool to get cool we decided to get sporty. We worked off our lunch with a walk on the beach followed by a two hour session on the tennis courts- the mountain backdrop made it the perfect setting.

We decided to have room service for our evening meal as sitting on the patio listening to the waves lapping the shore and watching the stars was so enjoyable. We took turns using the huge sunken bath before we went to sleep! The Bulgari products were heavenly and I have to admit some came home with us- to me the fragrance of Bulgari will always remind me of my Chedi holiday!

The time came the next day when we had to unfortunately check out from our peaceful haven...both of us did not want to leave! The Chedi is a wonderful place to just zone out and relax and would be especially great as a get away for couples. The gardens and water features are great to wander around and I could picture holding a wedding there...the are so many amazing settings...all I need now is a man to marry as i have definately found my wedding hotel! Whatever I have found the perfect place for a weekend break!

Gail