MURIYA, Oman’s leading tourism development company, has announced the soft opening of the Salalah Rotana Resort, its second hotel on Salalah Beach. The property boasts the largest rooms in the city and is the largest free-standing hotel in Oman. The hotel’s 400 rooms and suites are set in between an elaborate network of manmade waterways that connect all waterfront hotels and residential areas to the Indian Ocean.
Speaking at the opening, Samih Sawiris, chairman of Muriya and CEO of Orascom Development, said: “We are delighted to launch the Salalah Rotana Resort as part of Muriya’s Salalah Beach Resort destination. Salalah Rotana Resort is a ground-breaking project in Oman. Utilising the experience gained by Orascom when developing the pioneering El Gouna resort in Egypt, Muriya has integrated the natural landscape into the design of the hotel to combine traditional architectural aesthetics with Venetian waterways to create a desert oasis. The partnership between Orascom and Omran has allowed Muriya to deliver a landmark resort in Salalah as an example of the commitment of all parties. The resort is peerless in the Sultanate of Oman as the largest hotel in the country and will serve the growing demand for high-quality accommodation in Salalah as tourism continues to grow in the city.”Omer Kaddouri, president and chief executive officer of Rotana commented: “We are excited to begin a new journey at the first hotel to be operated by Rotana in Oman. This stunning property is the 50th hotel to be operated by Rotana and represents the half-way mark in the award-winning hospitality group’s plans for 100 hotels by 2020. Salalah Rotana Resort is the sultanate’s newest and largest hotel. Oman has always been a key growth market for us to expand into. We pride ourselves in identifying new and upcoming travel destinations people wish to visit and Salalah is growing in popularity. The opening of Salalah Rotana Resort is an exciting one for us, as not only does it take us one step closer to reaching our ultimate vision but it has strengthened the company’s standing as the leading hotel management company in the region.”“We will be working closely Oman’s Ministry of Tourism on developing the country’s appeal and establishing Salalah as a new and upcoming year-round tourist destination,” added Kaddouri. “Salalah Rotana Resort’s opening is in line with the ministry’s strategy to strengthen Oman’s reputation as a luxury hospitality haven and will set new standards in hospitality which we are renowned for.”The resort offers guests a wide variety of food and beverage venues including a lobby lounge café, all-day dining and specialty restaurants as well as a beach restaurant and pool bar. The hotel is equipped to cater to business visitors with a selection of meeting rooms, a business centre, Bodylines leisure and fitness club, a large outdoor pool, massage services, and a kids’ club. Guests can rest, relax and rejuvenate at the resort’s Zen the spa, Rotana’s home-grown spa concept derived from ancient holistic Asian philosophies. Zen the spa at Rotana provides each guest the opportunity to ‘rebalance the body’ with a wide variety of relaxing ‘ritual’ treatments from full body massages, facials and soothing wraps. In the coming months, the resort will grow to feature 45 villas. The resort is expected to be fully operational in time for the popular Khareef season when the area receives a large number of visitors.The new Salalah Airport is expected to be completed in 2014, with the capacity to handle one million passengers. Future expansion is planned to extend capacity to six million passengers.Hamza Selim, CEO of Muriya, said, “Salalah is the only tropical destination in the Gulf and the annual Khareef season brings the region’s lush landscape and spectacular waterfalls to life. Salalah Rotana Resort has incorporated the natural environment by filling the waterways with seawater that is safe for swimming and refreshed every four days through natural tidal patterns.”Salalah Rotana Resort is the second hotel to open at Salalah Beach, which is one of the first of its kind and one of the largest integrated tourism complexes in Oman, along with Muriya’s Jebel Sifah destination in the Muscat Governorate. Spread over an area of 15.6 million square meters with 8.2 km beach front, Salalah Beach is located in one of the most breath-taking natural settings in the sultanate between spectacular mountains, fresh water springs and tropical scenery. Visitors find themselves immersed in traditional Arabian lifestyles and values expressed through the surrounding architecture, wildlife and frankincense trees. Link for the Deal Alert!