Hotel: Alila Jabal Akhdar / Stay Period: April 2025 (3 nights) / Program: Hyatt Prive
Jebel Akhdar or Jabal Akhdar is part of the Al Hajar Mountains and is a scenic highland region about 150 km (3 hours) from Muscat. It’s a very different experience compared to the sea-side city of Muscat. It would be ideal to do a few nights in Muscat (probably 3-4 nights) followed by Jabal Akhdar (minimum 3 nights is recommended).
Note that the road up is extremely steep and winding, and a 4×4 is mandatory beyond the police checkpoint. We rented a 4×4 ourselves and highly recommend this for flexibility. Alternatively, you can pre-book a transfer or tour through your hotel. The drive is beautiful and indeed challenging, but in my opinion, people overhype its difficulty. Any decent driver with confidence can drive.
We made a few coffee stops along the way and did a quick detour to the famous Nizwa Fort.
Hyatt Prive
Before we review the property, a quick note that the hotel can be booked under Hyatt Prive. Booking under the rate, you can receive the following benefits:
- One category room upgrade (subject to availability at check-in)
- Daily Complimentary breakfast for two
- $100 equivalent food & beverage credit
- Early check-in and late check-out, subject to availability
- Welcome note and welcome amenity
Quite often, we can offer additional perks such as free night offers, higher credit, guaranteed upgrades, and more. For Hyatt, you can view our latest offers here or reach out to find out more.
Location
Alila Jabal Akhdar is about 30 miles from Nizwa beyond which you can only drive a 4×4 car as you climb up the mountain. It’s very beautiful, but Saiq village, home to Anantara, is about 30 minutes (18 miles) away.
It is about 2,000 meters (or 6,500 feet) above sea level making it one of the highest hotels in the Middle East.
Arrival & Check-In Alila Jabal Akhdar
After an eventful drive up the mountains, we arrived at the resort gate at sunset. They ticked our names off a list, and we drove into the resort, past what looked like the staff quarters and the hotel’s own vegetable farm. The hotel staff greeted us, helped us with our luggage, and parked our car as we made our way into the main lobby.
The main lobby looks straight across into the mountains and provides the first glimpse of the ridge. As we awaited the completion of the paperwork, the staff served us Arabic coffee with dates and tahini. Very much welcomed and needed after our long drive.
Check-in formalities didn’t take too long and we were escorted to our room. We walked past the main restaurant and the infinity pool and couldn’t help but stop and enjoy the superb sunset views of the ridge. Spectacular is an understatement!
Room – Deluxe Ridge View
Majority of the rooms at the Alila Jabal Akhdar have a similar room layout. The main difference between the rooms is the view, with the best rooms having unobstructed views of the mountains. The rooms closer to the main pool would be beneficial for families. Rooms near the wooden deck, away from the main pool, offer couples better privacy.
Our room was in the second room cluster from the main pool and located on the top right of the unit. The room is designed with earthy Omani accents, including hand-painted juniper-leaf motifs. Extensive wood use makes the room slightly dark but blends well with the surroundings. The bedroom was spacious Our welcome amenity included local sweets which we appreciated.
The bedroom included a separate walk-in wardrobe which was quite spacious. The hotel provided a carry bag and toiletries bag for use during the stay which was handy.
Bathroom
The bathroom was spacious with a double vanity unit and a separate shower and bathroom. The key feature though was the free standing bath tub with a very earthen tone. The bath tub overlooked the terrace with open mountain views and made the bathroom very bright.
Terrace Balcony
The standout feature of the room was undoubtedly the spacious terrace with unobstructed sweeping views of the ridge. There was a comfortable sofa in the balcony ideal for relaxation and to enjoy the views with a sunset apertif or a hot cup of coffee in the mornings.
During our stay we were impressed with the turndown service provide each night. The staff also left little gifts such as handpicked green olives from the local garden, Alila-branded bookmarks and bio-degradable Alila-branded pencil.
Breakfast
Breakfast is served daily in the Juniper restaurant. Each day we were one of the first one’s to arrive and selected a table facing the ridge. The breakfast setting is serene with a nice wheater feature for a relaxing atmosphere.
Breakfast is a la carte with a wide range of options, including continental, local dishes and some Indian options. There were enough options to try a few different dishes during our three nights stay. The food was delicious!
Dining Options
On all three nights, we ate at the Rose Longe out in the terrace, overlooking the mountains with a crackling woodfire setup to keep warm from the slightly chilly weather in the evenings. Service was excellent, with a friendly server serving us for all the three nights
Once again they were quite flexible with the meal options. Given our vegetarian diet, they let us mix and match menus from Juniper restaurant and Rose Lounge. This meant that we got to try a different mains each evening.
On the first evening we had a Paneer grill starter and a vegetable Thai curry with rice. The next night we had salad and vegetable curry and naan-bread. Both meals were excellent. Shout out to the home baked bread with the super honey butter served as appetisers.
The meals were sharing but portions were on the generous side which meant we just ordered one starter and one mains between the two of us.
Pool and Hot Tub
Talking about the infinity pool, WOW… definitely one of the highlights of the property. It’s heated, large enough to just relax-in or do some laps (if you so wish!). There were plenty of loungers around the pool and staff was always available if you wished to order some food. There’s also a hot tub near the infinity pool.
The infinity pool faced the mountain which meant you had the most amazing view from the pool and equally importantly, you can enjoy the beautiful sunsets every evening. We spent much of our evenings in the pool during our stay.
Indoor Pool and Gym
There is a small gym in the main building which has a decent number of facilities and a dumbells rack. It’s not the most amazing gym but it’s adequate.
Right next to the gym is an indoor heated pool which seemed mainly to be used by young kids when we were there. It’s probably a good spot to hang out if its raining. Otherwise, on a sunny day, the outdoor infinity pool is definitely a better option.
Spa at Alila
Alila is known for their Spa and Alila Living shop to buy some local products. We decided to check out the spa.
On our second day, we booked a couple massage at their fantastic spa and decided to do this in their private cabanas facing the mountains. We began with green tea and chose our oils in the main spa, then walked to the mountain-facing cabanas.
What a great decision this was as we had one of the most memorable massages of our life. The therapists were great but it was just the serene location which made it a fantastic experience. We’d totally recommend this and I would say this was the highlight of our stay.
Complimentary Activities
It’s quite rare for us to focus an entire section of our hotel review on resort activities. Most often we don’t partake in these activities. More frequently, resort activities are rather weak and nothing to write about. Alila deserves a section dedicated for resort activities given how much effort they put into organising complimentary activities for guests.
The resort activities change each day. They’re displayed on a board in the main lobby and can be booked during check-in. However we’d recommended to get in touch with the team a few days prior to your stay and pre-book them in advance, to the extent possible. Alongside the activities for adults, they also have a separate list of activities for kids as well.
The activities during our stay included Arabic coffee tasting classes, cocktail/mocktail making classes, herb walks.
We joined the coffee making classs and cocktail making class which we both enjoyed. It was a fun way to interact with the staff and have a quick chat with some of the other guests. If you have other plans then it’s not worth cancelling them for these activities, however if you are going to be in the resort, then it’s worth joining these activities.
Given that we joined during the rose season, the resort organised a Rose picking followed by a Rose afternoon tea. This turned out to be a lot more well-organised and extensive than we had expected. There was a proper Rose water demo with a Rose Jam making session, some drinks and a canapes and desserts menu focussed on roses. This was way beyond our expectation given that its a complimentary activity and full credit must be given to the Ailia team for organising this.
Wellness Activities at Alila Jabal Akhdar
Alongside all the food related activities in the day, they had a bunch of complimenrary wellness activities. One of our favourites was the sunrise and sunset yoga. They set up the yoga on a platform by the mountains. The views were unmatched. It was truly so peaceful, quiet and truly felt amazing. I cannot recommend this enough! Its effort to wake up at 6am but with so few people, it was so worth it. The evening session was much busier.
On our last evening, we also joined a Grounding session. You walk barefoot to connect with the earth and really ‘ground’ yourself. It truly felt refreshing to do something different.
Given that we were at the resort for only three nights and had a busy schedule (as you can tell!), we could only enjoy the complimentary mountain bikes provided by Alila on the last day of our stay. We cycled around the resort but would’ve liked to spend more time cycling around the gorges.
Kudos to the Ailia team for organising a variety of complimentary resort activities and equally importantly, organising them well in a fun and engaging way for the guests
Paid Activities
Alila also offers a variety of paid activities, and guests need to pre-book them. The complete list of activities is provided on this link.
One of their most popular activities is the Via Ferrata (Italian for “iron path”) experience. Via Ferrata is a protected climbing route that allows non-expert climbers to traverse difficult terrain safely using a system of fixed cables and bridges. What we didn’t realise was that the experience starts right by the Rose Lounge where we dined and now we’re climbing just below it!
Our guide was so experienced and helped us all through the way, especially as we climbed down through the vertical rocks. We only did the ‘beginners’ level and were so terrified. He showed us the intermediate and advanced. Not sure how people do it! But kudos to those who are pros at this.
It is a private experience and can be pricey for some. But if you’re up for a bit of a thrill and adrenaline rush, this is a great place to experience it. As scary as it was, it felt so good to have accomplished it after.
After our climb, we were invited back to the lounge to freshen up with rose-water infused cold towels and orange juice. We sat in the lobby and viewed the wonderful photos our guide had taken of us as we absorbed the thrilling experience we just had!
Service
Service throughout our stay was solid. We had no complaints whatsoever and in fact were quite impressed with the warm and friendly service throughout our say. From the yoga instructors to the restaurant staff, everyone was so friendly. At the Rose event, we also met the chef who really spent time speaking to us about the menu and the Rose Jam.
Overall, I would recommend anyone visiting Oman to stay here! It is SO worth the drive all the way up the mountains.
Who is this Hotel for?
We would recommend this hotel to anyone looking for an adventurous and off-the-grid experience. The hotel is a great option for for both family and couples with activities for all age groups to enjoy throughout the day. You will spend a lot of time in the hotel including meals as there the closest town is about 30 minutes down-hill.
If you’re looking for more activities to do outside the hotel, be closer to Nizwa and do not want to drive to the town, then the Anantara, which is in the Saiq village maybe a better option. Although, we would strongly recommend Alila due to the overall service it provides.
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