Behlys Boutique

Keep in mind when reading this review that we were in Oman in late May when the heat is intense ("the hottest month" according to Ruth, the Behlys owner's wife) so there are no tourists to speak of. That means we (my brother and his wife and me) were the only people in the hotel, the owner was away. The "hotel" (more like staying at somebody's house) was the owners' family home until recently when they split the modern, white building into three. The central section remains the family home and to the right and left are the guest sections. So although Ruth is not usually involved in the hospitality business we felt as though we were staying in her home and had some lovely chats with her. She also very kindly came to pick me up at the airport at almost midnight and would have picked my brother up at 4 a.m. if he'd asked. My brother had a room with two double-beds in it and it still remains very spacious. There is a lovely balcony with a view onto the pool. My room was next-door but to the side of the house with no balcony and a view onto neighbouring houses. The bed is very comfortable and despite the noisy air-conditioning I slept very well. The bathroom is very small but serves its purpose. I used the hand-held shower rather than the overhead shower which shot water in every direction except down (a problem I mentioned to Francisca, the Filipina hotel manageress). Soap and shampoo is provided. In May there is no cold water (and that's general, not specific to this hotel) as it usually comes from storage tanks on the roof where it gets heated by the sun. Ruth suggested that we'd get colder water from the hot water tank! There are plenty of sun loungers around the pool but in May it's far too hot to want to lounge anywhere but in the shade or indoors! The water in the pool must have been at around 32°C or more, so not refreshing in the least. But the advantage is the beach is a 5 minute walk away and the sea is cooler, according to Ruth. We didn't try. As others have said the hotel is a long way from the city centre and in May you don't want to walk anywhere more than a few minutes. But the O-Taxi system is extremely efficient and cheap so we used them to get to restaurants etc. If you check the hotel's location on a map you might be concerned that it appears to be at the end of the airport runway. But in fact the flight paths are now over the sea so aircraft noise is not noticeable.