Newmarket and Ely Living Dec 2019 - Jan 2020
The fantastic festive issue is here, packed with local events, Christmas fun, delicious recipes, chef Michael Caines plus travel to Oman and advice on buying a new home.
The fantastic festive issue is here, packed with local events, Christmas fun, delicious recipes, chef Michael Caines plus travel to Oman and advice on buying a new home.
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The name Oman is a particularly evocative one. It<br />
speaks of the shifting s<strong>and</strong>s of dunes <strong>and</strong> deserts, the<br />
intricate mastery of wood carving, interiors bedecked in<br />
jewel-toned fabrics reflected in shining brasswork <strong>and</strong><br />
of millennia-old traditions <strong>and</strong> classic Arabic hospitality.<br />
It is also a country of contrasts - high mountain passes<br />
with spectacular valleys <strong>and</strong> picture postcard famous backdrops of<br />
s<strong>and</strong> dunes.<br />
You might not think mountains when you think of Oman, but the<br />
country has some of the most spectacular l<strong>and</strong>scapes <strong>and</strong> vistas<br />
anywhere in the Middle East. Indeed, many nationals from the UAE<br />
or Saudi head to the Omani mountains for their holidays, preferring<br />
the milder climate in the summer months.<br />
Sitting atop a peak in Jabel Al Akhdar is the Sahab Resort <strong>and</strong> Spa,<br />
the latest hotel offering from the Omani Al Nahda group. Known for<br />
their strong commitment to service <strong>and</strong> luxurious settings, this hotel<br />
seeks to offer a mountain getaway where guests can truly relax. The<br />
hotel is of course centred around the views - spectacular vistas of<br />
gorges, waterfalls <strong>and</strong> stone cut ridges. The designers have been<br />
keen to ground the hotel in its location through a series of careful<br />
touches - the million year-old fossils found in the valley are visible<br />
throughout all of the grounds <strong>and</strong> the local rosewater scents the<br />
halls.<br />
Sahab offers 27 rooms in three different categories - Studio rooms,<br />
Suite rooms & Family Suites. The decor is influenced by rich Omani<br />
culture, equipped with all the modern amenities <strong>and</strong> offering a<br />
magnificent view of the Jabal Al Akhdar mountain range. It was<br />
special indeed to sip my morning coffee whilst gazing out across<br />
the vastness of the surroundings, watching as the sun stretched <strong>and</strong><br />
touched each mountainous ridge in turn.<br />
There are lots of excursion options from the hotel - some abseiling<br />
<strong>and</strong> mountain climbing for adrenaline-seekers, alongside more<br />
sedate tours of local villages, the rose garden or even star gazing. I<br />
opted for the village tour, taking in the local waterfall <strong>and</strong> getting a<br />
sense of the unique challenges of living in somewhere so remote.<br />
After days of soaking up the endless views by the pool, it was time<br />
to move on to a more archetypal Middle Eastern experience in the<br />
s<strong>and</strong> dunes.<br />
Mirage-like <strong>and</strong> utterly majestic, the Dunes by Al Nahda resort sits<br />
amongst the undulating s<strong>and</strong> dunes of Wadi Al Abyad. Only 40<br />
minutes from Muscat, it’s a world away from city life, creating an<br />
authentic taste of the Omani experience. The hotel is made up of<br />
a series of static ivory one or two bedroom Bedouin tents, each<br />
luxuriously furnished with dark woods, richly patterned fabrics <strong>and</strong><br />
ultra-comfortable beds. For a truly majestic stay, <strong>and</strong> this resort<br />
does host royalty, there are the Royal Suites. The size of almost<br />
four tents together, each is capacious at 139 square meters <strong>and</strong><br />
equipped with separate bedrooms, a living room <strong>and</strong> a private patio.<br />
Dunes Resort <strong>and</strong> Spa<br />
“IT IS ALSO A COUNTRY<br />
OF CONTRASTS - HIGH<br />
MOUNTAIN PASSES WITH<br />
SPECTACULAR VALLEYS AND<br />
PICTURE POSTCARD FAMOUS<br />
BACKDROPS OF SAND DUNES.”<br />
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