Singapore’s international hotelier, Millennium & Copthorne Hotels plc (M&C) continues to tap into the potential of the Sultanate of Oman with the announcement of its second hotel in the region. M&C has signed an agreementwith Shaza Muscat Company (SMC) to manage and operate Oman’s first Sharia-compliant five-star property named the Muscat Grand Millennium Hotel. The hotelis scheduled to open in 2014 and will be Oman’s first booze-free luxury hotel. This is M&C’s second hotel in Oman. The first was Millennium Resort Mussanah which opened in February 2011.
Oman with its pristine sand dunes and abundant marine life is located in the southeastern coast of the Arabian peninsula.With a planned footprint of 56,162 sqm, the family and business hotel will include 324 rooms and suites set in an Arabic and global design. The hotel will also comprise a ballroom with capacity for up to 1,000 guests in addition to a large pre-function room, VIP rooms and Majlis. In addition, it will have eight dedicated board rooms and meeting rooms for corporate events and two full sized swimming pools. Located 16 km from both the Muscat International Airport and the Central Business District, the hotel is connected to the Muscat Grand Mall by a sky bridge.
On being a Sharia-compliant hotel where alcohol will not be served, Abdul Rahman Awadh Barham, a board member of SMC, said, “This is not downgrading the hotel by any means, rather it is upgrading it to a better lifestyle.”