Crowne Plaza Muscat, an IHG Hotel

A Double-Deck Infinity Pool on Qurum Beach

Crowne Plaza Muscat sits directly on Qurum Beach in Qurum Heights, with a private stretch of sand reached straight from the grounds and a temperature-controlled, double-deck infinity pool that frames the Gulf of Oman rather than a car park or a garden wall. It's the kind of beachfront position older Muscat hotels built when the coastline itself was still the main attraction, and a recent renovation of all 200 rooms has kept the setting from feeling dated against newer arrivals further down the coast, without losing the scale of garden and pool deck that a newer, more compact build would struggle to match.

Why It Works

We liked this hotel for doing one thing plainly well rather than chasing a design concept: a real beach, a pool built for actual swimming rather than Instagram, and five restaurants that between them cover a Friday brunch crowd, a Persian dinner, and a casual Italian lunch without anyone needing to leave the property. It reads as a hotel built around how families and groups actually spend a beach day, from morning pool time through to a Thursday Surf & Turf night, with enough dining variety that a week-long stay doesn't start to repeat itself, and enough sand and lawn to spread a family group out rather than stacking everyone around one pool deck.

Why This Location

Qurum Heights keeps the hotel close to Muscat's established beachfront strip, about twenty-five minutes from Muscat International Airport, with the National Museum of Oman, Al Alam Palace, the Muttrah Corniche and the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque all reachable within a twenty-minute drive or so. It's a position built for a guest who wants the beach as a base and the city's landmarks as day trips, rather than a hotel inside the old town itself, trading a short commute to the sights for direct, daily beach access and a quieter stretch of coast to come back to each evening.

Fast Facts

• Price: €€€

• Vibe: established beachfront leisure hotel, recently renovated

• Rooms: 200 rooms and suites, Standard through Two-Bedroom Suite, sea, city or garden views

• Best For: families, beach-focused leisure groups, Friday-brunch regulars

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: the double-deck infinity pool looking straight out at the Gulf of Oman

• Dining: five venues, including Shiraz (Persian), Come Prima's (Italian), Duke's, The Edge, and The Restaurant for Friday brunch and Surf & Turf nights

• Amenities: private beach, temperature-controlled infinity pool, fitness centre, tennis courts, EV chargers

• Attractions: National Museum of Oman, Al Alam Palace, Muttrah Corniche, Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque (all within a short drive)

Five Restaurants, From Shiraz to Surf & Turf

Shiraz carries the Persian end of the menu, Come Prima's covers Italian favourites, and Duke's and The Edge round out the casual options, while The Restaurant anchors the week with a Friday brunch running from one until five and Surf & Turf nights on Thursdays and Fridays. It's a spread built for a hotel that expects guests to eat on site most nights, rather than treating the restaurant as an afterthought to the pool, and it gives a family of mixed tastes somewhere different to sit most evenings of a stay, without anyone needing a taxi after dark.

Rooms Renovated, Five Categories Deep

The 200 rooms run from Standard through Premium, Junior Suite, One-Bedroom Suite and Two-Bedroom Suite, with the larger categories aimed squarely at families who need a second room rather than a bigger bed. The renovation keeps sea, city and garden views across the grid rather than reserving the best outlooks for the top category alone, and the smoke-free policy and daily housekeeping that come standard through every room type extend the same baseline of upkeep from a Standard room to the Two-Bedroom Suite, which is not always true of a hotel this size after a renovation of this scale.