SO - up at 0500 again - and at breakfast by 0700 after filming another spectacular sunrise. 0730 - Film the private beach (Al Husn has one only for its guests) and private swimming pool (ditto). I get to have a morning dip (in the jacuzzi!) - refreshing!
Film drive up ... and meet & interview the very affable General Manager Arbind K Shresthra. The Barr (Bay) Al Jissah is made up of three very different properties. There are a total of 638 rooms & suites in all. 197 belong to Al Bandar (The Town) .. conferency, 262 to Al Waha (Oasis) .. family and 179 Al Husn (Castle) .. ultra-luxurious. The hotel has been opening in stages since 2006. It sits on 124 acres of land ... with the Gulf of Oman sitting in front of its 500 metre beachfront.
The resort is 45 minutes from the airport and 20 minutes from central Muscat.
The GM is a very experienced hotelier and you can tell he knows what he is doing. The staff seem very happy, the hotels are doing well (quite full) and "we" have no complaints at all.
Oman itself is thankfully unlike many of her neighbours. There is only ONE tall building (15-floors) ... and the international hotels are all 4 & 5 star ... catering only for the more discerning traveller.
The crew then moved up to my suite where we started a marathon filming session instigated by Tim.
I am staying in The Royal or Jabreen Suite. It's a massive 5,500 square feet in area. It must be one of the largest suites in the world.
It's tastefully furnished.
There's a kitchen (complimentary soft drinks & beers), a computer room (yes, a separate room with a Mac, printer etc), guest bathroom, dining room (to seat 12 in style), bedroom (king size with pillow menu), "His & Hers" changing rooms, bathroom (sunken bath, shower, steam room) ... and a lounge that seats 18 people .. ALL FOR ME!!!! Tim had an ingenious way of filming it all ... let's hope it works!
The hotel has The Silver Lounge (for cigar smoking) ... and two main restaurants - Shahrazad (Moroccan) & Sultanah (continental). We met with the resorts Executive Chef - Beat - a VERY entertaining Swissie - who (& this is a first) conjured up a new recipe for us ... a king prawn dish filled with garlic prawn & date paste ... deep fried with strips of dough. MOST delicious and a fun cooking feature indeed.
We were looked after today by the lovely Dunia and her colleague Eihab who then took the boys on a trip around the resort where they filmed, filmed and filmed. Tonight we dine with our hosts in Sultanah! yum!
It's been a good day of work and will look fabulous on screen - as long as Tim's "folly" as we call it now, works out! I am sure it will!
Song of the Day: Mack the Knife - Frank Sinatra (& Jimmy Buffett)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGdwQf2a0W0
Weather: even HOTTER than yesterday!
the early morning view ...
the pool, Al Husn .. and the Gulf of Oman
no swim ... just jacuzzi!
Al Husn from the Gulf
arrival
General Manager
the Moroccan restaurant .. lovely ceiling!
with Eihab and Dunia
with Chef Beat
Al Husn
"lazy river" ... kiddies use it to move around the resorts! what fun!
tim "the folly" platten
