Whilst researching which hotel to stay in, for our Musandam trip – a friend had mentioned that they stayed in Atana Musandam and loved it. We took on her recommendation – and planned for it.
Here’s what to expect, should you plan to stay at Atana Musandam Resort with the kids.
Where exactly is Atana Musandam Resort?
Atana Musandam Resort is located in the Port of Khasab, about an hours drive from the UAE-Musandam Border. It’s such a scenic drive along the coast as you pass the border – and we were lucky to do it around sunset.
From Dubai Marina – it’s about a three and a half hour drive in total, which includes half an hour at the Al Dara Border Crossing.
For details on the border crossing itself – have a look at our Dubai to Musandam with Kids : An Overview article.
What is the property like?
This 4-star boutique resort consists mainly of two-storey buildings, with one higher building in the middle. Most rooms would look out into the canal and mountains beyond.
Here’s a map of Atana Resort Musandam which gives a general overview of the place :
What sort of room type did you stay in Atana Musandam with 3 kids?
We stayed in an adjoining room with the kids (ages 3, 5 and 7 at time of stay).
One room was a Superior King Bed, and the other – Superior Twin Beds. Do note that if you would like to have adjoining rooms – these are only available on the Ground Floor. This suited us fine – as it’s easy in and easy out for the kids 🙂 No need to worry about stairs, and waiting for lifts!
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The Superior Rooms are really spacious, at 47m2. The King Size bed is pretty much a Super King, and can easily fit 2 adults and 1 toddler comfortably. If you would like to all stay in one room – you can ask for extra bedding which the team can accomodate.
We travelled with our parents, as well as with my brother’s family – who also had a Superior Twin Bed and Superior King Bed rooms. It was really convenient that we all stayed next to each other in the same building (below).
Another thing to mention is – if you booked into these rooms – you can actually park your car right outside the building, which is really handy if you are planning any excursions, especially when you have kids in tow. No long walks to the lobby – waiting for the car to come from the valet team, etc etc. Straight in, and straight out!
Have a look at Atana Musandam’s website for the different room types.
What is the pool and facilities like, for families?
Atana Musandam has one family pool, and a deeper, separate pool at the end – right by the canal. At 1.2m deep – it’s shallow enough for the older kids to tip toe comfortably, yet deep enough to swim.
Lemme warn ya – it’s not a big pool – but it was good enough for us when we went with the kids. There are steps on the sides if you have younger ones that can’t swim confidently as well. We spent sometime in there on Saturday afternoon paddling around, as well as on Sunday morning before leaving. Happy to report that the pool does get a lot of sun – when we were there in mid February 🙂
If you prefer a bigger family pool – I would suggest to have a look at their sister hotel – Atana Khasab. This is covered very briefly in our Dubai to Musandam with Kids article.
Is there a kid’s pool and playground in Atana Musandam?
Atana does have a separate, shallow and shaded kid’s pool which is close to their all-day dining – Al Mawra restaurant. It is not right next to the family pool, but across from it (see resort map above).
We didn’t spend time at this pool as our kids are a mixture of 3, 5 and 7 when we went. It was too shallow for the older ones and the younger one wanted to stay with his sisters (as always….), so we stayed at the family pool instead 😉 It does have cute water features and a slide!
If you look closely – there is a shaded playground behind suitable for the younger ones (say, ages 5 and below). It was pretty handy to have that there, so the kids could run over to play after lunch and dinner, with our supervision of course.
Is there a kids’ club in Atana Musandam?
There is no kids’ club at Atana Musandam.
There is a store right next to the kids’ pool and playground which we did initially think was a kids’ club, haha! Just FYI it’s a shop with lots of really nice Omani souvernirs – so keep the little ones out of there if you can! 🙂
Is there a spa and gym at Atana Musandam?
Yes – Atana has a gym and a spa right next to each other.
Funnily enough we did end up using the gym when we were there. It’s right next to the pool and restaurant – which was super handy for us. Love that everything was so close to each other!
Is there a beach in Atana Musandam?
Unfortunately, there is no beach at Atana Musandam as it is built in between two canals.
There are apparently a lot of beautiful beaches closeby but we didn’t find time to check it out this trip. It’s definitely on our to-do list to explore more of Musandam!
Where did you eat, with the family?
When we were there in February – there was one restaurant operating – that is their all-day dining Al Mawra Restaurant. They have lots of outdoor seating – which was where we were for most of our meals. That also means the younger kids could run around and play after food.
Food is served buffet-style for breakfast and dinner. For that one lunch that we were there – it was ala-carte.
What else did you do in Musandam, when you were there?
Over the weekend in Atana Musandam, we went out on two excursions :
- Boat tour through the Musandam fjords, with Dolphin Khasab Tours. Have a look at our boat tour experience.
- The meeting point for Dolphin Khasab Tours was literally a 2 minutes walk out of Atana Musandam by Lulu Hypermarket. This was super handy for us!
- Whatsapp +968 9956 6672 for more details.
- Musandam Zipline, at Oman Adventures Centre. Have a read how the musandam zipline experience went.
- Oman Adventures Centre was a 5 minutes drive from Atana Musandam, located right next to Atana Khasab.
- Again, very convenient as the zipline depended on the weather conditions. We were in touch with the team at Oman Adventures all day and they contacted us when we could do it – so we jumped in the car, and drove there straight away! 🙂
Overall Thoughts
We had a lovely, lovely staycation with the family – at Atana Musandam 😉
Bear in mind, this is a 4-star resort and is fairly small in comparison to the big resorts you may be used to in Dubai. But small has its own perks when it comes to travelling with kids, right? It’s a short walk to everywhere that you need to go to – be it the restaurant, the pool, the gym, or the spa. You can park your car right outside your room so you can easily get the kids in and out wherever you need to go. It may not be the usual fancy, sparkly resort that you are used to – but it’s really lovely, and just right for a staycation in Musandam.
Do have a look at Atana Musandam if you’re planning a trip with the family. Pleaes do let me know how it goes!
- Atana Musandam Resort, Khasab – Oman
- Whatsapp Atana Hotels on +968 9199 9030
- Call Atana Hotels on ＋971 50 4101461
- Email Atana Hotels on stay@atanahotels.com
Here’s an overall capture of Atana Musandam, on video :
Disclaimer : Our family were guests of Atana Musandam during our stay.
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