Shangri-La.

"The mountains gleamed around in a hedge of inaccessible purity, from which his eyes fell dazzled to the green depths of the valley: the whole picture was incomparable, and when he heard the harpsichord's silver monotony across the lotus pool, he felt that it threaded the perfect pattern of sight and sound." - Lost Horizon, James Hilton.

I have just returned from a patch of paradise outside of the Oman capital, Muscat, up in the mountains but amazingly still tracked along the sea. I was tagging along on my parents' annual Middle East trip for a spot of mental and physical rejuvenation, and Oman was apparently chosen for being a touch cooler than neighbouring Dubai (the Humphries' destination of the past ten years or so) and somewhere new to try. I was just happy to be lucky enough to be going to a beautiful, luxury resort where sun loungers trim the infinity pool as you look out to sea, dinner is a chosen feast of Moroccan, Arabic, Turkish, European and other influences and days are spent reading, sleeping, swimming and in my case drinking virgin mojitos and afternoon tea by the pool and in our gorgeous room respectively.

I have been fortunate enough to visit a fair few luxury destinations during my holiday lifetime so far, including some in Europe, the Middle East and America, as well as various spas around the UK. I can say that the service from the Al Husn hotel, Shangri-La Resort, is possibly the best I have received, combining the usual attention to detail common in the Middle East (you cannot lift your cup before someone has topped it up with tea or offered more food) with lovely, friendly personalities, happy to talk, tell us about life in Oman and advise us on everything from trips to restaurants to drink choices. My younger sister, who relishes learning new languages, found plenty of friends who were only to delighted to help her with Arabic, and the taxi driver we hailed to take us back from the in-town souk one night was happy to point out sights, potential photo spots and tell us interesting facts about Omani culture. Indeed, it was surprising in itself to find Omanis working locally, in the hotel, in the marina, restaurants and beach, as this is something lacking in Dubai where everyone is an ex-pat. It was lovely to hear stories about their families, country and history that we wouldn't have been able to easily find or understand from books.

The quote above is from a bookmark left on my pillow in the room, from the Lost Horizon by James Hilton. Apparently Shangri-La Resorts gets its name from the famous quote in the book about the utopian place high in the mountains of Tibet. It was certainly a little spot of paradise in Oman, with clear waters, warm but not aggressive sunshine, turtles, dolphins, great food and welcoming people. If I am ever in a position to be able to return I most certainly will.