lifestyle THURSDAY, APRIL 3, 2014 Travel Rotana launches its first 5-star resort in Salalah otana, the leading hotel management company haven and will set new standards in hospitality which in the Middle East, Africa, South Asia and we are renowned for.’ concluded Kaddouri. REastern Europe, announced the opening of Salalah Rotana Resort on March 18th, the first five-star Fully equipped hotel property in Salalah Beach and the largest in the city by The resort offer guests a wide variety of food and room size and the largest free-standing hotel in Oman. beverage venues including a lobby lounge cafÈ, all- The hotel’s 400 rooms & suites are set in between an day dining and specialty restaurants as well as a beach elaborate network of manmade waterways that con- restaurant and pool bar. The hotel is fully-equipped to nect all waterfront hotels and residential areas in cater to business visitors with a selection of meeting Muriya’s Salalah Beach Resort to the Indian Ocean. rooms, a business centre, Bodylines leisure and fitness Speaking at the opening, Samih Sawiris, Chairman club, a large outdoor pool, massage services, and a of Muriya and CEO of Orascom Development, said, kids’ club. Guests can rest, relax and rejuvenate at the “We are delighted to launch the Salalah Rotana Resort resort’s Zen the spa; Rotana’s home-grown spa con- as part of Muriya’s Salalah Beach Resort destination. cept derived from ancient holistic Asian philosophies. Salalah Rotana Resort is a ground-breaking project in A calming space where stress melts away, Zen the spa Oman. Utilizing the experience gained by Orascom at Rotana promises to provide each guest the oppor- when developing the pioneering El Gouna resort in tunity to ‘rebalance the body’ with a wide variety of Egypt, Muriya has integrated the natural landscape relaxing ‘ritual’ treatments from full body massages, into the design of the hotel to combine traditional facials and soothing wraps. In the coming months, the architectural aesthetics with Venetian waterways to resort will grow to feature 45 villas and we expect the create a desert oasis. The partnership between resort to be fully operational in time for the popular Orascom and Omran has allowed Muriya to deliver a Khareef season when the area receives a large number landmark resort in Salalah as an example of the com- of visitors. mitment of all parties. The resort is peerless in the Hamza Selim, CEO of Muriya, said, “Salalah Rotana Sultanate of Oman as the largest hotel in the country Resort will make a major contribution to the commu- and will serve the growing demand for high-quality nity by providing additional employment opportuni- accommodation in Salalah as tourism continues to ties for Omani nationals and strengthening the local grow in the city.” supply chain in support of the country’s developing expansion of the Port of Salalah. tourism industry. Salalah is the only tropical destina- In 2013, 435,000 visitors from the Gulf region visit- A new journey tion in the Gulf and the annual Khareef season brings ed Salalah during the Khareef season, an increase of Omer Kaddouri, President and CEO of Rotana com- the region’s lush landscape and spectacular waterfalls over 80,000 on the previous year as visitor numbers mented saying “We are excited to begin a new journey to life. Salalah Rotana Resort has incorporated the nat- continue to rise year on year. The new Salalah Airport today at the first hotel to be operated by Rotana in ural environment by filling the waterways with is expected to be completed in 2014, with the capacity Oman. This stunning property is the 50th hotel to be 105,000m2 of seawater that is safe for swimming and to handle one million passengers. Future expansion is operated by Rotana and represents the half-way mark refreshed every four days using natural tidal patterns. planned to extend capacity to six million passengers. in the award-winning hospitality group’s plans for 100 The opening of Salalah Rotana Resort is a milestone Salalah Rotana Resort is the second hotel to open hotels by 2020. Salalah Rotana Resort is the Sultanate’s for Muriya and the hotel will develop to become part at Salalah Beach, which is one of the first of its kind newest and largest hotel. Oman has always been a key of an integrated town which will make a major contri- and one of the largest Integrated Tourism Complexes growth market for us to expand into. We pride our- bution to the number of quality hospitality assets in (ITCs) in Oman, along with Muriya’s Jebel Sifah desti- selves in identifying new and upcoming travel desti- the Sultanate’s portfolio and put Salalah on the map as nation in the Muscat Governorate. Spread over an area nations people wish to visit and Salalah is growing in a global tourism destination.” of 15.6 million square meters with 8.2 km beach front, popularity. The opening of Salalah Rotana Resort is an Salalah Beach is located in one of the most breath-tak- exciting one for us, as not only does it take us one step Future expansion ing natural settings in the Sultanate between spectac- closer to reaching our ultimate vision but it has The resort has also been commended by Sheikh ular mountains, fresh water springs and tropical strengthened the company’s standing as the leading Khalid bin Mussalam Al-Rowas, Director General of the scenery. Visitors find themselves immersed in tradi- hotel management company in the region.” Ministry of Tourism in Salalah, who commented that tional Arabian lifestyles and values expressed through “We will be working closely Oman’s Ministry of the hotel will have a profound impact on tourism in the surrounding architecture, wildlife and frankin- Tourism on developing the country’s appeal and the region in line with the Government’s vision for cense trees. establishing Salalah as a new and upcoming year- tourism development. Salalah Rotana Resort will offer round tourist destination. Salalah Rotana Resort’s a fully-integrated destination in the city that supports opening is in line with the Ministry’s strategy to increased investment and development of infrastruc- strengthen Oman’s reputation as a luxury hospitality ture which includes the new international airport and Bubbling ambitions in China’s ‘hot pot city’ housands of vats of hot pot seasoning thicken the air meal with Nationalist rival Chiang Kai-shek before ousting him locales trying to cook up attention by winning recognition for to someday join Unesco’s global list-which only features a few around Nie Ganru’s home with a miasma of chili as flame- in civil war in 1949, his exhibits show. Another mural depicts native dishes, says Fuchsia Dunlop, a Chinese food expert and food entries, including a set of cuisine customs called washoku Tred paste, thick with oil, bakes in the sun. Nie lives and paramount leader Deng Xiaoping treating officials to hot pot in author of Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper. “Certainly the from China’s longtime rival Japan, but none from China. “Eating effectively breathes hot pot, the spicy cook-it-yourself commu- the late 1970s while strategising the Reform and Opening over- Chongqing hot pot is very distinctive and hugely popular,” says hot pot makes you feel hot, and this can be good for the body,” nal Chinese meal that made his fortune, and has built a pot- haul that would transform the country. Yet competition for a Dunlop. “The entire surface of the pot is covered with these says 20-year-old Chongqing resident Li Yao. “It helps you sweat.” shaped six-storey museum dedicated to the dish. Now his place on the national list of “intangible cultural heritage” is spices... it will really blow your head off.” But, she adds, “If you Doctor Zhang Jingnan, 44, also loves the meal but admits home town, the megalopolis of Chongqing, is seeking national and ultimately global recognition for the food. “It’s numbing, it’s hot, it’s very flavorful, it has an aroma that hits you in the face, and that’s why everybody likes it,” says the 70-year-old tycoon, who eats it about every other day. Seated at a wooden table crowded with dipping options, Nie plunks capsules of duck blood into a simmering broth teeming with oil, chilis and hot and numbing Sichuan peppers. Others ladle out oil-coated slices of lotus root and cool their tongues with pickled vegetables. “Everyone gathers around a table to eat and it’s harmonious, it’s lively, it’s warm-it’s a great environment,” he says. The museum houses hundreds of pots Nie has collected over more than a decade, including one sup- posedly used in the palace of the Qing dynasty Qianlong Emperor in the 1700s and another dating to the Western Zhou dynasty of 1046 to 771 BCE. Emperors and Confucius Antique hot pots at a hot pot museum and factory. This photo shows a worker with some of the 5,000 pots of fermenting chilli peppers Hot pot originated a century ago as a low-brow meal for at a hot pot museum and factory. peasants squatting by the river to cook ox tripe and other offal, but has since followed China into prosperity. The first restau- rant opened in the 1930s and the meal’s popularity spread tough in a huge country with a rich culinary tradition. Only a start trying to label things, intangible cultural heritage in China, overindulging is unwise. “From a health point of view it’s not when Chongqing became China’s capital during World War II, handful of its more than 1,200 entries are foods, each heavy where do you stop? It’s such a rich and wonderful culinary cul- very good,” she says, gathered with her family around a bub- drawing the displaced from around the country.