Anantara means quality and perfection, and this hotel is no exception.
The beach is one of the best I've visited, very clean and unspoiled. The long and quiet beach is ideal for long walks. It's also quite comfortable to jog bare-foot, as the fine sand is luckily hard enough to jog on. The ocean is warm enough to swim in. We even saw pods of dolphins jumping not far from the beach. Truly amazing!
Service at the hotel is impeccable. Food is of very high quality. Even fruits are top-notch: local watermelon and papaya are really delicious, definitely some of the best I've ever had. Chef Khalil's off-the-menu rabbit stew and beef tartar are unforgettable, surely worth revisiting.
The only oddity during our stay is the occastional jeeps on the beach, with local men standing on the back, driving fast-and-furious style (we even got horned at from the back once while taking a stroll). Though I understand this is beyond what the hotel can control, I do hope the local government could take some effective measures to reduce this disturbance for tourists.

Everything has already been said. We have been returning to the Al Baleed for the third time and we are already planning our next stay at this wonderful hotel. Staff in all parts of the hotel are extremly friendly without being obstrusive. Made from Bali in the restaurant is taking wonderful care of everyone as do all of his colleagues. The whole resort feels very intimate and individual. Food at the Sakalan Buffet is excellent, although I usually do not like Buffet food. Lots of cooking stattions where food is permanently cooked fresh. Beach is just fantastic, as is the giant pool. Rooms are spacious, very clean and beautifully furnished.

I can recommend everyone to rent a car and explore the wonderful Dhofar region from the Yemeni border to the West to As Shuwaymiyah in the East. Some of the most beautiful landscapes I have ever seen.

The only two points to complain:

1. Although there are plenty enough of beach chairs along the beautiful beach the bad habit of some hotel guests to reserve beach chairs early in the morning close to the shore and show up hours later is also strong even in this resort. I would recommend to educate these ignorants by removing their towels when they dont show up within 30 minutes after their "reservation". There is no other way to suppress this bad habit you find all over the world. I talked with one of the friendly beach staff who understand the problems and who told me that they would remove towels if people don't show up after one hour but to be honest it never happened and I understand that it is difficult for the staff as they fear complaints by these ignorant hotel guests but it only works if you remove the towels and maybe a bigger sign at the beach telling everyong that reservations of beach chairs are not accepted would help.

2. It seems that most of the rooms at this hotel are sold to travel agencies where you will get acceptable rates for the rooms. If you book directly via the anantara website or directly via the hotel the rates can be extremly high. So for example we paid for a double room via a travel agency round about 300 Euro per Night. If I would have booked it via the website or directly at the hotel where I asked about their rates I would have nearly paid the double. A policy that should be changed.