Oman fun during World Cup
I stayed at the Intercontinental mostly because I read there was some action to be had there. Turned out, there was very little. The World Cup was going on so the pub in the lobby was packed, but not with working girls. One night after going out for a late dinner with friends I stopped in the pub and met two Thai girls who were working. They were ok, maybe 5-6's, and were really friendly but I was totally exhausted and passed. I got the number of the prettier one but never followed up as I did a MR Thai girl the next night. She was well reviewed so I decided on her as the choices were slim online. She showed up at the hotel, and I took her up the elevator with no issues. Had a great time and that was that.
She told me she works in Doha sometimes too and I can't find her ad right now as I'm late posting this and she must be somewhere else.
I also much have misread somewhere that the Trader Vic's in the Intercon has action. I walked in twice and both times there were very few customers at the bar, and no working girls. The bar area is really small and right in the restaurant so I can't see it being much fun.
I also watched one match at the Habana Sports Bar in the Grand Hyatt and when it was done at 1 AM walked over to Club safari right next door. I just walked in and out as I was tired and there looked to be a handful of working girls that night.
One thing that sucks about Muscat is the taxi drivers, nobody uses a meter so you have to negotiate every ride. The valet at the Intercon told me to not get a cab at the hotel there but walk to the mall next door where I'd get a better price, he said it should be about 2 to the Hyatt, but I paid 3 (the guy wanted 5). After leaving the Hyatt there were drivers right in front of the bar and they wanted 7 to go back to the Intercon. I was tired and in no mood to bargain so I said 5 and they said no. So I walked down the hill about 3 minutes away where there another group of taxis and asked them and the guy said 2! Lesson learned here is get the taxis where the general public is, not from in front of hotels.
My impression of Oman is it was my favorite country of the trip when not considering the girl scene. It's really naturally beautiful and different from the UAE cities or Doha. But if meeting girls is a high priority, then it's not the place to go although there is fun to be had.
Muscat Taxi Driver Worked for Me
This is a few years old but I thought it would be worth sharing if only for the entertainment value. Since I last visited, it appears the massage places have reopened, so there might be more and better options now. When I was there, I only found two options. The easiest first: the hotel bar at the Grand Hyatt Muscat has Chinese hookers hanging out in the evenings. I was always there for work so I never partook, but they're there. Mostly middle aged ladies, but all of them (that I saw) were in decent shape. One thing to know. If you take one home, you've got to walk through the hotel with her and it's going to be awkward. Given how carefully watched the hotel is, I think there is a good chance you could be hassled by the front desk.
The next and only option that I could find is to talk to a taxi driver. Oman is a police state. It's tightly controlled and highly surveilled by the government, but there is fun to be had. I was able to visit several places with a friendly cab driver I found. He seemed to know a ton of different places. Many of the ones we visited were in crummy apartment buildings and were closed, but a few were open. None of them had signs or were marked, so you really need a guide. Well, the two that were the easiest did have signs. One was marketed as a massage place and they had Moroccan women, and one was a beauty salon that had a Chinese lady inside. I was really excited about the Moroccan place but when I went in only two girls were working and a couple of guys were waiting. When it was my turn a late twenties Moroccan woman walked out and gestured to me. She wasn't fat but she wasn't thin and she seemed like she might have a bad attitude, so I asked if I could meet the other girl. I was right about the attitude because when I asked, she freaked out on me and started yelling in Arabic. That was my cue to leave. Afterwards my friendly taxi driver took me to a beauty salon that was closed for the evening. He made a phone call and a very attractive, younger (20's) Chinese woman walked out. She took me inside, offered me tea, then we headed to the back room. Full service was on offer but I didn't partake because she didn't seem very into it. I opted for a lackluster massage and a CBJ. She had a great body though, so I think I ended up in the right spot.
As I mentioned before, Oman is a lovely place but it is a police state, albeit with a seamy underside that might be hard for a gringo to access. In the middle of my drive around town with my driver, we stopped off for some food and parked next to an Omani police van to wait on them to bring out our order. Given what we were up to, this made me nervous. But then I smelled the distinct aroma of marijuana, and it was coming from the police van. I'm not making this up. A few minutes later a light in the van went on and a couple of Saudi guys were sitting inside looking very high (you can identify them by their headdress). They spilled out of the van and horsed around for a bit, laughing and having a great time, then got back in and took off. In a police van. So some of the rules can be bent, just not sure how.
Finally, a word of caution. Depending on your reason for visiting this lovely country, I would like to emphasize again that it is a police state. As in secret police. The next day at work, one of the Omani guys I was visiting (a government official) tried to get me to talk about getting a massage in Oman and shared how much he liked to visit the massage places, but sadly they were all closed down. He emphasized that they were illegal now, which was too bad, but that they were illegal now. I got the message and changed the subject. It's a longer story with more details, but trust me, he was sending a polite and very timely (the next day!) message. It was awkward and a little freaky. This shouldn't be a worry for a casual visitor, but do weigh the risks if you're there for work.