An Exclusive Test Drive of the Genesis G80 Across Oman’s Dhofar Coast

The unbridled excitement of visiting a new country is something that never gets old. Prior to this trip, I’d never been to Oman before. I’d barely even been to the Gulf, save for a wee work trip a few months prior. Naturally, my head was filled with visions of beautiful but bleak and barren landscapes and swanky hotels when I got a text asking, “Would you by any chance be free to go to Salalah in Oman in two days? It’s a work thing. Something about a car?”

Immediately my imagination ran wild with notions of fulfilling my childhood Top Gear dreams of cruising the streets of a foreign land (on the wrong side of the road, I might add) in some swanky foreign whip. What’s more, when not in the car, it looked like I’d be staying in a pretty outrageously opulent accommodation during my time in Salalah.

I tried desperately to temper my expectations, but to no avail. The more research I did about Genesis and Oman—specifically Salalah at that specific time of year—the harder that became.

The Trip: ‘Switzerland of Arabia’

The serious levels of luxury became apparent as soon as my tickets came through—I would be flying Business Class on my way back to Cairo. And, as I read on through the details of the trip, the smug grin that I had been wearing since receiving that first text began to take up permanent residence on my face.And, as I read on through the details of the trip, the smug grin that had appeared a few moments prior began to take up permanent residence on my face. 

Genesis, the luxury South Korean car manufacturer, was gearing up for the Middle Eastern launch of the brand-new G80 model, and had invited a select number of individuals to their ‘A Thing of Beauty’ launch event on the southern reaches of Oman’s Dhofar coastline.

The invitees (myself included!) would be test driving both variants of the new model—Royal and Sport—under the beautifully fluffy overcast skies of Salalah’s khareef season, when monsoon-like weather from the Indian subcontinent makes its way to the fringes of the Arabian peninsula, cloaking what is otherwise a very rugged, barren landscape in outrageously lush greenery.

At this time of year, it’s known as the ‘Switzerland of Arabia’.

As you can imagine, having flown from sweltering 42-degree Cairo, my jaw was almost on the floor of the Salalah airport arrivals area when I stepped out into foggy, 25-degree weather I would more readily associate with almost anywhere else in the world before the Arabian Peninsula.

I was picked up from the airport by the charming Salim, who—clad in the trademark Omani Dishdasha and Kuma—proceeded to point out hundreds of herds of camels lining the airport road. They had been brought down from the city’s surrounding hills to make the most of the lush seasonal grazing on the flat plains of the coast.

The Stay: Al Baleed Resort Salalah by Anantara 

Arriving at the Al Baleed Resort Salalah with a strange concoction of multi-flight exhaustion and intense excitement, I wandered into the lobby and was immediately greeted by rich wafts of frankincense, the fragrant tree sap that put this part of the world on trade maps centuries ago.

I was swiftly checked in, and led to my very own private villa, complete with its own plunge pool. Left to my own devices, I was almost instantly in the water, which lapped gently against the black slate tiles that keep the water warm under the sun. Palm fronds dipped elegantly down from their sleek trunks, as if daring to join me in the pool for a late-night paddle.

Still nursing the post-travel confusion of tiredness combined with restlessness, I sat back on the cushioned cabana lounger and watched the permanent seasonal fog play over the garden foliage, before finally giving into the enormous bed, which lay immediately beside the pool behind a vast floor-to-ceiling window. I popped the turn down service choccy in my mouth and almost immediately dozed off. 

The next morning, I rose early, eager to fully experience the insanely lavish resort. Leaving my phone in the villa, I wandered down to the beach and walked for what felt like hours. The relentlessly crashing waves of the Arabian Sea carried an unbelievably humid breeze over the coastline and inland. Eventually, I turned around and headed back to the resort, eagerly anticipating the chance to drive the Genesis G80, feeling the tarmac beneath its wheels for the first time in the Middle East.

The Drive: Revving in the Rain

The regional launch of this car centred around the rich shared customs and culture between Korea and the Middle East, both of which value hospitality as highly as the other, matched with a clear appreciation for the finer things. And what better way to communicate these two key characteristics than through a trip like this, where the luxuries of haute hospitality were around every corner.

That luxury is clearly translated into the G80 itself. The 300-horsepower luxury sedan, cruising along the eye-wateringly beautiful Omani coast, was in its element even with the weather obliging us with a generous dose of drizzle. It was a properly wet day, too. Arguably not prime conditions to test out a new car, but I was more than thankful to hide out from the rain by lounging in the car’s plush Nappa leather reclining seats, which I couldn’t help but fiddle with.

Once I felt confident enough to brave the storm, my right foot found the floor and the G80 found its grip, shooting up to 70 in a handful of seconds. We pulled over at Wadi Darbat, an achingly beautiful river that looked fit to burst its banks under all the precipitation, and took the chance to enjoy the car from the outside while the rain abated briefly. 

This was also the moment to switch from the Royal variant to the Sport, which is, well… sportier. With a larger, turbocharged engine and more aggressive body design and exhaust sound, this version threw me back in my seat as I slingshot from 0-100 kph in around five seconds.

Sadly, the drive was over all too soon—I could have remained in that car quite happily for hours. That being said, the alternative location of the Al Baleed Resort was nothing to sniff at, especially with a full-body massage booked in a few hours’ time. 

The Return: Spa & Satay 

Returning to the plush environs of the hotel, I headed to the on-site Anantara Spa, where ambient music washed over me as I entered the treatment room. The massage itself was one of those timeless experiences, a little like driving the car had been earlier in the day. Looking back on it now, it seems to have simultaneously passed in an instant while  also feeling like it went on for hour after glorious hour, with seemingly endless wafts of Luban (Omani frankincense) coming from the massage oils.

I emerged from the spa in some kind of trance and made my way to the resort’s Mekong restaurant for a decadent dinner of Asian fusion dishes. Flaky spring rolls and braised chilli beef jostled for space on the table alongside fragrant steamed veggies and rich, aromatic white fish and classic satay chicken skewers—a feat by any measure because I had all of this to get through on my own. I am proud to say I rose valiantly to the challenge, even in the face of such adversity...

Farewell 

After several generous helpings of Mekong’s delicious offerings, I managed to squeeze in one final swim in the villa’s private pool, as the condensed fog dripped off the leaves outside in a dance of disarrayed droplets. It took a significant amount of mental fortitude to push myself out of the water and head inside to begin collecting my things, embarking on the melancholy task of packing to leave somewhere I could, at a push, probably stay forever. 

Having bid the Al Baleed resort goodbye, my business class trip back to Cairo took me via Muscat, where I capitalised on a half hour layover by diving into everything the Oman Air lounge had to offer—coffee, food, beer, massage chairs, the whole nine yards. And soon, I was back in the air, on the second and final four-hour flight back to the Egyptian capital city. 

In retrospect, there could have been no greater juxtaposition to emerging bleary-eyed from an hour-long aromatherapy massage than my unceremonious exit from Cairo Airport. Searching for a taxi amongst a sea of battered automobiles awaiting outside, I willed my mind back to Salalah, to the fog, the calm, the greenery. And for a second, I could actually hear the sound of an engine revving in the rain.