Shangri-La Resort - Oman

Set in 124 acres of landscaped gardens, it comprises 640 guest rooms, six main restaurants, seven casual dining outlets and pool bars, three lobby lounges, two bars, a nightclub, an Omani Heritage Village, a Marina, a Diving Centre and a 1,000-seat, open-air amphitheatre.

Ceiling heights vary throughout the complex, but the background music is kept at a constant level offering seamless transitions as the ceiling speakers have been tapped at various power ratings. The background music for the entrance foyer of Al Waha is controlled in the office, where an Australian Monitor AMIS 250 mixer-amplifier offers paging and music sources from a PC, MP3 or an integrated Australian Monitor BGM-2 CD player.

The music levels in the Surf Cafe have been increased to compensate for the higher ambience generated by the younger guests, pool table and LCD televisions. The 10 ceiling speakers are all powered by an Australian Monitor AMIS 250 mixer-amplifier.

The outdoor dining area is divided into four zones using an Australian Monitor ZRM4 Zone Routing Mixer, while an Australian Monitor AMIS TX8000 eight channel mixer allows the outdoor speakers to be controlled or even muted in the pool area as required.

Australian Monitor AMIS 30, 120 and 250 mixer amplifiers and Australian Monitor BGM-2 CD players have been installed throughout the public areas of the resort. PCs provide alternative background music sources, and create a uniformity of programming, despite the differences in music.

The meeting and banqueting facilities include the 1,056m2 Barr Al Jissah Ballroom, and its large pre-function area that can accommodate up to 850 guests. The resort also offers eight function rooms covering more than 360m2. The thickly carpeted ballroom can be partitioned into three sections, each measuring approximately 13m by 22m.

The control room at the rear houses three Australian Monitor TX8000 preamplifiers and an Australian Monitor AMIS ZM3 zone mixer, which allows remote selection of four stereo sources to each of the three zones or, when the ballroom is configured as one large function room, provides a single PA system. 'The mixer-amplifiers manufactured by Australian Monitor offer many more features for the same spend,' says Mr Bhimani. 'There are other inputs in addition to the microphone option, RCA and XLR connections, and a VCA remote volume control, so any conventional player can be connected to the unit.' The adjacent meeting rooms can be linked to Ballroom C, allowing privacy or an additional extension to the ballroom for VIP guests. Five of the seven meeting rooms are based on a design that incorporates an Australian Monitor AMIS 120 mixer-amplifier and four ceiling speakers, an input for a microphone and a Draper projection screen. The reception area has eight speakers powered by an Australian Monitor AMIS 250 and linked to an Australian Monitor BGM-2 CD player installed in arched recesses.

The Al Husn, meanwhile, includes the Shahrazad Moroccan restaurant, the Silver Lounge cigar lounge, Mahhara private beach bar and Al Muheet pool bar and restaurant. Named after the first Omani ship to sail to America, the Sultanah restaurant serves international cuisine and has been designed to resemble a ship at the dockside. For its sound system, an Australian Monitor AMIS 250 is linked to a PC and provides background music to the eight outdoor and nine indoor speakers. This area has also been powered by four Australian Monitor AMIS Amplifiers.