Hamad International Airport (Doha, Qatar)

Europe flying options have recently become a lot cheaper especially for the Nordic countries with Qatar Airways and Emirates Airlines flying direct flights to the Doha and Dubai hubs to help connect the passengers to more locations at a cheaper price.

This was my first visit to the New airport in Doha. The Hamad International Airport recently opened in Doha last year on April 30th for Qatar Airways, with all other airlines relocating by May 27th, 2014.

This airport  is catered for the seasoned traveler with its list of services. It offers you transit hotel rooms before passport control which you can book for an overnight stay, 12 hours, 8 hours or simply 4 hours, along with the option to skip the hotel room and head straight to the wellness center to use the  spa, gym or swimming pool.

The design of the new place is simple but elegant. It is designed to allow quick movement of passengers so there is limited queues. The food court has all the different flavors of the world without going overboard.

The airport hotel offers different room types ranging from QAR 900 to QAR 1700 (£163-£308) for the current period.

Room Type	12 to 24 Hours stay package	9 to 12 Hours stay package	5 to 8 Hours stay package	3 to 4 Hours stay package
Superior Room King or Twin (38 sqm)	900	792	720	630
Deluxe Room King or Twin (43 sqm)	1000	880	800	700
Executive King or Twin (56 sqm)	1100	968	880	770
Executive Suite King  (92 sqm)	1700	1496	1360	1190

The wellness center features:

•       Temperature-controlled 25-metre swimming pool (towels provided)
•       Fully-equipped gymnasium, with cardiovascular and weight training equipment and personal instructors
•       Two squash courts (equipment provided)
•       Showers and changing rooms

It costs Approximately QAR 100 to get into the wellness center but if you have a room then it is included.

Duty Free shops feature many products that are hard to find across Europe and at a cheaper price as well compared to the rare find in Europe.For example the Tom Ford, Fragrances.

Hamad International airport is a great hub for connecting flights and with Qatar airways cheap flights from Europe to exotic destinations around the world, it is an opportunity that must be explored.

A second article coming soon will feature more information from the Oryx Lounge, QA Gold Lounge, and QA Silver Lounge available at the airport. The Oryx lounge is also accessible to Economy class travelers for QAR 140.

Click here to read about the One night Doha city layover.

One Night in Doha

One night in Doha was not equivalent to the song about the one night in Bangkok.
There was despair but no ecstasy, and the world was not my oyster after this visit.

Having a 13 hour layover in Doha, I could have done the wise thing and stayed at the airport hotel. However that would be boring as I wanted to discover a little bit of the city and have more to experience than just the airport.

You can leave the airport while in transit by purchasing a visa which costs QAR 100. The visa is available to countries in the Nordic region, European Union, North American, Asian, and Australasian region. 

Once you get out of the arrivals terminal you have the option to take a taxi, limo or be picked up by your hotels designated driver. Being adventurous I went with the taxi option. Bad idea on my behalf as the driver was confident in driving but had no clue where he was going.

Instead of going with one of the bigger chain hotels I decided on a Boutique hotel in the souk to get my group acquainted to the real Doha. Al Najada Boutique Hotel had received some good reviews online so I though I would try this place. I was expecting the hotel area to be loud, busy and a good feel of Doha in my short stay.

Well the above expectations were met except for the hotel not being open for business on arrival.

First the taxi driver had no clue where the hotel was and we drove around the souk and partially through (via the car park) twice before I saw the building. When I went to enter the building, I was surprised to find there was a Soprano type bloke at a security desk in a matrix leather coat sitting next to the the stairs leading to the entrance. 

My reservation was of no concern to him and his message was highlighting the obvious fact that this hotel is closed, and he is not the man to talk to so we should go to the Sister hotel to sort this out. He mumbled a Name of a hotel and pointed in a direction across the souk. My taxi driver shook his head from side to side and told me "No Problem sir, I know".

At this point my immediate concern was, why is this man wearing a leather coat in this hot humid night?, and secondly I have a major issue now as driving through the souk or worse walking through it with luggage looking for the sister hotel is not an option. Having experienced the chaos of a Marrakesh souk 3 months earlier, this seemed all to similar from initial observations.

So back in the car for one last drive and search attempt for this other place. After 10 minutes driving it was apparent that the driver had no clue what the Matrix Soprano Crossover man told him and it was at this point I asked him to take us to Radisson Blu which I remembered from the in-flight magazine. One hour of my life that I wont get back after this episode.

Check in went smooth at Radisson Blu and at this point the group was starving so we decided to settle for a Indian restaurant. The food was good but nothing over the top that I will rave on about. Fatigue was kicking in after the flight and souk adventures so everyone was ready to hit the sack. However I had to suggest we explore the bar upstairs in the hotel simply for observations. 

After the thorough ID checks at the door we entered the bar. Word of advise to all women: Do not enter the bars in Doha without a male companion. Taking two attractive blondes into the bar was like placing blood into water full of sharks. All the people in the bar which was all male except for 2 waitresses gave the girls the stare down and they had hope in the eyes. Fast forward 90 seconds, we hit the gas on reverse and got out of there.

Doha hotel bars is a red zone ;)

Doha is not a busy location yet but they have the handball championship there shortly and the bigger event Football world cup in 2022. So a lot of construction work is already in progress to improve things.

It is a smaller version of Dubai from first observations, however it is stricter. It features great architecture and the place has a lot of potential in the years to come. So a return visit with a longer stay is on the cards in the future to explore some of the fancy Museums, entertainment venues, and restaurants.