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Old Apr 20, 2014 | 11:14 am
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mecabq
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Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: United Arab Emirates & Arizona, USA
Programs: UA MM/1P, EK Ag, Marriott Life Ti, Hilton Dia, IC Dia, Hyatt Glob, Accor Pt
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The hotels with steakhouses are:

-- Marriott: So-so steakhouse (JW) and a bit dated but solid hotel overall with comfortable rooms, some with balconies, and among the more competent service in town. In addition to the JW bar, there is a poolside bar and a few bars at the other restaurants. Indian (Taj Rasoi) is pretty good.

-- InterContinental City: Probably the best steakhouse in a hotel (Prime), but a mediocre bar (Hive) and atrocious service overall but fresh, modern rooms. One of the best buffets (The Square) if you're into that.

-- Radisson-Blu: Another older hotel but with some refurbished rooms in the new tower and a very old-school but fun steakhouse (Bentley's) and a plethora of bars, including Manhattan off the lobby of the new tower, which is a quaint place, and the old-fashioned Library at the top of the old tower, plus a dingy pub (Shehrazad) among others. Very solid F&B overall, including a great Indian kebab place (Chingari) and teppanyaki (Sakura). Probably a bad location for most business travelers.

-- Renaissance/Courtyard: Location downtown, probably convenient if you are on business there (across from the InterContinental City and near the W), with a decent steakhouse (New York Steakhouse) but mediocre restaurants otherwise and very poor service and uninspired rooms. Champions is a basic sports bar, but exciting by Doha standards.

-- St. Regis: Very comfortable and attractive rooms and good service (though not quite at the St. Regis level elsewhere), probably the best bar/lounge in the city (Vintage) plus a lounge at Hakkasan and a great Lebanese pool-side (Sultan Brahim), though the steakhouse (Astor Grill) is poor in my opinion. Jazz at Lincoln Center is a bit too ambitious for what it delivers but is a unique venue in the city.

This list leaves out the best hotel in the city (Four Seasons) and the best steakhouse (The Anvil Rooms, downtown) in my opinion. Of course you can get a steak in other ways besides one of these steakhouses. For chilling out, I would recommend either the Four Seasons, which is also downtown and features the Cigar Bar and Library Lounge, my favorite lounge which is exactly as you'd expect; and the W, which features Market, a Jean-Georges restaurant that is among the most reliable in Qatar and has steak nights, Wahm, a top lounge destination though it gets noisy with a young crowd, and Crystal, the top nightclub in the city. The W has very comfortable, if a bit smaller, rooms in which nothing really works.

Also worth mentioning is the old InterContinental on the beach, also a bit dated, but with renovated rooms, and a good buffet as well as the Belgian cafe, a pub that is unique in Qatar -- kind of sad, and not a destination if you're a visitor, but a solid choice for locals and with some unique beer selections. Everywhere else in Qatar, you'll see the same basic beers.

Also the Kempinski, which has a lounge and brasserie that are so-so and modern, comfortable rooms, but not worth the price in my view; and Oryx Rotana, at the airport, which has a great outdoor bar/shisha lounge and jazz bar as well as a couple of mediocre restaurants.

I am leaving out the other alcoholic five-star hotels, Ritz-Carlton, Sharq Village, Grand Hyatt, and Hilton, which I would skip. The Hilton has Trader Vics, but it is a terrible representation compared to the locations in Oman, UAE, and Bahrain.
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