I flew last week LOS - DOH - MAN in J. This is a journey where the 1st leg arrives at 11pm- Midnight and the 2nd leg leaves at about 7am next day. In the old airport this was always a pain as I had to enter Qatar, collect my bags, get taxi to hotel, get 4 - 5 hours sleep and return. This then needed a little more planning as a few months bag Qatar changed the rules so my bag was forced to be checked through and there was no way I could collect it for the overnight - which was a problem first time as I was nor prepared but now I guess it makes life quicker.

So, excited at the prospect of a new airport containing a hotel inside it which would create at least an extra hours sleep for me, I emailed ahead to the airport hotel and tried to book a room for the night. No response from the hotel, so I phoned and booked the room. No email confirmation, but anyway, its new so one has to be more forgiving.

My flight from LOS was delayed because there was rain and traffic so the crew got stuck - mildly annoying as one knows that Lagos traffic can be like that, so most of us set off 4 - 5 hours before a flight to get to the airport - still it happens so no huge stress.

This meant of course that we landed 2 hours late in DOH. Unluckily we had to get a bus to the terminal. On the plus side the bus was not like the old bus journeys which could take 10 mins to the terminal - this was like 200 metres or so from the terminal. On the negative side, we had to cross a very busy part of the airport where several aircraft we taxiing inane out of position - we literally sat in the bus for 20 mins watching aircraft being shunted around - no attempt by the driver to drive around the mayhem - which would have involved a 5 minute drive to get safely through by my calculation - I had plenty of time to map out safe routes as I gazed across the airport

Then I arrive at the new terminal which did look quite fab. I asked one of the Qatar staff where was the airport hotel - was told 'not open' and sent to the transit desk where the lady kindly confirmed also that the airport hotel is not open and double checked with another colleague who assured us both that the airport hotel was not yet open. As I didn't have an email confirmation I couldn't prove them wrong, but I did have the phone number of the hotel, but because it was about 3am at this time they didn't answer.

This is one of those moments where you realise you are facing a night sat in a chair in a lounge, and although I am BA Gold, Qatar are unlikely to respond well to a DYKWIA hissy fit, so I went through security slightly nervously to meet another Qatar staff who told me to go back to the transfer desk before security as the airport hotel was not yet open. Quite quickly however I met someone at a Premium Qatar help desk conveniently situated near the transit area and he gave me directions to the hotel which was actually open. There was 1 person serving at the hotel, he was hopelessly slow (thats OK - new hotel - he will still be learning) and this was also why the phone was not answered.

The rooms in the hotel are nice, although I was on the side facing the shops, and you can hear announcements despite the double glazing so rooms facing the runway may be better - I will check this next time.

I got to sleep around 4am and woke at 615am - probably not quite worth the $200 I paid but I was rather unlucky I think.

I went to the lounge for breakfast. The J lounge was packed so I was sent to the F lounge which was also overflowing. I grabbed some fruit and juice and found a chair - there really were very few proper dining tables but for what little I was having this was not an issue. Then the MAN flight was called and, having read about long walks at this new airport, I headed off immediately only to find out that the flight wasn't boarding (and wouldn't be for another 20 mins).

When eventually we took off, I was asleep in seconds and the flight was just fine - a calm end to what had been a tough 24 hours or so. Next month I have LHR - DOH - Kigali followed by Kigali - DOH - LOS ...all with similar transit timings - will be interested to see if there is much improvement, although now I know where the hotel is I am assuming things will be much smoother