Originally Posted by
TabTraveller
Small piece of advice: don't head to the airport early to spend time at Al Sawfa. If you have a connection in DOH then sure, it's more comfortable than the terminal.
Once you get over the architectural scale of the place, the food is mediocre, the drink selection very business class, the spa pay-only (and not cheap) and there is little else to do. Except look at some old arab pottery. Even watching aircraft movements is impossible as the windows are mostly covered by curtains.
It is not up there in the world's best F lounges by any stetch.
As imposing and majestic as the space appears at first glance (architectural references sprung to mind such as the Smithsonian and the Great Court at the British Museum), once you sit down the facility fails in several ways to work as a lounge - as you say there is very little to stimulate the senses - no visible external activity, and unlike the museum examples there is precious little internal activity either. In fact if you study the surroundings, even at a cursory level, the space quickly reveals itself as a grand stage set. The walls are not monolithic as they first appear, and are in fact quite poorly constructed - the stone panels are wafer thin and light breaks through the panel joints to such an extent it is actually mildly comical. That said, the OJ is pretty good.
Now that I have found a selection of comfortable seats (in the central raised section) I actually prefer the Al Mourjan lounge