Originally Posted by
SQ88
Just experienced the stopover yesterday and can share my experience as a datapoint for anyone else who might be in the same situation.
Paid for visa on arrival at premium desk with no issues. Visa was only 100QAR which was a surprise. Went through immigration within 2 mins.
Took an uber to the hotel I booked with Qatar, Shangri-La, and they checked me in with no issues. The hotel was very nice, especially considering how much I paid for the room ($0).
No issues with check out either. Wasn't billed at all. So it seems like qualifying for the free transit visa is not a criteria for the stopover.
Also, when ordering an Uber from HIA, the pick up location is actually at the pick up point right outside arrivals (instead of east or west car park). East actually corresponds to pillar 2 and west corresponds to pillar 3. Had some issue locating my uber car because I went to the car park as instructed by the app.
same here.. Was waiting at the car park with no Wifi nor a working mobile connection. Thanks to the Al-Maha attendant who helped me call up the Uber driver.
I had booked the St Regis for my stay, and it was fabulous. No breakfast or pick up or drop in the rate, but I was okay with it as I had my breakfast at Al Mourjan after heading back to the airport. Surprisingly my ticket was not multicity and I had a transit visa before arriving in Doha. No problems at all. They recognized the booking with the voucher. You need to take a printout though.