Abesq Doha Hotel & Residences, Suhaim Bin Hamad Street Doha, Qatar

Booked 30/12/23 - 01/01/24

We were transiting in Doha, enroute from LHR to BKK, with a layover of around 20 hours, hence the need for a hotel. We didn't fancy the transit hotel due to lack of outside access, so ended up finding this as a points + cash option with IHG. The price made it cost effective, at £26 per night plus 35,000 points.

Location

The hotel was 20 minutes in a taxi from DOH, although this was at 6am, so expect longer if you're travelling at a more civilised hour. The location itself wasn't bad, but there wasn't a huge amount going on. There were some interesting looking eating options on same side of the road to the hotel, although we didn't get a chance to visit any of these. The hotel is on the corner of the intersection of two major roads, and traffic was busy up until 7-8pm.


Local area / view from the room

Check-in

Fantastic. We checked in around 6:30am, and unsurprisingly, there was no queue. Welcomed immediately and seated at the check-in desk, status acknowledged and thanked for our loyalty. Welcome amenity was also offered, and, for some reason, I took the points over the welcome drinks voucher (in Doha!). Put that one down to the tiredness...

Whilst the check-in was taking place, the hotel manager came out, greeted us by name, and offered further thanks for our loyalty. A conversation took place between the front desk member and the manager, and we were then offered our room. We'd originally booked a 1 bed King Essential room, but were upgraded to a top floor one bedroom suite, which was very much welcome.

The Room

Unsurprisingly, with such a good upgrade on check-in, we were extremely happy, and the room didn't disappoint. It was very spacious, and it was brand new, as you'd expect for such a new hotel. Our suite had a bedroom and massive ensuite bathroom (through a walk-through wardrobe / dressing area), with a further powder room next to entrance. Bathroom itself had shower and seperate tub, his/hers sinks and a seperate toilet cubicle with bidet. Toiletries provided were from 19-69 Kasbah, which I’d never encountered before, but understand to be quite high end. The quality of these and the towels were of a high standard. The bedroom offered blackout curtains (very effective), and the bed itself was a roommy King with firm-ish mattress and very good quality bedding. Given the time of day, we slept very well for a good 5-6 hours withour disruption.

The open plan sitting / dining room was very spacious and well laid out. In the sitting area, the sofas, albeit underused, were comfortable, and there was an appropriately sized TV mounted on the wall. In the dining area, beside the table and chairs, was a small tea/coffee area that had a Smeg kettle, Nespresso type coffee machine (Caffe Verghanon, which is new one on me). There was no mini bar, though. There were also two large cupboard/wardrobe areas, so plenty of storage available.

Given that the sole purpose of booking this hotel was to allow us to get some sleep before heading back to the airport, I can have no complaints about noise levels or disturbances. I never heard any noise whatsoever on our floor, but the hotel did seem extremely quiet anyway. There was no outside noise to be heard either.


Living Area


Bedroom


Main Bathroom / Ensuite


Walkthru Wardrobe / Storage

Facilities

There was a small pool area on the rooftop of the lower-level section of the building, with 6 loungers and a few sets of tables and chairs. To be honest, it didn't look overly inviting, and we didn't use it due to time constraints. I’ve included a photo taken from our room to help you make your own judgements on this area.

We did, however, use the bar area, called The Surry. This was a nice space, basically a sports bar, with multiple TVs showing various Premier League re-runs. The Stella Artois was pricey, but cold, so we were happy. It was slightly bizarre being in there though. Given that it was New Years Eve, the staff were setting up decorations, blowing up helium balloons, putting novelty hats and glasses on all the tables, and there was a DJ setting up. There were lots of staff milling about, but we were the only people in there, and we sat at the bar from 7 til 9pm! A party of four did turn up just as we were leaving, but by the time we checked out to go back to DOH, nobody else had turned up, and there were still no other guests in or around the reception area. We almost felt guilty leaving. I can only hope that the party wasn't due to start for another hour or so, as the staff had put a good deal of effort into getting the area set up.


Rooftop Pool

Summary

All in all, other than seeing a small family at the pool (from our window), and a couple of people milling about it reception on check-out, we never saw any other guests. I don't know if this can be attributed to the time of year, the location, or the newness of the hotel, but it was extremely quiet. The room was excellent, and the facilities were decent, although we didn't get much chance to use anything other than the bar. The absolute highlight was the staff. They looked after us very well, we were given an excellent upgrade on check-in, and everyone we came across made a point of saying hello.

Would We Return?

In similar circumstances, yes. We’ll be flying QAR more and more going forward, so I expect we will be back here, especially given the price. If I were in Doha on anything other than a layover, however, then I think I’d prefer to be somewhere with a better pool and more going on in the local area.

This is the first trip report I've ever had cause to write, so please feel free to offer feedback wherever you see fit. Hopefully you find the description and photos provided useful. Thanks for reading!