gtp4all

Feedback from one regular resident:

a) Overall a nice, modern hotel with friendly helpful staff

b) Very slow wifi connectivety

c) Standards have gone down quite noticeably over the times I have stayed there due to obvious cost saving/income generation measures; e.g.:
1) Beach overcrowded - too many sun loungers, obviously trying to get more non-residents to pay to use the facilities.
2) You used to get a tray with water, rose water spray and a cold towel when you arrive on the beach. You now have to ask repeatedly for these and you may get them if you're lucky
3) Breakfast in the exec. lounge is not great, particularly the hot food. Even the quality of the preserve has been compromised (you used to get small pots of quality preserve, now it's a large pot of very cheap preserve that you have to scoop onto a small dish).
4) You used to get a choice of 3 hot dishes at night in the exec lounge - now it's 2 and these are often fried/unhealthy options

d) Quality of room service food is very good and room service staff are very polite and helpful

e) Cleanliness and maintenance of the property needs to be looked at. Even though it's a relatively new hotel there are lots of issues that should be addressed to keep up the hotel's appearance. For instance, the pool has many tiles missing from its floor.

f) The one classy/quality restaurant in the hotel (La Sahtaine) has been closed down and replaced by a bar. The restaurants that are left are not of a great standard - buffet style food or served food that isn't particularly healthy or tasty. This is adding to what appears to me to be the downgrading of the hotel's standards.

Overall a very nice hotel with nice staff but recent cost-cutting measures are having a negative effect.

decentmove

As this info is already kinda old, can somebody confirm Happy Hour is from 6pm to 8:30pm every day of the week, including weekends??

Thank you.

CHCflyer

I am planning my annual trip to Europe and Qatar Airways came up with some great fares from SYD to Europe (long haul in biz/short hop in Y - I say short hop as we are looking at Athens).
Anyway, one of the booking options gave us a 20 hour layover in Doha. As we had visited there in the 1980's we thought it would be good to revisit.
There are two options; the Hilton and the DoubleTree. Hilton rates are off the scale - a standard room is almost NZ$600 but paying with points costs 40,000?
The DoubleTree costs 50,000 but costs $350.
Any experiences that would steer us in one direction or the other? We want to have some time to wander round town but apart from that use the hotel to refresh and re-charge.
Off topic, I am aware that Qatar Airways does a free stopover package but not sure if it applies to mixed cabin itineraries.

Thanks for any advice.

jetboys360

Hilton Doha - my vote. See TripAdvisor for the reviews^

Dan72

I stayed here last weekend and found the hotel to be quite poor. For a fairly new Hilton, I thought it was already looking a bit tatty.

I also wonder if it was badged as a Hilton quite late on in its construction. I don't normally notice but found the decor and furniture to be low quality and of a rather dull executive design, probably best left in the 80s/90s. The lounge and breakfast were good and the staff helpful, but the hotel felt like a Hilton on the cheap.

tasnam

I am staying there this week with my family (on points) do the room layouts offer the ability to have connecting rooms?

anabolism

A bit late for your, tasnam, but for anyone else who wants to know, I have stayed here a few times and been allocated connecting rooms. As a Diamond I've been upgraded to very nice room with a lot of windows and a bit of a balcony, connecting to a regular room.

anabolism

To avoid the laptop/iPad ban on CAI-LHR, I'm thinking of leaving a suitcase in DOH for two days with a laptop, iPad, and whatever else I won't need in CAI. Any tips on leaving the (soft-side) suitcase with the hotel in DOH? Should I lock it (I don't usually lock suitcases, on the theory that it just advertises that there's something of value inside, and baggage handlers can pop the zipper in seconds anyway)?

tasnam

Perfect timing....one year and one month to the day after my question...

I was able to get connecting rooms and a Balcony as well.

rash76

Hi guys, does anyone know the policy at this hotel specifically for a Second named guest checking in? I was going to book a stay for my sister-in-law and the hotel reservations assistant says I can only do this when paying with points. Whereas Diamond customer services say it is fine.

Thanks

anabolism

You want to book a room in your name with your sister-in-law listed as a second guest in the room, have her check-in and stay so she will enjoy your Diamond benefits and you will get credit, but you are not staying? That's a common thing, but people usually do it quietly; I'm surprised that the hotel would say that it was fine to book a room in your name without you staying, but only if you used points, or that the Diamond desk would say it was fine. Maybe I'm misunderstanding you, and you asked something different? What exactly did the hotel and the Diamond desk say?

This hotel (as do many overseas) will want to see the passports of everyone staying. You might be able to have your sister check-in and say you are arriving separately, or you could try faxing your passport to the hotel.

:D!

The passport of all guests needs to be seen and copied on arrival.

On a points booking it is possible to take the points from your account but have the reservation only in your sister-in-law's name, therefore you don't need to be present (and if you turned up you wouldn't even be allowed to check in since your name is not on the reservation). You have to book it on the phone with the US call centre.

It is not possible to do this on a paid booking.

anabolism

I think I must have never tried to book a paid stay in someone else's name, because I tried it just now, and if logged in, the guest name field is unchangeable. I never knew that. Seems like a bug to me. However, if not logged in, then the Hilton web site allowed me to create a reservation for a random person with a random email address, guaranteed with a credit card in someone else's name. I just tried it.

:D!

Yes, because the name on cards is not checked. Hilton doesn't ask you to enter cardholder name anyway. Try generating a random credit card number from one of the websites which explains the check digit formula, I expect this would succeed in making a Hilton booking for a random person (but if that person really tried to check in they would obviously need to present a real card to replace the fake number).

When you are logged in you can only book a stay in your name. Otherwise you would be breaking Hilton's T&Cs. If you are not logged in, you can book a stay in any name - this seems self-evident to me?

Hilton agents can change the name on award stays, in accordance with the Hilton T&Cs, but you can't do it online yourself. IME, only US-based agents know how to do this.

As you said, in countries where hotels do not need to see / record every guest's ID, you can easily put someone else's name in the second guest field and not turn up yourself (despite this being against the T&Cs for points / benefits accrual).

rash76

Sorry for the delayed reply, you understood right I think. Hotel said its fine for someone else IF I pay with points. Diamond desk said that the hotel is wrong and I can prepay or pay with points, another named guest is allowed. Lets see what happens