arabian palace style - Ritz-Carlton Sharq Village. They have nice facilities and a decent beach area. Restaurants/bars are OK if you are not staying for too long - the location is not the best, so if you get tired of the resort’s F&B you will need a cab.

if you want convenience, you can try JW Marriott that is attached to City Centre Mall…or St. Regis Marsa Arabia (the one on Pearl Island not the old STR). When I stayed at the St. Regis Marsa Arabia (which has a decent selection of restaurants itself) I used to walk to the Marina side of the Pearl which has many restaurants/shops. It is doable even during the heat.

I'm going to Doha for a week at the end of this month.
I've booked a Deluxe Terrace room at the STR, but am now wondering if I should change based on several people saying it's dated.
There will be me, my wife and our one-year-old. Key criteria is a terrace/balcony, on a beach and centrally located.
Should I be swapping to elsewhere?

how about Kempinski Marsa Malaz? I have the feeling it would suit all your needs.

i found the old St. Regis disappointing - service was poor and the terrace rooms were not nice at all (you share basically one massive terrace with many other rooms and there was a lot of noise coming from the bars)

Thanks. I did look there originally. What’s the service like?

Pretty good! Not outstanding like in the FS, but way better than the STR. Location-wise, it is not very close to the city centre, but the Pearl has plenty of restaurants & bars and there is Lagoona Mall / Place Vendome Mall nearby.

Great, appreciate the insight - that might be the better option for this trip then. Will post back after my time there.

Change of plan - booked MO.

Obviously no beach, but has a terrace and the hotel looks outstanding. Looking forward to it now.

good choice - it is a fantastic hotel, actually the best one in Doha along with Raffles.

Going to be flying through Doha and have a one day layover. Fiancee has never been so we want to do some actual touring, so I'm considering just booking Qatar's stopover program. On the phone they told me the best they can offer is the Souq Waqif boutique hotel... but the benefit is that everything (car/driver, guide, hotel, flights) will all be confirmed in one go. The hotel certainly doesn't look that great... Does anyone have experience with this property, booking through this program, etc?

Or am I better off booking the flights and just ubering to MO, FS, etc... and doing it myself?

Souq Waqif is not one hotel but several under the same name - all with a different flavor. I'd consider it a 4 star boutique with charm and located well for a one day stopover. It's well run but I don't consider it luxury. Note - no alcohol. But if you dine at a nearby 5 star you can remedy that. The tour of the Souq they offer is quite good - includes the stables, bird hospital, etc. I also highly recommend the museum of islamic art. I stayed and enjoyed it but would not stay again as I've seen all there is to see in Doha and prefer a generic 5 star whenever needed. Choice of hotel would also depend on arrival/dept time in my view.

Helpful, thank you! Decided to book myself, especially after seeing the MO and FS' rates. I'll just have them arrange my needs and guide.

Bird hospital and some of the falcon shops in Souq Waqif are worth a vist. I met a Spanish falcon breeder who explained the whole thing and it is fascinating.

Can confirm the MO was outstanding.

IMO, the best option in Doha now. Also travelled round most other comparable hotels and none was close from what I saw.

Got a free upgrade, usual Fan MO benefits and late checkout, which helped us out.

Recommend.

I have to spend a night in Doha (16 hour layover) and was thinking of heading into the city on the stopover program. The 3 most luxurious and convenient options seem to be Fairmont, The Ned and Park Hyatt - which one would you recommend? A nice pool would be great, which I think already rules out PH which looks dreadful. Thanks.

Park Hyatt is OK, but bit boring. I didn’t stay at The Ned because it didn’t appeal to me design-wise.

I would go for the Fairmont - it’s located in the new Katara tower which is beautiful, there are good F&B options in both Fairmont and Raffles and the pool was nice.

The only thing is that it is not close to the city center. If you just want to relax at the hotel, it is not an issue. But if you want to do sightseeing then the Ned & PH have the better location.