We started our trip in Doha, figuring it would be a good place to spend a night and acclimate to the new time zone. The Four Seasons Doha was only seven years old and painted a striking picture sitting between the Arabian Gulf and the Doha skyline.  

Premier Room

Our premier room had beautiful ocean and marina views, and the yachts were amazing (Azimut 116, etc.). There was a small balcony and the room was outfitted the way you would expect for a new construction Four Seasons hotel….generally large spaces decorated in soft colors. The marble bathroom had an unusual peach-colored countertop, a deep soaking tub, separate shower, and separate WC.

View from Premier Room

Service

The service at the FS Doha was high level and non-intrusive. Our experience began at the airport where, despite having not booked the hotel’s car service, a Four Seasons representative was on hand to help us secure a taxi and have it billed to our room. Later, the concierge successfully secured dinner reservations for us (at a restaurant that was having trouble picking up their phone). 

Dining

We enjoyed the large FS breakfast buffet with Asian and Arabic influences. The hotel’s restaurants and room service items catered to the many different nationalities traveling through Doha, though we chose the more local items like the Arabic mezzes.  

Activities

One of our big draws to the hotel was the multi-level grotto pool and large beach. While the beach had a roped off area for swimming (and even a floating pad for sunbathing), we didn’t think the water seemed especially clean. We spent our time by the pool instead, hidden from the Doha summer sun under a pergola and ordering from the non-alcoholic drink menu. The fitness center was quite large, with many options for cardio, weights, spinning, and various classes. They even had squash courts. Outside of the hotel, we found time to visit the I.M. Pei-designed Islamic Museum of Art which had tremendous views of the city skyline. We also visited the Souq Waqif. The architecture had been redone to look like what tourists think a souq should look like, but the shops and local people were definitely real. We had dinner at Al Tawash where we were able to try some Qatari food in a quiet, romantic setting.

Souq Waqif

Opportunities for Improvement

Our stay was short, and well, nothing comes to mind.

We booked this property with JessicoO (DavidO’s daughter in law) using a Four Seasons 4th night free promotion. She did a great job handling our multitude of questions and changes. FS Preferred Partner benefits included upgrade as available on arrival, in-room breakfast or buffet, and $100 food and beverage credit.

We absolutely loved the resort, the surrounding jungle, and the beach. The cliff setting was rumored to be so steep and unbuildable that the land was purchased for a song, and there were reminders of this when large granite outcroppings showed up in unexpected places. The jungle was full of surprises like cinnamon trees, lemongrass, cashews, mangoes and flowers. The beach was the fine white sand found at Amanpulo and Amanyara, and there were all kinds of critters like geckos, ghost crabs, mudskippers, palm spiders the size of Mr. Ericka’s hand, fruit bats, birds, birds and more birds.

Unfortunately, early September did not prove to be a good time for us to go. We had done enough research to know that the rainy season was imminent, but we expected an occasional shower followed by sun. Turns out, we only had about two hours of full sun during our stay. The rest was a dark cloud overcast that stripped the color out of the water, the fish, and the sunsets and likely affected our overall appreciation of the resort. The FS was in a protected cove so the wind was not bad, but the seas were very choppy and limited our activities. Of course, the sun was shining as we were flying out so you never know, but we learned that spring is a more predictable time to visit for those concerned with weather.

Hilltop Ocean-View Villa #501

Villa? Or treehouse? Either way, we found the rooms to be truly fabulous. All categories of villa were basically the same here, the only difference being where you were positioned on the cliff’s edge. We found the dor very cheerful; something they called French Creole style. Any description we try to write here will not do the villas justice so we will refer our readers to the Four Seasons website. OK, well…. we should at least mention the wraparound verandah and wraparound plunge pool, the cantilevered pavilion, the floor-to-ceiling wall of windows that ensured every part of the villa had a wonderful view, the cavernous (if not so comfortable) bathtub, etc.

Because the Four Seasons was located in a U-shaped cove, the villas all had very different views. In planning our trip (researching tripadvisor photos), we discovered there was a particular perspective we liked best. We were especially taken with the views from 501 that had other islands in the distance, and a lovely sunset. The view was indeed beautiful, and there was no exposure to the golf cart roads or other villas looking down on us, but there is a bit more to the story that we will share in Opportunities for Improvement.

Villa Interior

Bathroom, Pool & View

Sunset Over Plunge Pool

Dining

There were two restaurants at the Four Seasons; ZEZ and Kannel. Food reviews in the past have not been kind to this resort, so we were intrigued when we met the brand new Food & Beverage Manager (from the closing Provence property) and the new Executive Chef from the Maldives. ZEZ was the view restaurant which served a nice international breakfast buffet (warm pain au chocolat….yum,) and had an “offering box” on the deck for feeding the pretty birds while keeping them out of the restaurant. We also enjoyed a Japanese-themed buffet there one night. The fruit sushi dessert was as cute as it was tasty. Kannel was the restaurant closest to the pool/beach where we could get creole food and we had a great Indian-themed dinner there as well.

Outside ZEZ

Service

We felt very welcome at the Four Seasons Seychelles.

Our service experience began with the FS VIP transfer where we were greeted coming off of the plane and escorted through a special fast track immigration line. The car was a BMW X5 and we were offered cool towels, drinks and snacks. At the resort, all aspects of our FS Preferred Partner package were accounted for at check in, and the bill was correct at check out. The property noted our visit was between our two birthdays and they had a split of champagne and a delicious birthday cake waiting for us. People made a point to know our names and use them. Housekeeping did a great job following up on maintenance issues with the room and small issues were resolved quickly. Best of all were the buggy drivers who always came within 5 minutes of being called. They were very chatty, provided information about the property and the surrounding area and even stopped along the pathways to show us different plants, etc. They kept the seats dry during the rain and one of them even took the time to decorate his golf cart with flowers.

Activities

At the Four Seasons Seychelles, there were endless opportunities to enjoy the beach and lots of available activities.

Next to the kids club was a tortoise sanctuary. These were not the Aldabra breed famous to the Seychelles, but they were quite large and quite friendly, and definitely local….they each had a story of how they ended up at the resort. The tortoises loved to be scratched and petted, and as a result ended up in many of our photographs.

Sleepy Tortoise

The snorkeling in front of the resort would have been better at a different time of year since the rough waves made it harder to get in and out of the water and reduced visibility. The coral, as in most of the Seychelles, wasn’t particularly vibrant, but there were many different fish….some that we hadn’t seen before. A marine biologist gave scheduled talks and guided snorkeling excursions.

The diving at this time of year was limited to two dive sites, but they were both very good. One Tree Island was a granite dive featuring rock formations, hard corals and an excellent diversity of fish life. Alice in Wonderland was somewhat uncharacteristic for the area with beautiful healthy hard and soft corals in bright colors, and the fish life was on equal to that found in the Maldives.

Alice in Wonderland

Sadly, we were not able to snorkel with whale sharks while we were there. There was a group of researchers that sent out a light aircraft each morning to look for them during September and October, and if they were spotted we would get a call to meet their boat at one of the marinas. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate for this either. October was supposed to be a better time to snorkel with whale sharks since the seas were calmer, but then there would also be more chance for rain.

For my spa visit, I had a relaxing Shell Serenity massage using warm sea shells. The views from the spa reception area and deck were some of the best in the resort. The treatment rooms were freestanding suites with a shower, bath and changing facilities, but no real view to speak of.

We had planned to see some of the neighboring islands like La Digue, Praslin, etc. and because of our short time frame, decided a helicopter tour would be best. But with the mostly gloomy conditions, the $2000+ price tag no longer seemed worth it.

Opportunities for Improvement

Regarding villa 501, in advance of our stay, we emailed the GM with specific questions about 501 and privacy, and whether there was something higher up we might like better. He replied saying he understood what we were looking for, and we should leave it to him. On arrival, we were given villa 501 and we did like the view. But we noticed villa 502 was directly adjacent to our villa and the 502 pavilion was approximately 15 feet from ours with nothing but a few sparse shrubs between. We assumed all villas were placed in sets of two and didn’t think much of it until we went to the spa (the highest point of the resort) and saw how 501 and 502 were much closer together than other villas and….there were two single villas stacked directly above us that would have had our same view from a higher perspective and likely more privacy as they were sitting by themselves. We’re a little torn on how to feel about this. On the one hand, we were given the villa that we more or less requested. On the other hand, we would have liked someone to say “Based on your interest in 501 and your desire for privacy, we think you would really like xxx or xxx.” The fact that there were villas so much higher on the cliff than ours makes us question whether ours was truly a “hilltop” (what we paid for) or whether 501 sometimes also doubled as an “ocean view”. Unfortunately, by the time we realized this, we were getting ready to leave and it wasn’t worth mentioning. Had we said something, we’re sure they would have tried to find us a villa that we liked better, so from that standpoint, we need to assign ourselves equal blame.

Housekeeping did a superb job, but we would have liked them to coordinate their efforts with the restaurants to be less visible.

More importantly, I had trouble with my Discover Scuba course. I had taken these courses in the past with other Four Seasons and Amanresorts and the dive was always private. My instructor in the Seychelles was very good, but when it came time for the actual dive, he was responsible for two certified divers and two new divers. I had some problems that could have been easily resolved, but when I needed the instructor, he was with the others, and when he was with me, the other new diver was alone. Neither scenario was good, and I ended up not completing the dive due to my own avoidable issues.

One More Thing