RSDoha

I really commend your sensitivity! Jeans are totally fine for Al-Mourjan, in my experience. I'm pretty sure I've also seen yoga pants, but I haven't personally worn them in Al-Mourjan, so I won't categorically say that they are ok.

Happy travels!

Assimilated Cajun

When I booked my ticket (YUL-DOH-BKK RT in discounted J) I knew I would have long layovers but somehow did not notice that one of them was a 9-hour overnight layover. On the return (BKK-YUL) my scheduled arrival in Doha was 11:40 p.m. and departure 8:40 a.m. Then in an email or in an ad on the QR web site, I don't remember which, I saw that if you have an 8-hour or longer layover on an eligible fare the airline will get you a hotel room. So I called QR customer service and was told that since there was another flight I could have taken that would have had a mere 7 hour and 50 minute layover, I wasn't eligible for the hotel room. (Actually the later-arriving flight would still have had an eight-hour layover except that the departing flight had been moved to 8:30, although on my e-ticket it still said 8:40.) The airport transit hotel would have cost $275, and there were posts on this thread that said sleeping in Al-Mourjan is not impossible, so I decided to try.

Our plane arrived in Doha a little late, and then security took a few minutes, and then I got lost (just like the other three times I've been in DOH) trying to follow the signs to Al-Mourjan. So I finally arrived in the lounge at about 1 a.m. and went back to the "quiet room" area to the right of the back restaurant. (This also took a few minutes, because well-meaning lounge employees kept giving me incorrect or radically incomplete directions.) The man in front of me in line had just taken the last available sleeping room, so I settled for a shower, for which there was only a ten-minute wait, and the attendant told me he would reserve a room for me at 2 a.m. when he expected one to become available. On the way out of the shower I commented on how hot it had been in there and asked why there was no ventilation. The attendant smiled and said I should write a letter to the airline.

I returned at 2 a.m. and sure enough there was a room available. At first I thought the arrangement was utterly unsleepable: a thin chair that did not recline and whose back did not come anywhere near the level of my neck, with a single ottoman, also thin. But then I noticed that the room also contained another chair with another ottoman. So I put both ottomans and one of the chairs in a row and used them as a cot. I took a cloth bag containing a couple of t-shirts out of my carry-on and used it as a pillow. It wasn't too bad. (It was a bit cool, but I had brought a sweater in case it got cold on the plane, and the attendant had given me a blanket that was thin but still warm.)

So I lay down to sleep, and that's when the noises started. For the first half-hour or so it was mostly what I took to be the sound of a couple making love in one of the nearby rooms. (As others have noted, these are not really rooms -- just open-air spaces separated by room dividers.) The couple were trying to be discreet about it but were not always succeeding. Eventually those sounds subsided, and then somebody was snoring. At first he would wake himself up every minute or two: the snore would turn into a snort and then end abruptly until it started again a few seconds later. But eventually he got the hang of it and just snored rhythmically, almost like singing.

And then came the noisy cleaners. No vacuuming at that hour, but it sounded as though someone was relentlessly swatting something. And when it wasn't the cleaners it was conversations. Some were in stage whispers, others quite loud. It turns out that a lot of these conversations were between the attendant and various members of the stream of lounge customers looking for showers and/or sleeping rooms. There wasn't a sign to encourage people to speak quietly, and the attendant apparently felt no responsibility to offer such encouragement.

So it was only possible to sleep for a few minutes at a time. I had reserved the room from 2 until 7, but I left at 5:30 when the stream of customers had increased to the point where the conversations at the attendant's desk never stopped. Had a couple of cappuccinos and a slice of bread or two, then wandered around the lounge and the airport until 7:30 when I went to the gate.

I also got a look at the reclining chairs toward the opposite end of the lounge. Each of these was also in its own little compartment. Those chairs looked marginally more sleepable than the ones in the official quiet rooms. At the time I visited this area, about 1:30 a.m., all the chairs were occupied and the area was very quiet. But my guess is that this area would have gotten even noisier than the shower-sleep area once the morning traffic started to arrive.

So I'll be careful not to book any more overnight layovers in DOH. But it wasn't as bad as the other times I've had to sleep in airports. (I recall in particular a night spent in Houston Hobby back in the days of People Express. This memory involves a Soviet-seeming row of prefab plastic chairs with un-evadable ridges every twenty inches or so.) The Al-Mourjan lounge is a pleasant place with a relaxing ambience, and I was able to rest for a few hours even though I really wasn't able to sleep. And then I did sleep for the first few hours of my 12-hour flight to Montreal.

Crisu69

@Assimilated Cajun

With such a long layover in Doha i would recommend the below instead of try to spend 9 hour in AM overnight:

1. Book Oryx Rotana (Town hotel) for 89$ with free transfer Airport-Hotel-Airport

2. Try to book flight with min. 12 hour transit time which would make you eligible for Qatar Stopover program for $23 per night in

3. Pay 68 USD for Al Sawfa Lounge if travelling in paid J which would give you good 6h of sleep in a "real bed" and dont need to leave the airport.

Everyone of this possibilities is much bette than try to find some "real" rest in AM in my opinion. I tried it several times in the past but never again. On my upcoming trip from BKK to Doha i booked a flight with 18 transit time just to be eligible for the stopover program and pais 23$ for 1 night stay in Oryx Rotana, Doah

londonexpert

Assimilated Cajun

Those both sound like better options. If I'd known I could have paid $68 for Al Safwa and gotten a real bed I would have done so. Live and learn. Thanks so much.

diverg

I'm looking at booking the business class fare promo deal with a return flight from CNX-DOHA-IAH with a 16 layover in DOHA. Is this the R fare, and would it be eligible for $23 per night deal? This would be in February 2020. If not then what is my best bet for some rest?

lost_in_translation

I remember doing exactly the same thing the first few times I transited through DOH. In an otherwise extremely well-planned airport, I really don't understand the direction the signs for Al Mourjan and Al Safwa are pointing!

celtic_warrior

Same here. In fact it was the first few times for me. Thankfully Al Mourjan has the long escalator.

callmedtop

Arriving at 6pm from BOS, connecting at 8pm to SIN. All in J. How much time can I expect to have at Al-Mourjan, assuming everything is on time? Thanks!

clubeurope

if not arriving at a bus gate, no queue at security, you know where you're going - 60-70 minutes (assuming you stay as the plane starts to board.)

if not arriving at a bus gate, queue at security - 45-60 minutes (latter assuming you stay as the plane starts to board.)

if arriving at a bus gate, and no queue at security, 30-40 minutes max (latter assuming you stay as the plane starts to board.)

if arriving at a bus gate, and queue at security, 20-30 minutes max

kaffir76

Take note of your dep. gates, if it's in the satellite terminal (you'll need to take the people mover/terminal train) then you need to factor in an extra 10 min. to get there
And there's a separate line for premium class pax at security - it's usually much shorter than the regular line

So basically in 2 words - not much?

clubeurope

it doesn't necessarily get guarded though, so sometimes anyone can barge in and use it even when not in J/F

subject2load

thinkingallowed

IAN-UK

I'm wondering if you visited the al Mourjan lounge, or the generic business-class lounge. They are chalk and cheese.

Hard to know what you might have expected. In essence, the place is an upmarket canteen, catering for very large numbers of passenger on different clocks and with a bewildering range of dietary requirements.