BuildingMyBento

Best part: foosball table.

Worst part: pretty much as above; additionally, the upstairs dining area felt very crowded, not to mention the food was not terribly good. I enjoyed my meal more on-board, both in J and Y.

FlightDetective

I have just had a transit through Doha once more and I will have to update my thoughts on the lounge now I have tried the restaurant offering. Keep your eyes peeled!

pvgman

a bench or a chair in the shower would be welcome, to lace up shoes for instance,
I have to admit, I don't find this lounge so so, the only special thing for me is that the attendants are pro-active in refilling my champagne glasses

I go several time a month to the F pier in HK, its another world, I also like TK lounge better when it's not overcrowded, only down side of TK is that they don't offer champagne

toz100

I have been to the JAL lounge shortly after reopening in March with great expectations (my fault) and I was totally underwhelmed by the quality and variety of food. This all the more as they announced to have the catering done by a well-known Japanese restaurant in Bangkok. After trying their food I quickly changed over to Cathay Pacific lounge. I did not try the banana cakes though.

Dr. HFH

HaHa!! I was trying to figure out why you'd be lacing up your shoes in the shower.

IIRC there's a low "bench" (flat, horizontal surface) below the hanger hooks which is about the right size for a carryon. I put my carryon on the floor and sit there.

FlightDetective

When I went back through Doha on my return flight, I got to try the Qatar Airways Al Mourjan restaurant upstairs. It helped to change my opinion of the lounge and now I see why it is so popular with frequent flyers.

Big thanks to the Qatar Airways lounge staff who helped make this happen on the short connection I had.

vbh812

Between the serenity of the quiet rooms and the food/beverage offerings at the sandwich lounge, I find Al Mourjan more than adequate for my needs. It would make it to my top 5 business class lounges in the world.

The shower and toilet attendants are over enthusiastic but its a cultural thing. Having lived in India for several years now, I find the South Asian/Middle Eastern sense of service overbearing and sometimes intrusive for western sensibilities. Qatar can and should do a better job of sensitising them to different cultures.

tmac100

While I don't fly Business class on my DOH-DXB "commute", I used to frequent the Al M lounge a number of years ago as the current "regular OW" type of Business Class Lounge was being built.

Thus I have to agree with the above quote. Even though the quote is for current situation, my memories of the Al M lounge in the past still linger - pleasantly. Furthermore, I agree with the previous comment ( contribution #5 ) about the silliness and picky "tone" of the article mentioned by the OP.

It's a very silly article. The author seems anxious to strike an independent and rather contentious stance, but ends up sounding petty. It's all grist to his blog, of course.

The QR/OW Bus lounge is still better than the Priority Pass lounge on the other side of the Yellow Bear which I frequented when I (foolishly) flew EK.

Man alive, EK service now sucks as compared to any bad flight on QR - and in my past, I have had a few....

Now that there is some price-competition, I believe QR is certainly better value-for-the-buck as far as service and benefits are concerned. OTOH, we FTers know that there can always be a "bad" flight...

OW still has my flying soul, as does A3. EK nope

tmac100

Based on where you live (in the USA I presume), I wonder if you fly American - and can hardly wait for their new "smaller seat pitch" 737s "enhancements"?

Not what I consider full of soul ....
YMMV.

WorldLux

I see that tmc100 moved on from his EK rant ^

BobBHX

As a lounge I really like the Al Mourjan. I use the wheelchair service in airports and my real complaint about the lounge is the seating. With reduced mobility it is impossible for me to get out of those stupid blue chairs or the basket type seating in the central area. They may look good but they are not practical.

When in the AM I always ask the wheelchair assistant to take me to the sandwich area where I can almost always get a seat in the blue armchairs immediately on entering the area. If they are taken then the leather armchairs just outside the sandwich area are a perfectly good alternative

higham44

Have just transited through AM lounge en-route LHR-DPS - my first experience with Qatar. I have to say it did not live up to my expectations based on previous reviews by others. Found it rather impersonal, and hard-edged with many hard rattan/wicker seats. Comfy seats were in the minority and did not match those in the Qatar lounge at LHR. On booking a shower I was told there was a 40-minute wait but then allocated a place within 10 minutes - I guess I should count myself as fortunate compared to other passengers. It seemed somewhat haphazard.

I may be speaking heresy, but I found the Qantas lounge in Hong Kong more comfortable when I visited there.

In contrast I cannot speak highly enough of the attentive service and excellent seating in business on the two flights to DPS.

Dr. HFH

It's not. Names are added to the list and assigned showers in sequence. Your wait might have been shortened by people not getting showers in time and having to go to their gates for boarding.

IAN-UK

i'd love someone to explain in what ways busy airport lounges accommodating thousands of passengers each day can be anything other than impersonal

You're complaining that you were accommodated more speedily than the initial estimate you were given ?

I'm guessing that staff over-estimate waiting times to avoid disappointment, anger and complaints. Naively, they expect passengers to be chuffed when they are called to the shower roomer sooner than expected.

At the Turkish lounge in Istanbul this morning I accepted a 90 minute wait for a shower. I was as pleased as Punch when the buzzer went off after only half an hour.

vbh812

I guess not everyone who queues up for the showers shows up when buzzed, reducing your wait time. I've had this happen at several lounges. At the Korean lounge in ICN, recently, I was told I was #6 in the queue and would have an approx 25min wait. I was buzzed inside 10min; on inquiring they said 4 people ahead of me didn't show up when buzzed - they usually wait for a few minutes and then move down the queue to the next passenger.