Ben_W

It depends what area you define as the city "center" really. Each location has its pro's. The Hilton being within walking distance of the West Bay area and Corniche. A lot of expats class that as the main area of the city.

The Westin is nearer to the old, more traditional areas which is known as Downtown. So it really depends on what you want to do.

IAN-UK

Whatever attraction the beach holds, it's surely lost at this time of the year.

Stay at a hotel that has a shot at pampering you, or one near a mall and its air-conditioned comforts.

nilsfr69

orbitmic

In a very odd way, I actually like being by the sea in Doha at that time of the year. First, I love ultra hot water, and second, I find it brilliant in the early morning. It does mean waking up at 5 but I actually like that. I agree that the rest of the day it is impossible to enjoy.

clubeurope

Hello everyone!

I've got a 12h20m layover in Doha enroute to JFK... with arrival at 1:45 pm and departure at 02:00 am the next day... can I still take advantage of this offer?

I just think that this will be a great alternative to having to queue for a shower at Al Mourjan at some point.

IAN-UK

In a purely theoretical way I, too, appreciate that pleasure

But on summer stays I appreciate the short walk from a City Centre hotel in intense heat to the bliss of one of the air-conditioned malls.
And I normally despise malls....

tboons

Hello

Anyone know if the 12 hours minimum stay is enforced? Someone managed to book with a 11 hours stay and i may have a 10 hours transit coming up. Would it work?

orbitmic

The 12 hours minimum connection time is enforced and reservations with shorter transit risk being cancelled, (and the passenger not even necessarily informed!) It is always possible that an ineligible reservation will slip through the net but the risk - that you would find yourself with no valid accommodation booked having to pay through the nose for a rack rate - is not worth it IMHO. On the other hand, a 12 hour connection time is eligible even if a shorter one would be available. In short your options are:

1) If you want the stopover, then you will need to book a longer connection than necessary so that it is above 12 hours
2) if you have a connection which is 10 hours and no shorter connection exists (whether available or not) you can use the standard stop (which will most likely be at the Oryx Rotana)
3) if you have a connection which is under 12 hours whilst a connection below 8 hours exists, you are on your own and should make (and pay for) your own arrangements.

anabolism

I tried to do it. I booked a paid reservation for my first night, and a free +Qatar reservation at the same hotel for the second night. I received email confirmation and thought it was fine, but a few days later was informed via email that a "support request" had been opened in which I was told the booking was invalid as the check-in date must match the flight arrival date. They told me the booking is non-changeable so they cannot fix it, and of course the e-ticket is now marked as used so I can't make a new one. I have emailed Qatar at the [email protected] address posted by ORDPLATAA and I hope they create a new e-ticket number for me to use in making the booking. So, my advice is to be certain that the +Qatar hotel booking check-in date exactly matches your flight arrival date. In your case, it might be safer to use +Qatar for the first night and stay at your friend's the second night.

It is now back up to $100 (which is why I want to only book one night on a multi-night stay and make a paid reservation for my other night, as I'll get elite benefits on the paid stay and the cost is close).

As ORDPLATAA says above (quoted below), email [email protected] and ask them to create a dummy e-ticket number for you to use in making a +Qatar booking.

I've stayed at the Hilton Doha a number of times, and have always enjoyed it. I find the rooms comfortable. Up to now, my stays have all been paid ones, and I've been upgraded to a very large room with balcony. I enjoy the breakfast in the restaurant, and evening snacks in the executive lounge. I've walked around the pool but never swam in it as it doesn't seem suitable for fast lap swimming, but it looks very nice as a relaxation pool, which is what almost everyone wants in a pool.

I would caution that there could be a risk your +Qatar booking would be cancelled as your check-in date would not exactly match your flight arrival date. To be safe, I'd suggest booking the exact date your flight lands, and indicate in the check-in time that it will be early in the morning.

I emailed the Hilton to ask about benefits when booking via the +Qatar program, and they replied:Very glad you finally got it solved! And thank you for posting the resolution details and the email address to use, as I found myself in a similar situation.

I've always had the Hilton pick us up in a hotel-arranged car. It's a bit pricey at QAR 100, but it is super convenient as the driver is waiting for you with a sign as you exit customs, so there's no hassling with trying to get Wi-Fi access, waiting for Uber to confirm a driver, then waiting for the driver to arrive, then trying to match up the right place to wait. I've always used Uber to get around Doha once there, and to get back to the airport from the hotel. For those that want to save money and use Uber from the airport, your tip about contacting the driver with the exit "gate" (door) and using a high-numbered one seems good.

Depending on your status in Hilton, you might get Executive Lounge access and some sort of room upgrade, see above for the info from them.

IAN-UK

Sorry it went badly wrong for you, and I feel a tad guilty if you were misled by the confidence of my posting.

In fact the stay I mentioned passed with absolutely no hint of a hitch: +Qatar on the second and third nights. But this is the world of QR, where rules come into play at whim.

celtic_warrior

would it be possible to do the following:

Fly London - Doha ( use 2 night qatar plus)- Muscat

then fly Muscat-Doha-( use a further 2 night qatar plus)- bangkok on a separate ticket.

anabolism

I hadn't read your post until afterwards. I had read this thread early last year, but had not kept up. Only after I had the problem and Catch-22 did I read the 600 or so posts since my last visit. Glad it worked well for you. It seems that +Qatar bookings are subject to manual review, with much left to chance and whim, as you say.

mpkz

I've got the same thing coming up, 11 hour day time transit which I'm not that keen to spend at the airport... not really sure if I should even bother trying to book, or negotiate with QR (though the most likely outcome of that is that the email gets forwarded to some poor worker who has no authority to do anything but obey the rules 100%)

TGLoyalty

BTW My experience of the Hilton left a sour taste for me as customer service was shocking (no gold benefits either)

Ended up booking a room in the W and being upgraded to a nice suite.

anabolism

I'm happy to report that QR replied back with a dummy e-ticket number to use, and I now have a replacement +Qatar booking. Thanks again to ORDPLATAA for the email address.