The Westin Doha Hotel & Spa, Doha, Qatar [Master Thread]
May 7, 2018, 5:32 pm
Westin Doha Hotel and Spa
Salwa Road, Fereej Bin Mahmoud Zone 23 Doha, QA
Westin Doha = Good Hotel But Location Subpar (11 Photos)
Westin Doha Hotel and Spa
I had an overnight stay in Doha paid by Qatar Airways and I chose the Westin. One of the other choices was the Marriott Marquis but I have been there before and the Westin is almost always more expensive (and if you want to book with points, even more so), therefore the best time for me to compare both hotels was to try the Westin with the QR booking.
Room
I contacted my Ambassador to link the QR reservation to my Starwood account to make them know of my Platinum status. Given that it was a free night, technically they do not have to give Platinum benefits if they do not want to. However I was granted access to the Club Lounge and I received a very generous upgrade to the Family Suite, which costs roughly 5x the price of the base room on spg.com. The welcome letter says they upgrade Plat AMB100 members to their best room available, and it looks like they really mean it, even if you do not pay for the room! When you enter the room, there is a very large working desk in the shape of the Westin leaf. There is a glass dining table next to the expansive living room. Waiting for me was a welcome gift of a bottle of red wine, dried fruits, and baklava. I did not have time to test out all the electronics in the room and I was not sure what all the buttons on the wall panels were for, for example there seemed to be a sound system that was muted, but when I turned it on the noise was like a radio that was tuned to a non-existing channel. I turned on the TV and it seemed to be independent from the sound system on the wall panel.
To the left there is a bedroom with two twin beds, along with a full bathroom which has a separate bathtub, a glass wall rain shower, and decent closet space.
To the right is another bedroom, that one with a king bed, a small sofa at the base of the bed, and a chair + counter right in front of the bathtub. You can draw the blinds down for privacy. The second full bathroom is even larger than the first one, particularly the closet which is bigger.
There is also a powder room next to the entrance for a total of 3 toilets. They are not stingy about quantity of amenities here, although as noted by khabah it's not the standard white tea kind. You will not run out of soap, shampoo, body wash, mouthwash, razors, toothbrushes, etc. because there are several sets in all bathrooms. Same for bathrobes: there were 4 altogether. There were lots of water bottles scattered throughout the room as well. There are international power plugs available which is convenient. Overall the hardware is excellent and the room over 150 square meters. I thought the Marriott Marquis was generous with upgrades, but Westin achieved to top it. However you cannot beat the view from a high floor at MM.
Dining
The Club Lounge is on the first floor. It was quiet when I was there for happy hour 6-8pm and a nice place to relax. You also have access to an enormous terrace outside if you want to “chill” in the evening rather than stay in air conditioning inside. The hot food options were beef stew, curry fish, and steamed broccoli with onions. I had the latter two which were tasty. There is a good selection of desserts, veggies, sandwiches, and salads. Overall I felt food was a bit below the MM hotel, but an overall more pleasant atmosphere and less crowded. Breakfast in the Club Lounge is 6:30-11:00 and I had to leave the hotel shortly before so I cannot comment.
Location
The main knock on Westin, and one of the reasons I never came before, is that the location is not very good if you do not have business in the immediate vicinity. First off, it’s not that close to the airport and there was quite a bit of traffic at 4:30pm on the way in so if you care about maximizing your time in the hotel for a quick overnight, then the Marriott (not Marriott Marquis) or the Double Tree are closer. Second, if you don’t mind the extra commute, then I personally prefer the Marriott Marquis location which is attached to a shopping mall, and is not far from the Corniche. The Sheraton Grand is right on the corniche so even better. So if you want to go outside to take a walk, the Westin will not be ideal, but if you plan to stay indoors then no problem.
Overall
Bottom line, in my opinion you can’t go wrong if you pick the Westin and if location is not an issue. I did not experience the issues that khabah did. I like to mix things up so rather than going always to the MM, I will gladly return to the Westin in the future. However I am not sure I would be able to justify the extra premium for a room at Westin paid in cash when the location is inferior. The upgrade was fantastic, but to be honest I have received great updates elsewhere in Doha too, and at some point you reach diminishing returns; I did not use the second bedroom / bathroom at all. That said, I think if you don’t get an upgrade, the room will be bigger at Westin than MM, and given the room I received for a free overnight, I would be more confident about upgrades at Westin than MM in the future. All I can say is that it’s one more reason why I love to transit in Doha – easy airport experience and top notch treatment by hotels to make my stay relaxing.
Sep 4, 2018, 8:05 am
My question is what is the best and not too expensive way to get from airport to hotel and return? We have never used Uber before (and do not have an Uber account), but just got a Ł20 voucher code from hsbc for using their credit card to pay taxes on an AA redemption. We are not sure if this Ł20 is for use with only one ride or with multiple rides? Maybe it is simpler to just take taxis? Are taxis OK? Or should we book car transfer through hotel - suspect their prices will be higher than taxis. [Reason we chose the Westin was it is close to airport]
Any suggestion is much appreciated.
Sep 4, 2018, 10:48 am
My question is what is the best and not too expensive way to get from airport to hotel and return? We have never used Uber before (and do not have an Uber account), but just got a Ł20 voucher code from hsbc for using their credit card to pay taxes on an AA redemption. We are not sure if this Ł20 is for use with only one ride or with multiple rides? Maybe it is simpler to just take taxis? Are taxis OK? Or should we book car transfer through hotel - suspect their prices will be higher than taxis. [Reason we chose the Westin was it is close to airport]
Any suggestion is much appreciated.
Sep 4, 2018, 11:10 am
Lots of new faces at the hotel and many of them, despite their good intentions, are woefully inexperienced. Everything from not understanding basic questions to no coordination [i.e. I asked where my MAGC voucher was after leaving the sign outside the door the afternoon before, a housekeeping member telling me that the reception bills points and then a reception agent saying I need to request it from housekeeping]. I also had an irritating incident where I was out for the evening and left the Do Not Disturb on, came back and found a card under my door saying that staff tried to come around to deliver amenities. I called them and asked about it, only for the Service Express to sound bewildered and say hell follow up. An hour and no call back later, I follow up and he says hell check with in-room dining about and get back to me. Here we are, sixteen hours, two visits to the reception and four phone calls later and I have yet to receive the mystery amenities.
Lastly, Im in the club lounge as I type grabbing a snack. An older female guest walks in wearing a one-piece swimsuit and a sheer dress on top of it where EVERYTHING is totally visible. She wanders around the lounge with it open, collects food and sits down, even being served by the staff member in the lounge. Im as open-minded as the next person and a big believer in live and let live, but surely a *tiny bit* of discretion? If not by the guest, then surely the staff can politely ask the guest to dress up more appropriately?
A series of unfortunate little mishaps, but this is spelling my last stay at this hotel.
khabah
Same thing happened dramatically at the Grand Hyatt and Renaissance/Courtyard City Center (now combined as the shambolic Marriott Marquis I think), though the St. Regis and W, to their credit, didn't suffer from this, at least as of the first few and several years, respectively, after their openings when I was last there.
I suppose there is such a glut of five-star hotels in Qatar, especially given their recent troubles, that it's just not feasible for the owners to keep the standards up.
Sep 4, 2018, 2:11 pm
So, he decided that we would use the car service provided by Westin - which is the most expensive option! 125QAR to hotel and 80QAR back to airport. Feeling a bit mad with hubby right now ...
Sep 4, 2018, 4:32 pm
So, he decided that we would use the car service provided by Westin - which is the most expensive option! 125QAR to hotel and 80QAR back to airport. Feeling a bit mad with hubby right now ...Could tell hubby that he is helping a small entrepreneur ... the driver .. improve his standard of living.
Sep 5, 2018, 2:19 am
So, he decided that we would use the car service provided by Westin - which is the most expensive option! 125QAR to hotel and 80QAR back to airport. Feeling a bit mad with hubby right now ...
Sep 5, 2018, 5:12 am
i used to do Careem every time when arriving but during busy times it can be a bit chaotic standing outside waiting. Always taken Careem back to airport.
Dec 8, 2018, 9:09 am
- I was a huge fan of the property after my first few stays, but I noticed service levels decline dramatically and when that was paired with frequent breakdown of facilities and dropping/no enforcement of standards, I decided to pull back and stay at other SPG/Marriott properties in Doha. My curiosities of how the hotel is doing now getting the better of me, I booked another stay and here we are.
- Got upgraded to a Junior Studio Suite on the app before arrival and confirmed at check-in. I was also told that my 4 PM late check-out was confirmed but that on my last night, there would be a large wedding at the hotel and all the suites were booked - including the one I was placed in. I was told that I'd have to move before 12 PM on my last day to another room, where I could hang out until my late check-out - but for someone who has a full day of work, a confirmed suite upgrade and a confirmed late check-out, I called BS since packing up the night before to move and then check-out was a total pain, but alas, no give. Frustrated, I gave up. Whatever.
- Plats used to get points + breakfast, but now as per Marriott's stingy standards, it's points OR breakfast as your welcome gift.
- Club lounge offerings for happy hour used to be quite extensive but have now been obviously dialed down. Options are still good and well-prepared, but gone is the imagination and wide variety that existed under SPG.
- I spoke to a staff member who I befriended over my previous stays, and after some conversation, told me they'd be leaving the property for another major chain. Some conversation about the hotel under Marriott revealed opinions about how "the special something" about Starwood is gone and they've had to deal with cut after cut/consolidation of property/department functions in the relentless dumbing-down and corporatization of Marriott.
- Annoyingly, the old option of logging into the Internet once and selecting the premium Internet option for the entire stay is gone, and is now replaced by Marriott's option of one login of standard Internet for the entire stay or daily logins for the premium option.
Still have a spot of fondness for this hotel, but it's a real shame to see that Marriott's preferred method of enforcing consistency is to dumb everything down to the point of mediocrity.
khabah
Dec 20, 2018, 2:59 pm
Thanks in advance for any info!
Mar 24, 2019, 2:25 am
Mar 24, 2019, 4:39 am
- People will always have issues with the location of this hotel as it isn't in the West Bay or in the most beautiful environs, so keep that in mind. Doha isn't big, however, and Uber/Careem/Karwa can get you anywhere in no time. That being said, beware the dreadful morning/rush hour traffic around the hotel on Salwa Road.
- My colleague and I checked in [both Ambassadors] at the same time; I was given a Junior Studio, he an Executive King Room. Historically, I always had a Westin, Senior or Family Suite, but post 8/18/18 and especially after the Bonvoy launch it's never been anything higher than the Junior Studio.
- Welcome amenity in the room is a handwritten note from the GM/Guest Services and a plate of dried fruit. As a very frequent guest of the property, I used to always walk in to a nice bottle of wine and tower of dates, chocolates and fruits, but again this has changed since 8/18/Bonvoy.
- Plats and above get lounge access inclusive of breakfast in the lounge. Welcome amenity is 1000 points or breakfast in the main restaurant.
- Lounge food has seriously scaled back from what it used to be; I've been staying here since 2016 and up until Marriott management stepped in, the lounge always offered several hot, cold, salad and dessert options with imaginative healthy stylings, but it's since been cut down to include less options and heavier foods, like cream-based chicken and sugary puddings. Alcohol is fiercely guarded by staff, who will pour you drinks themselves and reprimand you if you reach for the bottles yourself.
- Sabai Thai remains excellent, and offers a great business lunch for 65 QAR [about 18 USD].
- Haven't checked out the spa yet, but everything was in working order on my last visit in January.
khabah
Mar 24, 2019, 10:44 am
- Lounge is absolutely mobbed - mostly heavily-tattooed US military and some families. Environment is extremely loud with guests who are clearly inebriated [lots of f-bombs coming from the soldiers], but drinks service doesn't stop. Not as many working girls as I usually see here...
- Food consisted of salads [okra and chicken, mesclun and sweet potato, other leafy ones], cheeses, white rice, beef, chicken, fried spinach puffs, some saucy hot dessert, canapé-style desserts and bowls of Oreos and marshmallows [these are new - yikes]. Compared to my last visit, it seems to be another step down.
- Alcohol is the same - the same two types of red wine [Caliterra from Chile, Lamura from Sicily], two whites, sparkling, gin, whiskey, rum and vodka.
- Air conditioning is a nightmare - there is none on right now, or if it is you can't tell it is. Thanks to the automatic doors to the terrace and the frequent ingress/egress of staff and guests, the humidity outside is also inside.
- Staff are clearly overwhelmed - lots of guests, two or three attendants running frantically around with drinks, juices and special orders that you're likely to be kept waiting for your next refill... although I did see a guest go up to the drinks counter and pour himself a glass. Rebel!
khabah
Mar 24, 2019, 10:59 am
- Lounge is absolutely mobbed - mostly heavily-tattooed US military and some families. Environment is extremely loud with guests who are clearly inebriated [lots of f-bombs coming from the soldiers], but drinks service doesn't stop. Not as many working girls as I usually see here...
- Food consisted of salads [okra and chicken, mesclun and sweet potato, other leafy ones], cheeses, white rice, beef, chicken, fried spinach puffs, some saucy hot dessert, canapé-style desserts and bowls of Oreos and marshmallows [these are new - yikes]. Compared to my last visit, it seems to be another step down.
- Alcohol is the same - the same two types of red wine [Caliterra from Chile, Lamura from Sicily], two whites, sparkling, gin, whiskey, rum and vodka.
- Air conditioning is a nightmare - there is none on right now, or if it is you can't tell it is. Thanks to the automatic doors to the terrace and the frequent ingress/egress of staff and guests, the humidity outside is also inside.
- Staff are clearly overwhelmed - lots of guests, two or three attendants running frantically around with drinks, juices and special orders that you're likely to be kept waiting for your next refill... although I did see a guest go up to the drinks counter and pour himself a glass. Rebel!
khabah
Mar 24, 2019, 6:47 pm
There are too many good alternatives in Doha for me to return any time soon