LordByran

Excellent reporting on the TR! Enjoy your first time in the Middle East, it's certainly an awesome experience!

Short hair Francis

Thanks LordByran, happy to hear folks are enjoying thus far
It's certainly a bit different from the rest of the Western World for sure.

Gonna have another part up in an hour or so @:-)
I've gone overdrive lately, can't keep up this 1 part per day thing for much longer
How does SFO777 do it for christ sakes especially with the heavy sections (100+ photos)

Short hair Francis

Part 5 – First Vacation in the Persian Gulf, Doha, Qatar


The FA very nicely blocked the cabin between Business and Economy Class pax.
So the 3 J pax in their own Premium Shuttle quickly departed without waiting for the rest of the folks. Due to my previous mishap, I went to the Premium Terminal to sort out my boarding passes. And soon after a new bp was issued, the agents found me another premium bus to take me to the arrival terminal. That new airport can’t come soon enough as this place is full of buses.



As a QR J passenger, I was welcomed to go through a Priority immigration Line saving me a 5 min wait and avoiding the rest of the folks.
And after a quick credit card swipe for the Visa on Arrival fee, I entered into Qatar.

I immediately headed over to the Hyatt Counter in the Arrivals Terminal, as my Limo was pre-arranged, a quick check-in took place at the airport but my room wasn’t ready as of yet.

We wouldn’t want all the cars to get melted in the Desert


BMW 7 Series, not bad for a 25-30 minutes ride, the Hyatt counter lady was rolling the bag for me



As it was on the way to the Hyatt, I got the driver to make 1 stop on the Corniche to get a shot of the Doha Skyline and the Emiri Diwan



And half hour later with no traffic, I arrived at the Grand Hyatt Doha






*Yes I know I came in at Daytime hours but the Night lobby pics are more impressive.

I was assigned a Grand Suite King on the 2nd floor and was also given club access on the 5th floor











Part 5 Continues Below

Short hair Francis

Diamond Amenity was Arabian Figs along with a plate of Fruit, as well as small bites and chocolate that came as part of the Suite


The Outside of the Hotel






Nah, not very good, definitely doesn’t qualify for the Girls of Qatar


I decided to grab a quick drink at the Grand Club and pick up Doha info before heading out






As one of the few attractions was The Museum of Islamic Arts, that’s where I headed first, sadly acquiring a regular taxi takes a good amount of time, had a 15 min wait at Hyatt for one.

There’s that Arab Money


Two Qatar Planes above just prior to entering the Museum of Islamic Art



Part 5 Continues Below

Short hair Francis

Museum of Islamic Art





















Part 5 Continues Below

Short hair Francis

Hey, so that’s where El Fasher is located at, paging jfkeze

In light of an airport code joke, Fukuoka, Japan to El Fasher, Sudan via Kursk, Ukraine
Someone want to give that a try


The Sword Collection






Since the Museum of Islamic Art is where you usually get the usual Doha advertising Photo, I did the same





And after spending 2 hrs at the Museum, I made a nice 20 Min stroll along the Corniche to the Souq Waqif









Part 5 Continues Below

Short hair Francis

Qatar Islamic Cultural Center


Souq Waqif







Despite being a wonderful markets from spices, to clothes, to toys, restaurants, even pets, when you have no need nor want to buy anything, no shopping can entice you, so after strolling around 45 minutes.

I headed over to Katara, the Cultural Village











What did I say about finding taxis in Doha, a bit of a headache and at 6pm, a major headache

Took just around 30 minutes to wait for one at the Katara taxi stop for the short ride back to the Grand Hyatt

Plenty more where that came from



Part 5 Continues Below

Short hair Francis

As I was lazy and tired having flown in from Colombo earlier, then spent the rest of day touring Doha, I decided to have light snacks in the club and a room service main Course






Traditional Western Delights.


And just around 9:30pm, time to head off to bed for some sleep, 5:30am wake-up call for an 8:15am flight to Abu Dhabi


Next Part
Part 6 – Time for Some Privacy, Qatar Premium Terminal & Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi

SFO777

Great pics both onboard, and at the Hyatt and Doha. Will have to add that to the bucket list. Was there no one in Doha that day?? The place looked dead.

Short hair Francis

Thanks SFO777
QR flight was reasonably good except for all the spicy food choices, right now obviously I am not very happy with them at the moment as you know.
The Hyatt is good, suites was quite nice and worthy of a Hyatt Diamond Suite Upgrade if you ask me and includes a 1 way BMW ride from the airport to the Hyatt
As for Doha, remember to rent a car or be prepared to pay limo prices to get anywhere.
I can't see Mrs. SFO777 waiting for a taxi line for half an hour.
But again, as SFO777, you clearly don't have those issues to worry about.
Doha is just not very big, city or population size (1.3 Million), I said at most 36 hours stop is all you really need.
I cover the major spots in 4 - 5 hours in my quick style.
Ya was kinda dead for sure, yet again
1) It's May, who goes to the Persian Gulf in May of all people to enjoy 35 C
2) It was a saturday so maybe people were home on the weekend
3) I don't mind dead place, dead place over overly crowded place if you ask me.

Finally, if you say, add the Grand Hyatt Doha to your bucket list.
I suggest you to add the Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi to your list first
Here's a teaser for tomorrow

GRALISTAIR

Holy Trip Report Batman. Bookmarked. Stupendous.

Short hair Francis

Thanks GRALISTAIR
Had to dig out the old dictionary for Stupendous lol

Will have another part up in a couple hours! ^

want2fly4less

Short hair Francis,

this is an amazing trip report and very enjoyable to read.

Short hair Francis

Glad to hear want2fly4less
I've try to put more time into editing this time around to make it an easier read.

Will have the next part up very soon @:-)

Short hair Francis

Part 6 – Time for Some Privacy, Qatar Premium Terminal & Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi


May 19, 2013 – Sunday
QR 124 DOH – AUH 8:15am – 10:15am (320/F)

With the Grand Club opening at 6am for breakfast, I decided to book the car service for 6:15am for a quick breakfast and to escape weekday rush hour traffic.

I headed up 5 Mins early to the club and was welcomed immediately.
The Grand Club also ran a made-to-order Omelette Service which I took advantage of






And while I ate, the Club Concierge took care of my check-out, good service and soon I was back to the lobby for another limo ride back to Doha Airport.

30 Minutes later, with light traffic, I arrived at the Qatar Premium Terminal



Since Qatar designates its Gulf Routes as First and Economy vs. Business and Economy on longer routes, I had access to the First Class Side.

Doha Qatar Airways Premium Terminal - First Class Section













There was also various rooms shared by both Business and First Class passengers




Part 6 Continues Below