Our short stay in Doha had us coming in to check out the brand new Westin Doha Hotel and Spa in Doha, Qatar. As a brand new property, the Westin Doha Hotel offered sleek and contemporary furnishings in a nicely equipped room that was a steal on award points. I’d easily stay here again if I was passing through the city for a short or longer stay.

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This post is one chapter on our trip to South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates. This trip was redeemed through American Airlines AAdvantage & Alaska Mileage Plan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.

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Review: The Westin Doha Hotel and Spa, Doha, Qatar

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“The Westin Doha Hotel and Spa marked Westin’s Entrance into the Business Hotel Scene in Qatar with a contemporary, comfortable and modern stay”

Booking and Getting There:

We ended up staying at the Westin Doha Hotel and Spa as it was the closest Starwood / Marriott property to the airport. Most of the other Doha properties (namely the Sheraton and the W) are on the other side of town closer to the water. The St Regis Doha was a bit beyond what we needed for a shower and a quick snooze on a fourteen hour stopover. The Westin was much better than the tired Marriott Doha Hotel that we stayed at last time in Ras Abboud, Doha. It’s also worth noting that the Westin Doha was a brand new property having opened in April 2016, a mere few weeks before our stay.

Our stay arrangements were courtesy of a Free Weekend Night Award from the Canadian SPG American Express card (now Marriott Bonvoy American Express) as a result of meeting a minimum amount of spend. It was also a great value as regular rates were at the time over 1,200 Qatari Riyal’s a night ($330 USD). The average daily rate seems to have come down after the initial opening frenzy and is hovering in off season around $180 USD. Having completed a stay here, I can easily report that this place is a steal as a Category 4 hotel in the Middle East, whereas most of the other properties are Category 5 or 6 that require a substantially higher amount of points. At the time of this post, it’s down to a Marriott Category 3, with free nights coming in at 15,000 to 20,000 Marriott Bonvoy points per night.

I arranged a hotel car through the concierge. After coming off our Qatar Airways Business Class Los Angeles – Doha flight, our driver, met us land side and led us through the parking garage to the car. It was a short 35 minute drive up to the property on the new highways outside of the new Doha Hamad International Airport.

Arriving to the Westin Doha:

Salwa Road, Fereej Bin Mahmoud, Zone 23, PO Box 39474, Doha, Qatar

The Westin Doha is located immediately across from the Radisson Hotel. It is situated on a major ring road of 3 lanes in each direction, so there isn’t much in the way of ambience in the neighbourhood surrounding the property. There are however, supermarkets, a Dairy Queen and a Chili’s restaurant that are within 5-7 minute walk from the front doors of the property.

The hotel appears to have been completely constructed from scratch as a new build and is not a re-flagging of an older hotel. The décor of the property is more Le Meridien “contemporary” than the usual Westin urban business conservative. They have spared no costs in making this place a sharp looking property. The lobby started with a great first impression with an upscale impression with a massive circular glass display in the atrium of the lobby. There was a great first arrival impression with fresh flowers in the entrance lobby.

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There was no one at the check in desks when we arrived. Despite this, we were checked in promptly and given room #512. As an SPG Platinum (Marriott Bonvoy Platinum level), we were upgraded from a Deluxe City View (base level room in the award pool) to an Executive City View. The difference between the two is that the executive room is about 10% larger. I believe this is a soft internal upgrade as I happened to note that these larger rooms weren’t actually listed as a bookable room category on the hotel website.

We wandered ourselves up wide and plush hallways to Executive Room 512. Our room was at the end of a bank of rooms without actually being on the corner of the hotel. The room was also on a high floor.

The Room: An Executive King

The room was modern, well appointed with all the comforts one could ask for. It makes a really noticeable difference when you are staying in a brand new property that has nice design as opposed to a property that has had a “soft” or partial upgrade over the years. Everything here just fit nicely and with each other in a cosmetic sense.

The room featured a small singular desk which was more suitable for charging cell phones than completing any actual work. There was also a television which was viewable from the bed.

Inside the armoire, there was a small mini fridge which contained soft drinks and beer. Threre were no spirits like a regular mini bar. There was also a Nepresso Coffee maker and an individual kettle. There were also included glassware, which was a nice touch.

The Bathroom:

The bathroom had an open concept pass through to the main sleeping area. I don’t personally mind this, but some may find the lack of ultimate privacy annoying. The bathroom featured a nice rain shower and separate toilet area.

The Bathroom was spacious and featured a soaker tub and double vanity sinks. There was a lot more space than expected.

Around the Hotel:

The Outdoor Pool:

We left the room and explored the property a little bit. There was a nice outdoor pool, which wasn’t very large, but larger than a city hotel pool. It wasn’t very resort like, but it would most certainly do for a quick dip if you happened to be staying here on business travel and needed a quick cool off after a long work day.

The Luxe Lounge:

There was also a coffee bar in the lobby, which substituted as the usual licensed premise lobby lounge. I didn’t see anyone drinking anything other than coffee here.

Casual Connections / Seasonal Tastes:

We had a small snack at the hotel restaurant terrace “Casual Connections”. We were able to sit outside in the cooling evening as we were a bit snacky after the flight. We ordered a small mezze platter. The hotel prices are a bit steep with as they wanted 70 QAR ($20 USD) for a small mezze platter and almost 100 QAR ($35 USD) for most main courses. All in all, it was pretty standard hotel food – a reasonable quantity but nothing outstanding to write home about.

My Thoughts about the Westin Doha:

All in all, the Westin Doha and Spa was a worthwhile stay that was all too short with our brief layover. The rooms were in great condition being new and the hotel is reasonably situated close to the airport. The only real minus is that there isn’t much immediately around the hotel in terms of easily accessible restaurants. I’d rate this property as “highly recommended” for a Westin overnight stay.

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If you’ve stayed at the Westin Doha, did you enjoy this new property?

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