Doha Hamad International Airport in Qatar is one of the largest connection airports in the Middle East region. With Qatar Airways de-bundling business class fares to no longer automatically include business class lounge access, and a large number of travellers passing through the region, you may find yourself in Doha without automatic access to the lounge. The Al Maha Lounge is the answer to your lounge dilemma, as it offers access to a business class lounge on a pay per use basis or through a Priority Pass membership card. Read on to see how our visit was to this particular lounge.

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This post is one chapter on my trip to the Republic of the Maldives. This trip was enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan and Air Canada’s Aeroplan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.

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Review: Al Maha Lounge, Doha Hamad International Airport, Qatar

This review is of the Al Maha Lounge at Doha Hamad International Airport, Qatar.

For a review of another lounge of which you might have access to at Doha Hamad International Airport, please visit our review of the excellent Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Business Lounge.

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We arrived into Doha Hamad International Airport on Qatar Airways Q Suites Business Class San Francisco – Doha before departing on Qatar Airways Q Suites Business Class Doha – Malé.

After some time at the neighbouring Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Business Lounge, I took a look at one of the other lounges available to some travellers, the Al Maha Lounge located in Doha Hamad International Airport.

Locating the Al Maha Lounge

The Al Maha Lounge is centrally located in Doha Hamad International Airport, Qatar. It’s conveniently located next to the giant Lamp Bear designed by Urs Fischer that’s located in the immediate departure hall of the international terminal.

The lounge access is located immediately to the left of the Lamp Bear. It’s conveniently located on the left hand side up a series of double escalators just under the “C D E” gates sign. In terms of location, the Al Maha Lounge is very centrally located in the main departures hall.

Despite being easy to locate, in terms of marking and branding, the Al Maha Lounge isn’t all that easy to find. Aside from a small podium sign at the bottom of the escalator, the overhead signs don’t have any obvious markings to the Al Maha Lounge.

Aside from the lack of obvious signs, the lounge is well located for departing passengers. If you happen to be connecting through, you’ll likely find yourself coming through the airport departure concourse at one of the connection security check points located around the Lamp Bear.

Accessing the Al Maha Lounge:

The Al Maha Lounge Doha Hamad International Airport is available through a number of ways:

The pricing for paid visit to the Al Maha Lounge is:

• Adult / Child / Infant – 230 QAR ($63 USD) per person, for a 6 hour visit

The lounge is also a member of Priority Pass. I visited the Al Maha Lounge today courtesy of Priority Pass Select, granted through a membership with my American Express Platinum Card.

Priority Pass offers it’s members a complimentary four hour visit. At the time of my visit, there was a note indicating that the access may be restricted due to capacity constraints. As a result, this may be something you may want to consider when planning your visit.

After my Priority Pass membership was validated at the reception, I was invited in. There was no wait at all when I attended to reception, and I was processed immediately.

Inside the Al Maha Lounge:

The Al Maha Lounge forms a part of the Al Maha Priority Services, which include the possibility of arranging a VIP meet and greet function. The Al Maha Lounge forms part of the lounge services for that collection of VIP products.

The Al Maha Lounge is one of those lounges that happens to have lounge space on either side of the reception desk. After being granted admission, I was invited into the left hand side of the lounge entry.

The left hand side offered a large and leafy green space wall that faced the outer walls. The green space was a nice feature for a window less lounge that happened to have no outdoor daylight.

The lounge seating space continued along the green wall in a long rectangular hall way that contained lounge chair seating for most of the way down. During my visit, the lounge was quite busy, and it was a little bit of a challenge to find an empty lounge chair for seating.

Moving my way to the back of the lounge, there was a small water feature that separated the lounge seating area from the food service area. You won’t be confusing the water feature in this particular space with the more opulent Qatar Airways Al Mourjan fountain, but it’s worthwhile noting that Al Maha at least made an effort in design for something interesting in this space.

On the opposite side of the fountain, the Al Maha Lounge offers it’s food and beverage area.

During my visit, there were quite a few people in this portion of the lounge. While you didn’t have your first choice of seats, it wasn’t hard to find something available.

Food and Beverage:

The Al Maha Lounge offered a number of self service options in it’s food and beverage department.

In terms of drinks, the Al Maha Lounge offered self service wines, along with a wide variety of soda and soft drinks.

The lounge offered a number of light food items that I’d best consider as snacks, rather than a full meal replacement.

There were also some wrapped sandwiches, which could probably make do in a pinch, but I probably wouldn’t be using this as a meal replacement by any stretch of my imagination.

There were a limited number of hot items available. I didn’t see many people indulging in the buffet. However, it was appreciated to have a small snack in the event you found yourself between meals while travelling.

While the lounge did offer some food, it was a far cry from what you might expect at a proper international airlines’ alliance business class lounge. I would have to say that the food offering is probably the Al Maha Lounge’s weakest spot. It was certainly a lot less appealing when compared to the opulent table waiter served restaurant upstairs at the nearby Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Lounge.

Heading back towards the reception entrance, there were a few blue lounge chairs similar the chairs found in the Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Lounge.

On the right hand side of the reception area, I wandered over into the other side of the lounge. There was another completely different lounge seating area on the right hand side that was a lot less used than the primary left hand side lounge seating area.

The right hand side of the lounge offered several smaller seating areas, in contrast to the larger rectangular room. The right hand side seating area offered smaller leather lounge chairs in a series of rooms that led towards a darker space.

Heading further into the lounge, I located another leafy green wall. As noted, there were substantially less people seated on this part of the lounge. It made for a much more peaceful lounge environment.

Rounding the corner at the back of the right hand side of the lounge, there was a quieter sleeping area. I located a number of people asleep in this zone, and it was pretty tranquil and isolated by comparison to all other areas in the lounge.

While you won’t ever mix this place up with the more opulent and much larger Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Business Class Lounge, the Al Maha Lounge Doha does offer a reasonable space in order to relax in, including a few hidden corners where you can possibly catch up for a nap.

Additional Features:

The Al Maha Lounge offered a few additional features that are worth mentioning.

The Al Maha Lounge did offer some showers that were available for travellers. There didn’t appear to be a wait available during my visit, and the showers were located in the back of the left hand side of the lounge.

The Al Maha Lounge also offered a self service baggage room. This meant that travellers could potentially store their bags in the lounge (for fee) and perhaps take off into the city for sightseeing.

We’ve found this feature to be really useful during our trips to the Turkish Airlines Business Lounge in Istanbul, Turkey. Admittedly, I didn’t see many people using this feature here, and the space seemed mostly empty.

We spent about twenty minutes in the lounge prior to heading off on a Qatar Airways Business Class Doha – Malé flight.

My Thoughts on the Al Maha Lounge at Doha Hamad International Airport:

The Al Maha Lounge at Doha Hamad International Airport is part of the Al Maha VIP Services that include a meet and greet service, along with lounge access for travels who need assistance on a pay per use basis.

The Al Maha Lounge offered a variety of lounge seating areas that varied in between large rooms and more intimate smaller spaces. Although there was a small food buffet, the lounge’s dining options were not the most luxurious in nature.

For those without access to Qatar’s Airways Al Mourjan’s lounge, the Al Maha Lounge is likely the best option, as opposed to being in the terminal.

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If you’ve visited the Al Maha Lounge, did you prefer it over the Doha Hamad International Airport terminal ?

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