- Five Star Virgin: Introduction
- Five Star Virgin: Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport
- Five Star Virgin: Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse San Francisco
- Five Star Virgin: Virgin Atlantic Upper Class from San Francisco (SFO) to London (LHR)
- Five Star Virgin: Virgin Atlantic Arrivals Lounge London Heathrow
- Five Star Virgin: Is First Class on the Heathrow Express worth it?
- Five Star Virgin: Hotel Indigo London Paddington
- Five Star Virgin: SkyTeam Lounge London Heathrow
- Five Star Virgin: Qatar Airways First Class from London (LHR) to Doha (DOH)
- Five Star Virgin: InterContinental Doha
- Five Star Virgin: Exploring Doha
- Five Star Virgin: Qatar Airways Premium Terminal Doha
- Five Star Virgin: Qatar Airways First Class from Doha (DOH) to London (LHR)
- Five Star Virgin: Crowne Plaza London Heathrow Airport
- Five Star Virgin: Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse London Heathrow
- Five Star Virgin: Virgin Atlantic Upper Class from London (LHR) to New York (JFK)
- Five Star Virgin: Andaz Wall Street New York
- Five Star Virgin: Conclusion
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The ride from the airport to the InterContinental took about 30 minutes without traffic. The hotel has a unique sandcastle-like exterior, which makes it stand out.
Hotel exterior
Reception was on the right side as soon as I walked in the door, and I was promptly assisted. Despite using a promotional night from Priority Club’s “Sweet Dilemma” promotion, I managed to snag a club suite.
Lobby
I was escorted to the room by a lovely Australian lady, who explained all the of restaurants in the hotel, the hours of the Club InterContinental, etc.
Elevators
The suite itself was plenty large. Upon entering was a large living room with a couch and chairs, along with a desk area. There was also a half bath right by the entrance.
Living room
Living room
Half bath
The bedroom was connected to the living room by double doors.
Bedroom
Bedroom
Bedroom
The bedroom led to the master bath, which featured a shower and tub.
Bathroom
Shower
Tub
The room boasted nice views of the pool and Arabian Gulf in the background.
View from the room
View from the room
View from the room
While as a Royal Ambassador you get complimentary beverages from the minibar, this is the first hotel I’ve stayed at that only offers Royal Ambassadors complimentary soft drinks from the minibar, apparently due to some local low (or something like that). In the living room was a bowl of fruit, though I never did receive the Royal Ambassador welcome gift (if they even have one)
Minibar
Fruit plate
On the whole the room was well appointed, though not especially modern.
While I was entitled to free internet as a Royal Ambassador, the first night the internet was incredibly slow to the point that I went to the lobby and used the Wi-Fi there. Fortunately the internet speed improved considerably the following day, though even then it was a stretch to call it “high speed” internet access.
Since I arrived late the first night, I wasn’t able to partake in the Club InterContinental offerings, though I had breakfast the following morning. The spread was excellent, with everything you would expect. There was also a menu, from which I ordered an omelet the first day and pancakes the second day.
Club InterContinental entrance
Club InterContinental
Breakfast spread
Breakfast spread
I found it pretty funny that the juice in the club had an “InterContinental Doha” label. It was surprisingly fresh, though, so it wasn’t just Sunny D repackaged.
Juice
Breakfast
Breakfast
Breakfast
Afternoon tea is also served in the club, which consists of finger sandwiches, strawberries with cream, and scones with jam and clotted cream.
Afternoon tea
The evening spread was available from 6PM to 8PM, and was slightly less impressive than the breakfast and afternoon tea spread. There were a couple of hot options, though the cold options were somewhat limited. The dessert spread was quite good, though.
Evening spread
Evening spread
Evening spread
I wasn’t blown away by the service in the club. While the ladies working there were attentive, they never smiled or seemed genuine in their service.
The hotel does have a nice pool and artificial beach, though I’m from Florida, so that wasn’t of much interest to me.
Pool
Pool
Beach
One of the very cool things about the hotel is that they have a shuttle service with a set time schedule that will drop you off at the airport, city center, Islamic Museum, or Souq. Not only did I save a few bucks thanks to the service, but it was actually much easier than trying to hail a cab and then dealing with the language barrier. I also ended up using the shuttle to the airport the last morning.
Overall my stay at the InterContinental was good. It was an amazing value given that I had used promotional nights, when the revenue rates were well over $200 per night.
Stay tuned for the next installment, as I show you all there isn’t is to do in Qatar.
I agree with y'all, was amazed by how quiet everything was. It wasn't just the hotel, but the whole city. More on that in the next installment.
@ Nick -- Hah, good question, I have no clue!
@ Mark -- Nice to see someone is paying attention. Sorry about that, all fixed!
Is it just me or is the breakfast spread and the dinner spread the same food? Or did you just slip the picture in twice to see if anyone was paying attention! ha :)
@discopapa: I agree on the people, I count 6 total, and 1 bird, in all the pics.
Whats up with the population lucky was it as quiet as it looks or do you try to avoid taking snaps with people in them?
Persian or Arabian Gulf I dont know but a beautiful view by any name. Great report.
I would love to hear from someone what the rule of thumb in the hotel industry is, in terms of how many years it generally takes before a hotel's interior is considered "dated". It seems to me that perhaps this is happening faster these days...
Thanks for another informative trip report / being the canary in the coal mine ;)
Love your work and wish there was an opportunity to meet you one day.
Looks like a pretty generic, even bland, hotel.
Either you're great with photo shop or it's got some vacancy... (I did see a pair of shoes in one picture).
Hey, I'm Arab (though not a Gulf Arab), I don't care what the UN calls it, I always refer to it as the Arabian Gulf ;)
With regards to the soft drinks/alcohol issue in your room...most places in Qatar and the UAE have to have a license to sell alcohol, so the majority of clubs, bars, and restaurants are located in hotels. My guess is, the hotel has a license to sell the alcohol but can't give it away in rooms...if that makes any sense.
@Ron: Being of Persian descent, I'm well aware of the controvercial name change of this gulf by Arabs.
I was hoping that Lucky would use the UN recognized name. Afterall, this blog is based in the USA and the USA recognizes the Persian Gulf name.
Where are all of the people?
@moodz: The gulf is known in Arabic as الخلیج العربي, literally "the Arabian Gulf". I wouldn't be surprised if the English-language materials at the hotel would refer to it as such. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_Gulf_naming_dispute
Club suite? What happened to the royal suite? ;-)
How was the food outside the hotel?... You left the hotel didn't you?
"The room boasted nice views of the pool and Arabian Gulf in the background."
You mean the Persian Gulf, don't you? :)