Doha, a Paradise for Expatriates?

Doha, the capital of Qatar is a quickly growing city. It aims to reach Dubai's standards in a few years and it is building new malls, new apartments for expatriates and Qataris alike by hiring cheap labour from Nepal and India. There are nowadays more expatriates (Arabs, Europeans, Americans, and Asians) living in Qatar than Qataris themselves.

Doha does not have many historic sites to offer (The old souks of Doha are the only remains of the ancient city). Doha has however a very good range of accommodation, shopping malls, and restaurants.

Social and nightlife for tourists/expats is often limited to cinemas and the bars in the top-end hotels, apart from house parties.

The highlights of the capital of Qatar are:

- The Corniche: a seven-kilometre long road along the sea where you can admire top-end hotels, new government buildings, luxurious flats, and some new sculptures/decorations installed for the 2006 Asian Games

- The sport complex : a brand new sports complex built especially for the Asian Games of 2006. It is very modern and worth a visit.

- The Old City of Doha: very small but worth a quick visit to see what Doha looked like twenty years ago.

- The malls: numerous and scattered throughout the city, all worth a visit to see rich Qataris and expats shopping together while ignoring each other.

- If you have time and have local friends, ask them to drive you to Doha suburbs to see the huge villas in which Qataris and expats live, then go to the slums (even further in the suburbs) where Nepalis and Indians live in poor conditions. It is not better than South Asian slums in some parts but cleaner though.

Quick Tips:

- You can get your own visa for 55 QR (a bit more than 20 USD) on arrival provided you have booked a hotel on the net before arriving. Some nationalities are allowed to order the visa online (http://www.e.gov.qa/eGovPortal/visaservice/visaservicedetails.jsp) and print the receipt, which allow to go straight into the passports queue instead of going to the visa applications queue first.

- There are no budget hotels in Qatar. Compare the prices of the hotels on various websites before booking a room as the prices tend to vary a lot for the same hotel. Usually, you need to book a hotel or be invited by a local before being allowed into Qatar.

- It is incredibly hot and humid during the summer (more than 40°C all day, and 38°C at night) and the heat is almost unbearable. If you do not travel around with an A/C car, do not even consider going to Qatar in June, July or August. I could barely stay outside for more than 5 minutes without suffocating (even though I am used to extreme heat).

- The hygiene standards are almost equal to those found in the West, so you do not need to take particular precautions with food or drinks.

- There is no particular dress code in Qatar for non-Muslims, but men should always wear trousers and not shorts and women should dress modestly (women sleeveless tops are tolerated but not very recommended if you are invited by Qataris).

- The cost of living in Qatar if you are a tourist is slightly cheaper than in the US or Europe (especially when it comes to food) but if you are living there as an expat, rents are incredibly expensive as there is a shortage of decent accommodation for foreign workers.

Best Way To Get Around:

Local transportation in Qatar is nowadays scarce and almost non-existent. There are taxis (not many) but these are not especially cheap compared to other Arab countries.

Every US/EU expatriate or Qatari has his own car (and even several: I was told by a local friend that some Qataris have one car for each day of the week!). The Asian workers are driven from their homes to their place of work and back by a bus provided by their employer.

The best way to get around is to rent a car or hire a driver/guide for your stay in Qatar. All famous rental cars brands can be found in Qatar, but bring an international driving license with you as your national driving license may not be accepted.

In 2005, the Mercure Grand Hotel Doha was one of the cheapest I could find on the web. I paid 80 euros per night for a single room. To get that rate, you need to visit several websites and compare the prices.

With 175 rooms, the Mercure Grand Hotel Doha is a four-star hotel with all the facilities typical of a four-star international hotel, with big impersonal rooms, a color television, good quality furniture, a big modern marble bathroom and all the small stuff you expect to find in a bathroom. The decor is no different than other four or five-star international hotels: the rooms look the same wherever you go and you do not feel like you are in Qatar. The hotel reception and lobby is on the first floor (open 24 hours). There is also an outdoor swimming pool but I would not recommend to use it during the summer!

Despite the hotel's impersonal looks, the view from the rooms window is stunning: if your room is high enough, you can see the Corniche and the trapeze-shaped Sheraton Hotel at its end. The night view on Doha is also worth it.

The hotel is ideally located in the Business district of Doha, within walking distance of the Port, the old city (with its souqs) and the Corniche. There are plenty of shops and restaurants in the area if you do not want to stay inside in the evening. It is also very close to Doha International Airport (less than 4kms).

Security is very good. An anecdote: I had invited my Qatari friend to visit me in my room. I had previously sent him a SMS with my room number but since security was tight because of the terrorist threat, he was arrested just before going out of the lift on my room floor. He was escorted to my room with two guards who asked me if he was my friend. I replied by the affirmative and I was told that I had to take my friend downstairs to chat with him. We decided to go out instead of staying in the hotel lobby.

The biggest mall in Doha and one of the biggest in the Middle East. You can expect to find all the brands you would expect to find in the USA or in Europe. There are five levels in the mall which houses 350 shopping outlets including hundreds of world-class brand names, including the famous supermarket Carrefour (Carrefour is well known in France and Belgium, among other European countries).

There are also several good restaurants and fast foods in a huge food court (Burger King, KFC, etc.). Try the Portuguese restaurant, which is only Portuguese by its name but the food served is more American food adapted to Arabic palates than anything else.

On the lower floor there is an ice skating rink, something you would not expect to see in such a hot country (but what is it compared to Dubai's famous ski slope in one of its malls?).

Also the mall houses a 14-screen multiplex cinema, and there might be someone to ask you to wash your car in the car park below the mall while you are doing your shopping.

You can expect to spend several hours there or even a full day if you are a fan of shopping. Nobody will ever force you to buy something, the retailers all speak good English and all the prices are non-negotiable (except maybe the jewellery). The mall is very crowded during weekends (Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays) and more than 50,000 people visit it everyday.

Overall a very good experience if you want to escape the drenchy heat of the Qatari desert and have a glance at what Qatar has to offer to the American and European expatriates.

The Corniche of Doha is one of the most famous waterfronts in the Middle-East. An early morning or evening walk along the palm-lined Corniche is a must during your visit in Doha. The azure waters are worth having a look at, especially at dawn.

You can start your walk near the old city centre, near the Babel tower-like Islamic Bank and the souqs. If you are not up to a 7.5km walk, you can take a car and stop at the most important points, such as the dhow harbour with working boats, the pearl in a huge shell, the Royal Palace or the mascot of the Asian Games of 2006. The City Center Mall is also on the Corniche. The Corniche ends at the Sheraton Hotel.

There is incessant building works along the Corniche, so if you come back another year, you will see new modern buildings. In summer, the Corniche is empty of pedestrians because of the heat. However I was told that in winter, in the early evening, it is full of people having a stroll along the sea, picnicking, enjoying the city views. Also, it is popular in the morning for joggers.

Once again, I had a stopover in Doha in July 2007 on my way to India and back home. Has the airport improved since 2005? Another reviewer told us that a new airport was planned for September 2006. However, I landed into the same airport as two years ago. No big changes compared to my experience two years ago.

Doha airport is incredibly crowded and way too small for an international airport. Queues are long but the staff are efficient and guide travellers towards the right queues. Security is not as tight as it was two years ago, probably because of the waiting lines. Once you get past security, you enter into the duty free zone on the lower level.

It is quite a busy duty free zone, but it was much busier two years ago, it is also one of the smallest duty free zone spaces I have seen for such an international airport. Qataris are busy buying alcohol and cigarettes (alcohol consumption is forbidden in Qatar) for their holiday getaway and many Western travelers have a look at the prices of the electronics (not cheaper than in Europe or the US).

If you are carrying bags with you, it will be difficult for you to wander in the duty free zone when it is crowded.

There are a few smoking zones in the airport but not the same as in 2005. In 2005, it was possible to smoke in an area protected by high glass walls which provided a full view of planes taking off and landing. Nowadays, Doha airport smoking zones are incredibly smokey and in a few seconds you are suffocating... It is best to wait until you have arrived at your destination to light a cigarette.

Toilets are numerous and relatively clean (but could be cleaner; there is water everywhere)

On the upper floor, there is a free Internet zone, where people can send emails and chat with family and friends. Once again, if you have a short stopover, it is not even worth waiting in the line. I personally had to wait for 45 minutes before being able to access a computer.

Also, on the same level, there are restaurants (mostly junk food), and several waiting rooms in front of the gates, less crowded than on the lower level. You can expect to find a seat to relax there while waiting for your flight.

My best experience of Doha has been Qatar Airlines, one of the best airlines I have flown with. Super service by handsome stewards and beautiful hostesses, super food, super seats (I had a free upgrade to business class because there were no seats available anymore in economy class).

Overall, Doha airport is an experience. It is a modern airport with modern facilities which has become too small because of the quickly increasing number of people travelling with Qatar Airways.