We went to Oman earlier in the year but connected through Doha as we flew with Qatar. Since we were travelling with a toddler and had never stayed in Doha before, we decided to stop for a few nights on the way home to avoid a long connection at the airport.
We wanted somewhere with a good pool area and direct beach access, so we eventually settled on the Ritz-Carlton.
In this post:
Check-In
When we arrived, the lobby was busy but very grand and impressive. The first thing we noticed though was the amount of security at the doors, there was a scanner and several guards. I’m sure it was supposed to make us feel safe, but it actually made us feel a bit uneasy and not something we have been used to with other popular Middle Eastern countries.
The other thing that hit us straight away was the smell of cigarette smoke in the lobby. We later worked out it was coming from a cigar bar down the hall, which clearly wasn’t very well contained.
Check-in itself was a bit of a faff. Even though we arrived at 4pm and check-in officially starts from 3pm, our room still wasn’t ready. There wasn’t really an available alternative, so we just had to wait. The staff were very apologetic and helpful, but it was still a disappointing start.
The Room
We had booked a Deluxe Guest Room with balcony and sea view. Once we finally got in, we were happy with the layout and décor. The hotel renovated the rooms in 2020, and they still look in good condition.
As you walked in there was a small hallway with mirrored wardrobes on one side and the bathroom on the other. The bathroom felt nice and high-end, with lots of marble, a big bath, separate shower and spacious vanity. Amenities were by Diptyque, which was a nice touch.
The main bedroom wasn’t huge, but plenty big enough for the three of us for a few nights. It had a big bed, a little dining table and desk, and a minibar area.
The balcony, though, was the biggest let-down. It was tiny, boxed in with high walls and a solid wall at the front, which meant you couldn’t really enjoy the view.
Oddly there was only one chair out there too, so we had to drag one of the heavy chairs from inside whenever we both wanted to sit.
One thing the hotel did really well was little touches for families. When we came back from our first look around, housekeeping had set up a teepee in the room for our son, filled with toys and colouring. There was also a gift and handwritten note for our unborn baby, which was such a lovely surprise.
Service wasn’t always consistent though. On our second day, we came back to the room at 6pm to get ready for dinner and it still hadn’t been cleaned. There was no Do Not Disturb sign on the door, and reception admitted it had simply been missed, surprising for a hotel of this standard.
The Pool and Beach
The pool area was one of the main reasons we booked this hotel, but it really didn’t live up to expectations. Online photos made it look modern and inviting, but in reality the design felt a bit odd, like fake rocks with lots of small sections that weren’t very appealing. It all looked quite dated too, with peeling paint, cracked tiles and a swim-up bar that was frankly pretty grim.
On top of that, we hadn’t realised we were staying during Eid (our mistake, nobody elses), so the hotel was full and the pool area felt chaotic. To be fair, lots of families were clearly having a brilliant time, and there’s plenty for older kids to do, but it wasn’t the relaxing setup we’d been hoping for. We ended up skipping the pool entirely and spending all our time at the beach.
To get there, you needed to take a buggy across a small road. You could also take a buggy to the supermarket across the main road, although getting one back wasn’t very easy. The buggy drivers themselves were great though, super friendly, good fun, and brilliant with our son. He thought the rides were the best thing ever and even got to “drive” once or twice.
The beach itself is on a little peninsula in the bay. It’s not huge, but there are plenty of loungers and cabanas. We were told you need to grab a cabana early, but we always found them available throughout the day.
We enjoyed lounging there and playing in the sand, but the sea itself wasn’t great, slimy underfoot and a bit smelly, so not the nicest for swimming.
Service at the beach was decent, although the bar staff didn’t really come round to take orders, which would have been nice and on par with similar higher end hotels.
Other Facilities
The hotel also has a gym, an indoor pool, a spa and tennis and squash courts, though we didn’t try them out.
We did use the kids’ club a couple of times to escape the heat. It’s free, but under 4s need to be supervised. We stayed with our son, but there wasn’t really enough there to keep him occupied for more than an hour.
There’s also a little “farm” area with goats, ducks and chickens where kids can feed the animals. Our son loved it, but the animals didn’t look in the best condition, one duck had a badly injured wing, which left us feeling a bit uneasy about it.
Food and Drink
With the hotel so busy, we were expecting breakfast to be a bit of a nightmare, but it was actually really good. The space was well laid out, so it didn’t feel crowded, and service was smooth.
There was also a small à la carte menu, the Eggs Benedict was very good.
We ate all our meals in the hotel to avoid any taxi and car seat issues. The standout was definitely B Lounge. It’s in a separate building, so you’re driven over by buggy, and the food, service and setting were all excellent. The cocktails were a highlight too, with some really interesting options.
We also had a nice meal at STK, which is accessed directly by its own lift in the lobby. It was very quiet when we went, which suited us, though we know it can be a lot livelier.
Our last meal was at Sel & Miel, the hotel’s French brasserie. Management had kindly offered to cover it after some of the issues we’d had, and it was another really enjoyable dinner, though again, surprisingly quiet given how busy the hotel was in the day. Unfortunately, the goodwill gesture wasn’t taken off our bill at checkout, and it took a while to sort out.
One thing we did like about Doha compared to Oman is that the prices are final. No added taxes or service charges, which made it much easier to know what we were actually spending.
In Summary
We really wanted to love The Ritz-Carlton, Doha, but it just never quite hit the mark for us. A lot of that was probably down to the timing of our stay during Eid, when the hotel was at full capacity and the pool felt more chaotic than relaxing. The beach was a better option, and we enjoyed our time there, but the slimy seabed (still not sure what that was!) made swimming less appealing.
What stood out most was the staff. They were genuinely kind, attentive and went out of their way to make things special for us, from the little teepee and toys set up for our son, to a thoughtful gift for our unborn baby. The food was also a highlight, especially B Lounge, which really delivered on both atmosphere and quality. Breakfast, too, was a pleasant surprise, calm and well organised even when the hotel was heaving.
Where it fell short was on the basics. Waiting for a room that should have been ready, housekeeping missing a full day, and a balcony that you couldn’t really use, those things do matter when you’re paying for a five-star stay. The pool area also just doesn’t live up to the glossy images online, and it feels overdue for some investment.
Overall, The Ritz-Carlton Doha has plenty going for it, particularly if you value great service and dining, but for us, it didn’t quite deliver the relaxed, luxury break we were hoping for.
4 comments
Thanks for the review – however despite reasons the article and just now scanning it again I could find no reference to the price of your stay. If you paid £40 a night this would have been excellent value – £400 poor value. Some indication would be helpful at the start if the article to give us context.
Many of the comments regarding poor service resonate with stays my family have had in Doha.
It feels the whole “doha as a holiday destination” has been thrust upon the Qatari population and is not particularly well received by some.
I found that service staff from foreign countries working in Doha felt like second class citizens (or worse) and that the female staff have a dislike of the local and Saudi clients.
Apparently the pay is better than in other Arab countries and for those sending money home, the extra pay was worth the personal discomfort.
One hotel we stayed in, we found was being used for parties by large groups. Each villa had a maximum capacity of four but many would have far more staying in each villa. The noise would go on until the early hours; something the management were aware of and failed to control.
Another premises allowed pool access at a charge for non residents; the mothers would turn up with their kids and au-pare in tow. The kids were at best unruly and mostly quite rude, to members of the staff and other visitors around the pool; the poor au pares were helpless, powerless to tell the kids off for their behaviour.
I witnessed several children splashing western tourists around the pool and one particularly obnoxious child verbally abused one lady, she then went on to verbally and racially abuse the pool attendant when he tried to stop her splashing the other guests; the parents did nothing.
My wife was verbally abused by an Arab male in the hotel lobby when she was speaking to the concierge, the hotel management became involved and rather than dealing with the abusive male, tried to make my wife leave the lobby.
I appreciate there are difference in cultures; we go out of our way to respect those differences and behave accordingly not to cause offence to the local population, however it should work both ways, basic common decency towards other guests is something you should expect anywhere; poor and negative behaviours by locals towards western guests should not being tolerated by the management within the hotels.
My overall experience of Doha didn’t leave me wanting to go back and recent events highlight how the states approach at being a “neutral player, embracing “bad actors” and terrorist groups alike is making Qatar a far less appealing location to visit.
Great to see review of hotels for families – but can you also at least visit the gym facilities in reviews to show what they are like. For an older family group we like to exercise and it’s common for reviews to gloss over facilities – would be great to see pictures.
Hi Ben, we usually would do our best to photograph the other facilities, but we ran out of time with our demanding toddler this trip!
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