I spent five glorious nights at the Four Seasons Doha and loved every moment of it. This is a lovely hotel in Doha that offers comfortable accommodations, delicious food, and a great staff of caring employees.
I had planned to spend just a few nights here, but after a booking mix-up at the Grand Hyatt Doha, I ended up spending five nights here…and I am so thankful I did. Room rates were about $300/night, which is an excellent value considering the amenities I enjoyed, including complimentary breakfast each morning, a beautiful room with a terrace and view, and even a complimentary spa treatment (I booked via American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts).
To enter the lobby area, I had to pass through a metal detector, which is common at finer hotels in the Middle East.
My room, 814, was beautiful. Although just a standard room (premier sea-view room), it was spacious (474 square feet) and I loved the white colors with blue accents. When the curtains were drawn back and you could see the sea below and I think the layout and design of the room was perfect.
Great views from the room:
Look at the intricate detail on the walls:
The bathroom included a shower, tub, toilet, and bidet.
Shower amenities were from Christian Lacroix.
In addition to a full minibar, there was a Lavazza espresso machine, from which I enjoyed an espresso to start my day each morning.
One other note: the room was cleaned twice daily…morning and evening.
My friend was in a beautiful Ambassador suite, which was lovely as well, though I was quite happy with my “base” room:
I had my clothes washed and I loved how the clothes back came perfectly pressed and folded.
Dining options abound at the Four Seasons Doha.
Breakfast was an amazing treat at Elements. I will not list all the items available on the breakfast buffet, but think of it like this: if you wanted it, they had it. There was cuisine from around the world and it was all beautifully presented and absolutely delicious:
Of course, I had my usual omelet, fresh berries, fresh-squeezed, and croissant, but I also enjoyed superb Arabic mezze each morning with freshly-made za’atar Manakish. What a delicious dish!
By the third morning, the staff knew me, called me by name, papered my coffee and very bowl without me even asking, and pampered me in a way certainly commensurate with a five-star hotel.
Some mornings I sat outside:
Others inside:
Elements also has its own bar.
There are many things that distinguish this hotel from others I have stayed at in Doha, but breakfast here is simply the best. I loved it.
The beautiful Le Deli Robuchon is a coffee shop and a pâtissière shop. Located one level below the lobby with soaring ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows, I enjoyed excellent coffee here over and over again. While it was nice to have an espresso machine in the room, the coffee here was tremendous and sitting here with a great flat white writing was a great part of my day each day.
I worked out twice a day while here, once when I woke up in the morning and again in the late afternoon. After each afternoon workout, I stopped by the Aires Spa Cafe for a protein shake. While not on the menu, the ingredients were simple: fresh berries, plain yogurt, ice, and protein powder. It really hit the spot.
There’s also an outdoor terrace at Apres:
One afternoon we seat in the Seasons Tea Lounge for coffee and scones. After a massive breakfast a few hours earlier, I had no appetite for the full afternoon tea, but greatly enjoyed a scone with clotted cream and a cappuccino beautifully prepared and presented in a china cup.
There’s a large dining room, which is nice enough, but go for the sunroom beyond it, which really is a beautiful place to spend a few hours.
The beautiful dark wood Library Lounge offers an excellent atmosphere for social settings and excellent drinks.
JT, the bartender, took such good care of us. We enjoyed drinks here a couple days and I loved how he carefully made them in front of us and was such a conversationalist.
This is a smoking area and most people in here were smoking cigarettes or cigars. In that sense, whatever you wear in here you should expect to smell like smoke when you step out.
I stayed clear of The Terrace, the hotel’s shisha lounge, but if that’s your thing there is both indoor and outdoor seating available.
The outdoor pool area offers a sit-down dining area with food and drinks. Poolside or beachside service is also available.
My friend had a lighter appetite so four of the five nights I ate in my room. First, I must commend this hotel for such an expansive room service menu. I never got bored. Not only was there a wide selection, but the quality and taste was excellent as well. Eating every night was a pleasure.
The first night, having eaten plenty onboard Qatar Airways, I just ordered a pizza:
The hotel boasts a wood oven grill and the pizza was excellent.
On my second night, I enjoyed a mixed grill with lamb, chicken, and beef.
It was delicious, but the best part of the meal was my appetizer, kibbeh in yogurt sauce. Kibbeh is usually made by pounding bulgur wheat together with meat into a fine paste and forming it into balls with toasted pine nuts and spices. It was so good I ordered it every night.
I tried a filet mignon one night, which was cooked a perfect medium rare and served with a green salad:
I also tried sea bass filet, with was tender and flavorful:
And more kibbeh of course:
One morning I slept in and ordered breakfast in my room (available all day), which was just as good as in Elements downstairs.
Doha’s Nobu restaurant is located on the premises. We considered eating here one night, but ultimately determined it was too much trouble and room service was too enjoyable to go out to a chain restaurant.
The locker rooms in the spa complex included a superb wellness area with hot tub, sauna, steam room, and ice room.
My package included one complimentary spa treatment, which I used for a one-hour full-body massage. The massage was excellent and I appreciated the hot tea and dates after my treatment.
I want to give a very special shout-out to Yahya and Rasel, two spa attendants who so warmly greeted me twice a day when I used the wellness facilities and ensured I always had a dry towel and cold bottle of water.
The Four Seasons has a large fitness center in the spa complex with modern machines. I began each morning here and also spent afternoons here and loved that my workout routine at home could be continued here.
Several outdoor, as well as an indoor pool, were available, plus therapeutic plunge pools. For the kids and young at heart, there are numerous water slides as well. I would not call the beac world-class, but it was serviceable.
Outdoor tennis courts are available.
There’s a number of shops on the lobby level of the hotel, including a jeweler and florist. The fresh-cut flower adorns the lobby and the smell of fresh-cut flowers fills the common areas of this hotel.
What often separates a four-star hotel from a five-star hotel is the service. Every interaction with every staff member here was gracious. From the restaurants to the bar, from the pool to the spa, from maids to the front-desk staff, every member was polished, genuine, warm, and many impressively learned my name after only a day in-residence.
I also loved that you could easily converse with staff via telephone or the Four Seasons app.
The service here was such a distinguishing feature from other fine hotels in Doha.
Located on a beach about seven miles from teh financial district, the hotel is easily within reach of most of the important institutions in Doha, but removed enough such that you can escape the hustle and bustle.
We had arranged dinner at Souq Waqif one evening and the hotel graciously. offered to take us there and pick us up after. Otherwise, we used Uber for transport.
In every possible way, the Four Seasons Doha was a great hotel. I loved it and look forward to returning with my whole family. Indeed, if we are ever traveling on Qatar Airways, I will deliberately schedule in a stopover in Doha just to return to this hotel.
Next I’ll review the Park Hyatt Doha.
Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let’s Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.
Great review, Matthew. I have been tempted to stay here but now it’s a must. Have to say your review is even better than at the FS website. Fantastic photos and really captures the property.
“…room service was too enjoyable to go out to a chain restaurant.”
Way to live.
I was talking about Nobu specifically. We did go out to other places.
When you aren’t ordering Taco Bell or some other chain restaurant to your room 😉
big tippah!
Nobu has to be the biggest scam ever. I’ve been there once. Paid a fortune for a mediocre food and left the place starving. Never ever again.
Looks spectacular, but 50 USD (180 QAR) for a caesar salad with chiken is insane
@Matthew. I was told the kids club has a different activity every hour. Any insight? Very much looking forward to our long layovers in a few weeks.
Great write-up, thanks for giving us what we love – photos, and lots of them. That breakfast spread makes Asia hotel breakfasts look like chump change. It’s on my ’24 list of places to visit. But, where is everybody?
Friends just returned from FS Doha and commented it was possibly their favorite FS they’ve been to. They also raved about the food. Looks great!
I have already paid for 5 Nights at Ritz Carlton,Doha,prices are similar, it comes with the Club Lounge. I wish you would have posted this sooner.
I have Booked one night at Hyatt Regency,Doha that you liked for Breakfast.
Thank you for the Review.
Interesting review. I am somewhat surprised that you chose to eat in the room four nights out of five, that’s the sort of thing that I would’ve expected to see at OMAAT. I am glad you enjoyed room service, but I would be more interested in reading about a hidden gem of a neighbourhood restaurant where Bangladeshi workers feast on chicken livers.
That’s fair, but part of it was that I was trying to actually take some time off. Whenever I am out I feel obligated to photograph everything for this blog and then write about it. Sure, I did for that dinner each night, but it was far less stressful. I got so much sleep and two workouts a day over that five days. It was a very nice rest with all that is usually going on at home.
Fair enough – I also leverage remote working in a similar way, with days on which I do very little outside of work, and I don’t even have children and all the work/stress that comes with them (I suppose it also helps that I am in charge of the corporate flexible working arrangements at my employer!).
Your reviews would be even better if you could add a short description below each picture, it would make a HUGE difference. Nice review!
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