Qatar – Sheraton Grand Doha Hotel Review

I recently traveled to Qatar. Here is this midlifer’s Sheraton Grand Doha Hotel review.

The Background

I stayed for four days in Doha, Qatar’s capital, and stayed all the days at the Sheraton Hotel. The hotel has a grand name of Sheraton Grand Doha Resort & Convention Hotel. This was the first time during my almost-three week-long tour of Egypt, Oman and Qatar that I stayed in just one hotel in a city.

We had booked through Marriott’s Bonvoy Points.

THIS MIDLIFER’S FOUR DAY TRIP TO QATARTHIS MIDLIFER’S DESERT SAFARI IN QATAR

The Sheraton Doha is a five-star hotel that was opened in 1982. It is located in the upscale West Bay area and at one end of the Al Corniche – the seaside promenade. The hotel is massive with 371 rooms and is shaped like triangle/pyramid though for me it also looked like a cruise ship.

Doha Sheraton Grand Hotel Elevators

There are glass-covered elevators/lifts that are located along the main column so that when they go up and down you can have a look at the different floors as well as the majestic lobby.

The Room

Doha Sheraton’s Deluxe Split Level Room

We had a Deluxe room which came with a king-sized bed. There was a table with snacks and a usual mini refrigerator. The room also had a coffee maker which I used liberally.

Doha Sheraton Grand Living Room

It is a split-level room with the King-sized bed and the coffee table on the main level, and two sofas, a writing desk and a wall-mounted TV on the second, living-room level. Both levels are connected by a few stairs.

Doha Sheraton Grand Living Room

The Bathroom

The bathroom was luxuriant – with towels, and the amenities kits that included toothbrushes/paste, moisturizer, shampoo, conditioner, soap etc. We usually don’t get them clean every day; only when we feel the room needs tidying up or the bathroom needs fresh supplies and they always complied with our requests.

Doha Sheraton’s Bathroom

One feature I noticed was the abundance of gold. The faucets, the knobs and even the towel hanger had gold plating.

Another feature I noticed was that there were no robes.

Doha Sheraton’s Toilet & Shower

The deluxe room was with a balcony overlooking the Persian/Arabian Gulf and the hotel’s private beach. It was a cozy little place where one could sit and enjoy a drink while enjoying the dhows ploughing through the calm waters, or the distant and not-so-distant skyscrapers.

Doha Sheraton Grand Balcony View

The room had sufficient power plugs, and even came with an international charger which I found was a neat arrangement. There was the usual safe, iron and the ironing board etc.

Other Facilities at Sheraton Grand Doha Hotel

Pool & the Beach

The hotel has a gorgeous beach and a pool.

Doha Sheraton Grand Pool

But I never used the pool. The reason being that in a warm country with a beach I prefer the beach. And the beach was so good. The Sheraton Grand has its own private beach. It is a small beach, located within a cove and with the breakwater, the water was calm, almost still water except for the tiny ripples splashing on the shore. And by mid morning the water became warm and by late morning the weather was turning hotter.

Doha Sheraton’s Beach

Fortunately, the hotel has scores of canopies and they give small ice pouches with iced water.

I spent a few hours two mornings in the beach and enjoyed it tremendously.

Restaurants

The hotel has seven restaurants though I never tried any eat-in in any of them. There were two reasons for not trying them – one, I was already tired from all the eating in Egypt and Oman. And in Qatar, as it was with the last few days in the Oman’s capital Muscat, I wanted to eat mostly South Asian food. As there are thousands of south Asians working in Qatar and they run some of the authentic restaurants. So, my meals were mostly from there, except on the last day when I decided to end the trip with a trip to the contemporary Peruvian specialty restaurant La Mar Doha by Gastón Acurio. This restaurant is located at the Intercontinental Doha (see review of my Qatar Trip).

Final Comments on the Sheraton Grand Doha Hotel

As I mentioned, the room did not provide robes.

I also found the room somewhat lacking in the option of having total darkness in the night. The balcony had lights for which I could not find switches. And the room’s blinds were not totally light proof which meant in the night there was light leaking into the room. Now, it does not affect my sleep but those who expect total darkness might be disappointed.

The hotel had exceptional services. Whenever I put the “no room service needed” notice, they would leave a message asking whether I needed any supplies.

And I have to make a special mention of the bell service.