We had a roughly eight hour layover in Doha, as we were arriving from Cape Town around midnight, and departing for Dallas shortly before 8AM. So that left us with a few choices for spending our layover.
Options For Our Layover
The way I viewed it, we had a few options for how we could spend our layover in Doha:
- We could just stay up all night in the Al Mourjan Business Class Lounge; if traveling alone that’s probably what I would have done, and I would have just worked all night, but with my dad and Ford I wanted a better option
- We could book a room at the airside transit hotel; we would have needed two rooms, and the rate per room was over $250 (not surprisingly, they can really command a premium for the airside transit hotel)
- We could have booked a hotel outside the airport, though realistically that would have taken an extra 90 minutes, between getting through immigration both ways, and also taking a taxi both ways
- We could purchase access to the Al Safwa First Class Lounge; not only would this get us access to better food and drinks, but it also meant we could get proper bedrooms
We ended up deciding on that last option.
Buying Access To The Al Safwa Lounge
At the beginning of 2019 Qatar Airways started selling access to their Al Safwa First Class Lounge. The lounge is consistently empty given the Gulf blockade, so it made sense that they wanted to generate more revenue with it.
Purchased access to the lounge is available exclusively to those traveling in Qatar Airways business class (it doesn’t matter if you’re on a cash ticket or on an award). When the offering first launched, the cost was 250QAR per person, or about 67USD. That was a spectacular value.
Back when we first booked the tickets that’s what I was hoping to do for all of us. Unfortunately in June they raised the cost of access to 600QAR per person, or about 165USD per person. Ouch — talk about a huge price increase!
So while it stung to pay that much and wan’t ideal, it still seemed like the best option given the circumstances:
- I wanted to make sure my dad had a bed, rather than just asking him to sit in the airport for eight hours overnight
- Even buying access for three people cost less than two rooms at the airside transit hotel
Al Safwa First Class Lounge Review
After getting off our flight from Cape Town we first had to clear security. That was a quick process, as there was a dedicated premium security line. It was nice to already have security behind us, so that our transfer in the morning would be relatively easy.
Back in the center part of the terminal we found the escalator leading to the Al Safwa Lounge. I explained to the agent at the bottom of the escalator that we wanted to purchase access, and she invited us up the escalator, and at the same time radioed up to let them know we were buying access.
Escalator to Qatar Airways Al Safwa Lounge
At reception the process was surprisingly quick. I had heard from some others that it was a bit of a process, as they needed to call the manager, etc. In this case they took my credit card right away, and charged it within a minute.
Qatar Airways Al Safwa Lounge reception
All of our boarding passes were stamped to indicate that we had access to the lounge. However, we were also informed that we could only access the lounge for six hours. I’d note that we weren’t specifically told when we had to leave, and it didn’t seem like that was directly enforced.
Qatar Airways Al Safwa Lounge stamp
I won’t be reviewing the lounge in-depth this time, as I’ve done that before. So check out my previous full review of the lounge for all of the details. The lounge definitely gives off museum vibes, and it is very impressive.
Qatar Airways Al Safwa Lounge Doha
Qatar Airways Al Safwa Lounge Doha
Qatar Airways Al Safwa Lounge Doha
Qatar Airways Al Safwa Lounge Doha
Qatar Airways Al Safwa Lounge Doha
Qatar Airways Al Safwa Lounge Doha
Ford and I had some work we had to get done before going to sleep, while my dad wanted a glass of wine before bed, so we headed to the restaurant area.
Qatar Airways Al Safwa Lounge dining area
Qatar Airways Al Safwa Lounge dining area
We were presented with the menus. In addition to the standard menu, there was an “Onam Special.” The menus read as follows:
Unfortunately we really weren’t that hungry, or else we would have ordered the Onam Special. We did order a couple of appetizers, though. First we were brought some butter and dip, and some rather mediocre bread.
Qatar Airways Al Safwa Lounge dining
Qatar Airways Al Safwa Lounge dining
My dad ordered the harira soup with lamb.
Qatar Airways Al Safwa Lounge dining
Ford and I ordered the salmon falafel and spinach fatayer to share. Both were reasonably good, though based on the temperature definitely tasted like they were microwaved.
Qatar Airways Al Safwa Lounge dining
We worked for about an hour, and at around 1:30AM we headed to the bedrooms to get some sleep. We just had to fill out a form, and were then given two bedrooms — one for Ford and me, and one for my dad. They’re all located along one quiet corridor.
Qatar Airways Al Safwa Lounge bedrooms
Qatar Airways Al Safwa Lounge bedrooms
The bedroom Ford and I were given had two very comfortable twin size beds. These aren’t just “nap” rooms, but the rooms really are as comfortable as you’d find in a hotel.
Qatar Airways Al Safwa Lounge bedroom
Qatar Airways Al Safwa Lounge bedroom
The lounge also had a desk with a chair, a TV, and another chair next to that.
Qatar Airways Al Safwa Lounge bedroom
There were a couple of bottles of water on the table.
Qatar Airways Al Safwa Lounge bedroom
Back towards the entrance was a bathroom with a sink, shower, and toilet.
Qatar Airways Al Safwa Lounge bedroom
Qatar Airways Al Safwa Lounge bedroom
Qatar Airways Al Safwa Lounge bedroom
Ford and I went to sleep at around 2AM, and woke up at 5:30AM. While that’s not a huge amount of sleep, getting 3.5 hours of sleep in a bed makes a world of difference. My dad was also grateful to have a proper bed, and felt great.
We met my dad back in the restaurant at around 6AM, where we were presented with the breakfast menu, which read as follows:
I ordered a cappuccino, which was excellent.
Qatar Airways Al Safwa Lounge cappuccino
Ford and I both ordered the baked shakshuka. It was reasonably tasty, though it was so obvious that it was microwaved due to the temperature. While still pretty good for an airport lounge, I do feel like the food quality has deteriorated a bit.
Qatar Airways Al Safwa Lounge breakfast
If you really want to get value out of your entrance fee, the lounge has an excellent wine selection. However, after being on vacation for over two hours drinking every day, we were in no mood to drink just to “maximize” value.
Boarding was scheduled to start at 7:05AM, so we headed to our departure gate, C11, at around 6:30AM. This had us walking past the famous teddy bear, which my dad had never seen before (this was his first time passing through Doha).
Qatar Airways Al Safwa Lounge teddy bear
As luck would have it, all three of us had “SSSS” on our boarding passes, so we were subjected to additional security. On the plus side, it really isn’t that bad in Doha, since everyone on US-bound flights has to go through an extra security check anyway.
At that point our boarding passes were scanned, and we found ourselves in the sterile departures area. While our boarding passes indicated boarding would start at 7:05AM, in reality it only started at 7:30AM, with business class being invited to board first.
Qatar Airways departure gate
I couldn’t wait for my A350-1000 Qsuites flight, and in particular to see what my dad and Ford thought, as it was their first time in Qsuites.
Al Safwa Lounge Doha Bottom Line
The Qatar Airways Al Safwa First Class Lounge is one of my favorite first class lounges in the world. The lounge has impressive architecture and proper bedrooms, which makes all the difference for an overnight layover.
Being able to get a few hours of sleep during this otherwise rough overnight layover made a huge difference in making this journey more enjoyable.
That being said, Qatar Airways sure went from one extreme to the other with their Al Safwa pricing for business class passengers. At the old buy-up price it was a steal, while now the pricing is very steep.
Ultimately this was still the best option for our journey, given that two rooms at the transit hotel would have been more expensive than three of us accessing the Al Safwa Lounge, which has bedrooms that are just about as nice as at the hotel.
My only real criticism of the lounge otherwise is that I feel like the food quality has deteriorated a bit based on my small sample, as I think just about everything I had was microwaved.
If you’ve visited the Al Safwa Lounge lately, what was your experience like?
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