Dior Spa Opens At Doha Hamad Airport (DOH)

I imagine it’s “fully booked” for the next few months with influencers and media etc. being given free treatments to try to create some marketing buzz.

Is it possible they've advertised this with locals and the locals are booking it? It could potentially be very popular with luxury-minded Qataris.

@ FMLAX -- I hear you, but I'd give that a 0.000001% chance. It's booked out 24/7 for the next two or more months? With eight treatment rooms? That seems impossible to me.

I guess you'll have to try it and let us know.

Unrelated but here’s something interesting I saw today.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2024/05/08/gcc-unified-visa-middle-east/?sh=6a2ebb3a4f7b

Not surprised at all. This seems like something very Doha . When we were locals, we would go get a full massage at the airport hotel (past security) before flights, and then swim in the pool . All after midnight.

I visited the second, non-branded spa yesterday (it's open). Here's the menu: https://www.qatarairways.com/content/dam/hia/pdf/al-mourjan-spa-en.pdf

The Qspa was really nice: very clean, gender-segregated spa with private treatment rooms connecting to a private shower and changing room. A gym also shares that space with the Qspa. A 30-minute facial with head/neck/shoulder massage was just under $100. My massage therapist was trained in Indonesia, and did a Balinese-style treatment; she did a great job and it wasn't just a flimsy "steam n' cream". It was certainly a major step up from the AF free 20-minute Clarins lounge facial and more in line with what I'd expect from an urban luxury hotel. Probably because the spa is new, I was able to walk up and get an immediate treatment -- they said that they don't take appointments at Qspa, everything is on demand.

I intended to visit the Dior Spa, but originally couldn't find it in the lounge (it's tucked in a corner). It was kind of a ghost town, but the lounge as a whole was super quiet when I visited -- it might just be due to timing.

Dior Spa's menu seems hmm to me. They've chosen to highlight really long treatments...at an airport. The shorter treatments cost a bit more than at the Qspa steps away, but the markup isn't egregious. Maybe the hope is that the Qspa will be the specialist in express treatments and Dior Spa will mostly cater to the clients that want a pre-booked, longer, more intense session.

Putting two luxury spas in the distant and less busy Al Mourjan Garden Lounge, almost within sight of each other, is a wild choice.

I have spent about 3-4 very long layovers in the QR Garden lounge since the LVS lounge-within-a-lounge opened. I have seen exactly 1 table of customers in it during the 20+ hours I've been there. Given that (apples to oranges comparison), I can't imagine this spa will be fully booked, though the access from the main terminal will probably help book far more reservations.

Odds are that the target market is already having regular spa/beauty treatments, and want to spend as little time at the airport as possible.

It's simply beyond belief that everything is booked out 24/7 for the next two months. I'll wager they don't have enough staff, have packed the available appointments with influencer and media types, and are trying to cultivate an air of scarcity that induces people to lust after something that's hard to get.

Pass.

Bizarre. But I wouldn’t write this off. It’s the Middle East. Not Miami.

I just visited the gym next to the spa which apparently opened last month. Want me to share photos?

Why Dior? Eww. Prada and Acqua di Parma are so much better.