I recently wrote about the opening of Qatar Airways’ new business class lounge at Doha Airport, known as the Al Mourjan Lounge at The Garden. This is part of a significant expansion at the airport, and it’s an exciting development for passengers. Not only does this add much needed lounge capacity at the airport, but this lounge also has some special amenities.
In this post:
New Qatar Airways lounge has mystery features
As I wrote about back in mid-February, Head for Points got a pre-opening tour of the new lounge, and provided hints about two special amenities we can expect in the lounge, without giving anything away. Here are the clues that were provided:
- “Two of the biggest brands in the world will be opening brand extensions” in the lounge, and they’ll apparently be very high-end brands
- This won’t just be the first time we’ve seen something like this in an airport lounge, but the first time something like this has been done anywhere
- “Some people will rearrange their travel plans purely to travel through Hamad in order to visit one or both of these facilities,” and Head for Points notes that non-readers would be more likely to reroute their travels for this (in other words, it won’t just have appeal among avgeeks)
- Neither of these will be free, but rather “deep pockets will be required,” and it will be for those in “shopping mode”
Interestingly when Qatar Airways announced the opening of the lounge on April 20, there was no mention of either of these collaborations that were hinted at. Well, while these features aren’t yet open, we now know what they are.
Qatar Airways collaborates with Dior & Louis Vuitton
The new Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Lounge Doha will have both a Dior Spa and a Louis Vuitton Cafe:
- A FlyerTalk member shared how the lounge has signage for a “Louis Vuitton Lounge,” and there’s also a door with “Dior” written above it
- Neither new amenity seems to be open yet, and there are pictures of the chairs in the Dior Cafe being covered in plastic, so maybe it’s not too far off from opening
- While it’s anyone’s guess if this is true or not, the same FlyerTalk member reports being told by staff that you’ll be able to enter the lounge directly from the Dior and Louis Vuitton stores in that area of the terminal
It hasn’t yet been announced when these two amenities will open, and exactly what will be offered. However, we know that these will be paid features, so they won’t be complimentary for lounge guests.
For some context on both of these features:
- There are several Dior Spas around the globe, mostly in iconic luxury hotels, ranging from Cheval Blanc Paris to Hotel Du Cap-Eden-Roc
- The first Louis Vuitton Cafe (known as Le Cafe V) opened in Osaka in late 2022, and it has coffee, sweets, sandwiches, and more; I wouldn’t be surprised if this is a modified version of it, given that it’s marketed as the “Louis Vuitton Lounge”
My take on Qatar Airways’ unique amenities
It goes without saying that these two amenities won’t be for everyone. Most people visit lounges not expecting to spend a dime, while in this case you’ll have to shell out cash (or maybe even Avios) for these experiences. Furthermore, with Doha Hamad Airport being such an efficient connecting hub, most people just have a one to two hour connection at the airport, and won’t have time to enjoy these amenities.
That being said, I think this is kind of brilliant for some segment of the market. Airport duty free is huge business. That’s especially true in Qatar, where the same organization owns the airline, the airport, and for that matter, has stakes in many international luxury brands.
The catch is that the most lucrative potential customers for these shops have lounge access, and therefore may be less likely to spend time browsing the terminal. By bringing high-end luxury brands into the lounge, there’s a lot more opportunity to market to those people. I’m curious to learn to what extent retail is integrated into all of this, as I imagine there will be some cross-selling opportunities.
So while this probably won’t be of interest to most avgeeks, it’s cool to see Qatar Airways trying something new.
Bottom line
Qatar Airways opened a spectacular new Al Mourjan Lounge at The Garden. Not only does the lounge look beautiful, but it also contains two unique partnerships, which we’ve never seen before. Specifically, the lounge will have a Dior Spa and a Louis Vuitton Cafe. It remains to be seen when these two products will open, and I’m curious to learn more details.
What do you make of Qatar Airways’ collaboration with Dior and Louis Vuitton?
When flying QR's Business Light, how much is it to purchase lounge access? And advance seat selection for ultra-long haul & long-haul sectors (e.g. JFK-DOH, DOH-HKG, DOH-SYD/MEL)?
It looks like the Louis Vuitton cafe may be opening soon. When we arrived today it looked fully set up, and there was a group taking professional photos and videos at the entrance and inside the cafe.
Excellent Collaborations
I'll be through there tonight. Reading through the FT posts the fitness center is not open yet and the private quiet rooms have those chaise loungers, not flat cots, what do airports have against people laying down flat? Glad that I did not take the extra long connection which I considered instead of an extra half-day hotel. Enjoyed Eid festivities in Male.
The lounge looks great, current/old one was too small and often overcrowded so I guess it's a big improvement. Personally can't be bothered with LV cafe and Dior Spa, agree it's more for Instagramers and influencers rather. Not sure when I will visit it though as I am not a fan of QR itself.
Agree with the comments, it's not targeted at the super wealthy and nobody will travel out of their way for it. It is great brand exposure for those brands though.
Went there on opening day. It does not live up to the pre opening hype so I went back to the Al Safwa Lounge.
So the new Business Lounge has expensive shops, but no charge to enter with QR business class connection?
How's the food .... wait times .... showers .... ???
Predictable! I didn’t have any insider info when I commented on the Feb article “That would be my guess… LV cafe, Dior or maybe even Cheval Blanc spa… keep it all in the LVMH family. They’re keen to build their ‘experiences’ business.”
Two of the most dull, generic and ubiquitous brands in the world. Luxury has become about uniform, global blandness. The same brands and the same store in every airport, high end mall and shopping street in the world.
I’m sure these outlets will be busy with those who have more money than imagination.
These brands target low to middle class individuals who ASPIRE to be rich. Hence the reason they’re called “aspirational brands”. The rich don’t visit boutiques; the boutiques go to them.
Both of these will be PACKED by these kinds of people, and all will be documented on social media for others to “ooh” and “aah” over and want to visit themselves. They visit, do the same, and the cycle continues.
This is why places like Cappadocia in Türkiye blew up.
When it comes to displays like this, it isn’t the super wealthy that are being targeted. They’re also not worried about people not interested in luxury goods. It’s the portion of the upper middle class who does value luxury and sees it from the outside. There are a lot of people flying through not only Doha but other airports who haven’t decided if they want to buy the Dior bag or an LV duffel (two...
When it comes to displays like this, it isn’t the super wealthy that are being targeted. They’re also not worried about people not interested in luxury goods. It’s the portion of the upper middle class who does value luxury and sees it from the outside. There are a lot of people flying through not only Doha but other airports who haven’t decided if they want to buy the Dior bag or an LV duffel (two of their highest margin products) over other brands. Paradoxically, keeping offerings like this visible but expensive makes the brand more lucrative. So yes, I’m sure they’d like to upsell the person sitting in their spa on Dior skincare products, but the real target is everyone who hears there is a Dior spa up there, and I doubt they’re too worried about cutting into purchasing time of the person entering their spa.
Here's to hoping crowding will actually be addressed, and the WiFi won't be a spectacular fail. It seems like Qatar Airways still hasn't addressed putting sensible seating in the lounge, since most chairs still look like individual loungers with no tables or privacy.
Hmmm. Looks great if one has the time, actually cares and has the dough. Qatar is by far the most lavish airline these days.
Will check it out at the end of May , the new lounge looks fantastic so that’s what I will be focusing on
Yawn.
Is anyone going to go out of their way to travel through an airport so can visit a cafe.
This is perfect for the instagram sugar babies of the world to get a few photos in
I think you're underestimating how much certain people value "rarity". I have a friend who always has to have the most rare Hublot special edition, LV collab, etc. If Dior or LV have some kind of special edition (of any product tbh) only available in these locations, people will absolutely re-route just to get this. At the very least, people will re-route so they can resell online for 50% markup.