Gold Conference Travel Counsellors
We flew from Dublin with Qatar airlines, I must say I was very impressed by Qatar airlines, they are a really amazing 5 star airline. Qatar Airways has been voted the World’s Best Airline at the 2024 World Airline Awards, the eighth time that the airline has scooped the Airline of the Year title in the 25-year history of the awards.
I would highly recommend Doha as a stopover destination for a couple of nights on route any amount of worldwide destinations. Doha is the hub for Qatar airlines. The airport is top class with amazing lounges to choose from and really easy to navigate.
On 19th September we arrived in Dubai and checked in the 5-star Fairmont Doha for our stay. WE had an arrival cocktail party on arrival at Raffles Doha, next door to the fairmont up on the roof top Acoustic bar, where we were treated to tapas food and drinks and music was amazing.
On Friday morning 20th September we had breakfast at Fairmont Doha in Vaya Restaurant and proceeded on after the breakfast to attend our conference which took place in the ballroom of the Fairmont. After the conference finished, we headed to the Doha Beach club by coach for an afternoon at the beach club where we experienced delectable culinary delights and drinks with complimentary beach access and complimentary sun beds with convenient internet access ensuring we stayed connected while having fun at the beach. We returned to the hotel at 5pm and had a free evening to join up with other colleagues and relax for the evening.
On Saturday morning 21st September we had breakfast at the Fairmont Doha and met in the lobby to embark on a day exploring Doha. Our tour of Doha included touring the Pearl, Katara Cultural village and the Souq Waqif. We had an amazing lunch near the Souq Wasif at Parisa Restaurant. We had free time after lunch to walk around the souq and haggle for some purchases, a lovely experience. We then headed the National Museum of Qatar for a guided tour. Upon returning back to the Fairmont we got ready and headed to the Banyan tree Doha for a party at Vertigo located up on level 28 one of the highest clubs in the Msheireb area and incredible 360-degree views of Doha skyline, Corniche and the Old city. We were hosted to a beautiful buffet dinner with live cooking stations and drinks and there was beautiful music also.
On Sunday 22nd September after breakfast at the Fairmont we headed of on our pre-booked Discover Desert & inland sea tour. We discovered the remarkable desert landscape where sand dunes spill into the azure waters of the Inland Sea. Our qualified desert drivers took us on an adventure, travelling through the dramatic sand dunes to Khor Al Adaid, a large tidal embayment recognised for its outstanding natural heritage value. After being collected at the Fairmont hotel we drove approximately 1 hour to the entrance of the desert at Sealine. Here we had a brief stop to deflate our tyres.
From here, the adventure started with our off-road desert drive through the dramatic sand dunes. Our experienced driver navigated the dunes until we reached Khor-Al-Adaid, or the inland sea. We had an opportunity to take in the magnificent desert landscape, visited the towering Sheraton Dune and marvelled at the azure waters of the Arabian Sea before we departed for a brief comfort stop at our desert camp on the way back to Doha.
Upon returning to the Fairmont hotel, we got ready for our Fare well celebration dinner and drinks at Agua Urban desk at Raffles Doha. It was truly an amazing evening by the pool at Raffles.
On Monday we had free time to relax by the pool and had a late check out before heading to Doha airport for our plane back to Dublin after Midnight. We also had time to go and explore Villaggio which is a touch of Venice in Doha, known as little Italy of Doha, We saw amazing shops and top of the line luxury brands in Villaggio Mall in Qatar where it's equipped to comfortably meet the demands of every visitor. We walked around Villaggio, and it felt just like i was in Venice with lovely canal views and beautiful buildings. We did not have time to attend the Mall of Qatar, a retail and entertainment destination, that is also the country's largest mall.
My over all experience of Doha and Qatar as a country was amazing, its really safe, beautiful hotels and amazing excursion options and shopping opportunities to break your journey on route to a multitude of worldwide destinations.
