Review: the Sheraton Grand Doha Resort & Convention Centre hotel, Qatar

This is our review of the Sheraton Grand Doha hotel in Qatar.

I checked in to the Sheraton after my flight from London to review Qatar’s Qsuites on the Boeing 777 – you can read that here.

It was, as a plaque inside states, the first international luxury hotel to open in Qatar, in 1979. It features a memorable pyramidal design, in contrast to many of the other cookie-cutter high rise hotels in the area:

The hotel website is here.

Qatar Tourism provided my hotel as part of my trip to Qatar to promote the new Qatar Airways Avios partnership.

Where is the Sheraton Grand Doha hotel?

As one of the first hotels in the area it occupies a substantial part of the waterfront at the top of the Corniche and on the Southern corner of West Bay, the central business district and main skyline of Doha:

Its location, midway between the airport and The Pearl, means you are within 20 minutes drive of virtually all of Doha, making it a convenient base. The majority of the museums are just round the bottom of the Corniche, as is the historic core of Qatar – Msheireb, Souq Waqif and the large Al Bidda park.

Inside the Sheraton Grand Doha hotel

The main hotel building comprises a hollowed out, eleven story pyramid. Walk through a small corridor and you’ll be greeted by a vast, full-height atrium:

Two large pools of water, as well as several polyhedral canopies occupy the space.

Reception is on the right hand side – when I arrived at 2:30am I was the only guest although I never saw it busy:

There is also a lobby lounge in the atrium which seemed popular with the locals. Guest rooms are accessed via five central lifts which you never have to wait long for:

Rooms at the Sheraton Grand Doha

I was given a Club Deluxe Room which I believe are all on the higher floors. I was on the eighth. Depending on where your room is you do have to walk all around the atrium – which only gets worse if you are on one of the larger, lower floors!

To your right as you enter are two mirror doors concealing a wardrobe with safe, iron and ironing board etc:

Following this is a nice luggage rack next to bathroom door, always convenient to have and a good location in between room, wardrobe and bathroom:

Inside is the large bathroom with a red stone counter top. Note the rose, which I thought was a lovely touch:

The shower is separate to the bathtub with a glass cubicle next to the toilet and bidet:

Toiletries are E’eau de Orange Verte by Hermes – very nice but hard to use given the fairly firm plastic containers!

Note that the bathroom itself has a fully closing door but there is no additional privacy for the toilet or the shower.

Beyond the bathroom is the split-level bedroom:

The king bed and desk occupy the higher part whilst the lounge area is a few steps down:.

The bed is very comfortable, and staff come round every day for the turndown service. There are UK style plug sockets on both sides, plus two large bedside tables:

Opposite the bed is a large desk:

On top is Nespresso coffee machine with a mini fridge and other bits are hidden in the drawers and cupboard underneath. The mini bar is stocked with soft drinks.

There is another, smaller desk on the lower level which was stocked with a welcome amenity featuring medjool dates and other dried fruits and nuts as well as a kettle and tea bags:

There is also a TV, as well as a blue armchair and two-person sofa with a coffee table in the middle:

Finally, behind the curtains, is a balcony. I had one overlooking the resort and West Bay:

And here is the resort – you can see both the pool and beach, as well as the little harbour where you can do watersports from.

Getting onto the balcony is a bit of a challenge because the door opens in the far left hand corner, behind the TV and the curtains, which means you have to draw the curtains entirely to have any hope of getting out.

That completes the room tour! As you can see, the room features more of a traditional Dubai-esque luxury aesthetic with gold fittings all round – it’s a little staid for my taste. It’s not the newest – I think a minor refresh in 2014 was the last time any work was done, although a new and very informative air conditioning control panel has been fitted since. However, with the new Sheraton design being rolled out I think it could look very good.

It’s most out-dated from a tech perspective, however. Slightly annoyingly, the room doesn’t have bedside master light controls or electric curtains, which means you need to go round all the lights to switch them off or open/close the curtains. There are also no USB charging plugs – just three pins main sockets.

Pool and beach at the Sheraton Grand Doha

One selling point the hotel capitalises on is its leisure facilities. Unlike Dubai, there are surprisingly few beachside hotels in Doha. As a hotel guest you are given a wristband to use the facilities – I’m not exactly sure why….

The resort features plenty of landscaped gardens and must have one of the biggest footprints of any hotel in Doha:

and

There is a circular swimming pool surrounded by a shaded colonnade, plus a shaded kids’ pool:

Lounges and day beds are available across the area, including on the 100m wide beach and the grassy areas surrounding it:

There’s also plenty of shady seating, very necessary in Doha!

There is also a large sports complex with a large gym, tennis and squash courts, although I didn’t have time to see this.

Breakfast at the Sheraton Grand Doha

Breakfast is served on the ground floor in the Al Hubara buffet restaurant. It is guarded over by this 14-foot artwork which you may recognise:

Yes, its Katharina Fritsch’s Hahn/Cock blue cockerel which formerly occupied the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square.

The buffet itself is vast, and you can also order a handful of items from an a la carte menu. I tried the shakshuka, although it’s the weirdest shakshuka I’ve ever had – more like tomato scrambled eggs. I’m not sure if that’s because I’m not used to ‘proper’ authentic shakshuka or whether the hotel just can’t do it properly….

The rest of the food was great, with everything from cereals:

…. to pastries:

…. and cold cuts:

…. plus curries, fruit, pancakes and waffles, and Arabic breakfast items including hummus etc:

It is a proper, Middle East-sized breakfast buffet.

The Club lounge

There is a Club lounge on the mezzanine floor, accessible by those who have booked a Club Room or who have Platinum or above status in Marriott Bonvoy. This is quite a big, L-shaped space views both towards the atrium and outside.

I didn’t have much time here but I did pop in for a quick drink before heading out to dinner and was pleased to find they serve alcohol – wines, beer and a few spirits. There is also a decent food offering including lighter options such as salads:

There was more food arriving but I was a little early for the 6pm happy hour so unfortunately I can’t report on what was available, but what was already out looked good.

Conclusion

The Sheraton Grand may not be the newest hotel in Doha but, by and large, it keeps up thanks to its huge range of facilities and beachside location.

The rooms could, admittedly, do with a refurbishment to bring them up to modern standards – not having a master switch for the lights is quite annoying, and the style is a starting to age. Functionally they are good, nice and large with a big bathroom and I found the bed very comfortable. I was willing to forgive quite a bit in return for access to those huge grounds, beach and leisure facilities.

Rooms start at around £150 or 16,000 Bonvoy points per night. You can find out more, and book on the hotel website here.

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How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards (April 2024)

There are various ways of earning Marriott Bonvoy points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

The official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card comes with 20,000 points for signing up, 2 points for every £1 you spend and 15 elite night credits per year.

You can apply here.

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points by converting American Express Membership Rewards points at the rate of 2:3.

Do you know that holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Marriott Bonvoy Gold status for as long as they hold the card?  It also comes with Hilton Honors Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium and MeliaRewards Gold status.  We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points indirectly:

• American Express Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
• American Express Rewards Credit Card (10,000 bonus Amex points)

and for small business owners:

• American Express Business Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
• American Express Business Platinum (40,000 bonus Amex points)

The conversion rate from American Express to Marriott Bonvoy points is 2:3.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Marriott Bonvoy points. 

(Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)