Review: the Qatar Airways Platinum lounge (for BA Gold) at Doha’s Hamad Airport

Late last year, Qatar Airways opened three new lounges at its home base, Doha’s Hamad International Airport.

Two of the three lounges are open to elite members of the oneworld airline alliance, with the third reserved exclusively for the lowest tier of Qatar Airways elite members.

They can be used by elites who are flying Qatar Airways or another oneworld airline in Economy or on a ‘no lounge access’ Business Light cash ticket.

There are three new lounges:

• Qatar Airways Platinum Lounge, reviewed in this article, open to oneworld Emerald members (including British Airways Gold), with 140 seats

• Qatar Airways Gold Lounge, reviewed here (click), open to oneworld Sapphire members (including British Airways Silver), with 85 seats

• Qatar Airways Silver Lounge, open to Qatar Airways Silver members ONLY (oneworld Ruby, including British Airways Bronze, cannot enter), with 195 seats

Inside the Qatar Airways Platinum Lounge

This article is an overview of the Qatar Airways Platinum Lounge. This is based on a guided tour I was given when in the airport in February. I spent less than 10 minutes there – I had five lounges to see! – so please forgive the superficiality.

A second article here covers the Qatar Airways Gold Lounge. Whilst I also saw the Silver lounge, I won’t write about it as it only accepts Qatar Privilege Club Silver members.

The key features of the Platinum Lounge are:

• there is waiter service dining available all day

• it is architecturally the most impressive space of the three new lounges

• high end showers and a relaxation quiet area are available

There are two zones. As you enter, you have this – admittedly fairly functional-looking – dining area:

and

This is full waiter service dining, with even breakfast being a multi-course affair if that’s what you want. You need to scan a QR code to access the menu but ordering is done via a real person.

If you don’t want to eat from the menu there are also buffet items laid out:

and

(Note that I wasn’t on a private tour despite the lack of people in the photos – I was there during a lull in the ‘banks’ of flights which head out from Doha. A lot of flights land, a couple of hours later a lot of flights take off, there is a lull, a lot of flights land etc etc …. 24/7.)

Walk down the corridor and the lounge opens up into a large open plan area with a dramatic sloping ceiling:

and

…. with a smart bar:

High quality showers are available if needed (banish all thoughts of the British Airways lounge showers at Heathrow):

…. and there is a relaxation / quiet area if you need it:

Whilst I didn’t have time to try it, having looked at the menu I would put this lounge on a par with the Cathay Pacific First Class lounge at Heathrow Terminal 3 in terms of food. (The Cathay Pacific First Class lounge at Heathrow, reviewed here, is also open to oneworld Emerald / British Airways Gold flyers.)

If you don’t have access to the ‘official’ Qatar Airways business class lounges due to your cash ticket being too cheap (all Avios business class tickets get you into the ‘official’ Al Mourjan lounge) or if you are flying in economy, this is a more than adequate replacement.

Later this week I’ll look at the Qatar Airways Gold Lounge, open to British Airways Executive Club Silver members who are flying in Economy or are on ‘Business Light’ cash tickets.

Full details of all Qatar Airways lounges can be found on this page of its website.

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How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (April 2024)

Here are the four options to get FREE airport lounge access via a UK credit card.

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with two free Priority Pass cards, one for you and one for a supplementary cardholder. Each card admits two so a family of four gets in free. You get access to all 1,300 lounges in the Priority Pass network – search it here.

You also get access to Eurostar, Lufthansa and Delta Air Lines lounges.  Our American Express Platinum review is here. You can apply here.

If you have a small business, consider American Express Business Platinum instead.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for the first year. It comes with a Priority Pass card loaded with four free visits to any Priority Pass lounge – see the list here.

Additional lounge visits are charged at £24.  You get four more free visits for every year you keep the card.  

There is no annual fee for Amex Gold in Year 1 and you get a 20,000 points sign-up bonus.  Full details are in our American Express Preferred Rewards Gold review here.

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard gets you get a free Priority Pass card, allowing you access to the Priority Pass network.  Guests are charged at £24 although it may be cheaper to pay £60 for a supplementary credit card for your partner.

The card has a fee of £195 and there are strict financial requirements to become a HSBC Premier customer.  Full details are in my HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard review.

PS. You can find all of HfP’s UK airport lounge reviews – and we’ve been to most of them – indexed here.