The Ritz-Carlton, Doha — Hotel in Doha

We just arrived back home from a week long stay at the Ritz Doha. It came highly recommended and great for families.We've also stayed at many Ritz locations throughout the world with the best experiences. This is the first time we've had a stressful stay at any hotel, especially at a Ritz Hotel. ||THE GOOD:|-We booked a suite and we were granted the following for our infant toddler: bed guards, high chair, mini fridge, microwave. Having an extra fridge and microwave was helpful for our longer stay. They provided baby dish soap, but they said they don't provide the mini baby soaps as other global Ritz Carlton's do. Not a big problem though. |-Breakfast is amazing. Really great selection of food with quality preparation and the staff in the morning are really attentive. We looked forward to breakfast everyday. Oddly, they said they didn't have kids cutlery in the beginning of our trip, but provided one later. |-Pool options are perfect for families. They have a small kiddy pool with a mini slide and a medium level pool with shallow areas for young children and then an adult deep pool at the end. We swam almost everyday and we enjoyed it. |-Select staff members really went out of their way to ask questions and asked if we needed anything additional or how our stay was. Woman who helped us check in was lovely; sadly, I missed her name and I'd love to give her credit. ||THE BAD & UGLY:|-Kids Club: Never in my entire live have I ever had a hotel staff argue with me about her incompetence, her attitude, talking back to me and even eye rolling! We had a very disappointing experience at the Kids Club. We walked in with our young toddler and this staff woman didn't greet us, explain the schedule, didn't explain the process, or the times. She was unhappy from the beginning and I found myself having to ask her for updates, instead of her telling me. It felt like I was working for her and her attitude was distasteful, unprofessional, rude, and entitled. Not only did we wait over 25 minutes (b/c this woman clearly did not explain nor care about her job), she had the audacity to talk back to me and give me lip. NOT OKAY. What was supposed to be a happy moment and activity for us and our child, turned into a high school argument. My husband and I were in shock. Instead of taking accountability, she had the audacity to say things like, "well i don't know what time you came." She rolled her eyes and walked away. I didn't know teenagers were staffed at the Ritz. Incredibly disrespectful.|-Concierge: on two occasions, no one was at the concierge desk so I walked to the front desk regarding a question. They then said to go to the concierge desk. I told them no one was there. Finally after walking back and forth with my child (which I shouldn't have to), a young man came out and gave me a very vague answer as to what time a museum opened. "They should open around 10AM." I asked do they open at 9AM or 10AM? His response, "They open at 10AM." As I walked away, I knew his answer wasn't confident. I walked back and asked him to please call and confirm the exact time please. |His response: "So i called and b/c of EID, they open at 9AM." He didn't apologize, the didn't take accountability for not checking or calling. No professionalism whatsoever. Had he done his diligence and called to check the time, I wouldn't have to be walking back and forth in the lobby. An inconvenient moment that doesn't have to be. |-3 out of 6 nights there was construction on the room below us. On two nights we were awoken at 12AM midnight and our baby also woke up terrified and crying from the loud banging. The hammering/shuffling was so loud it sounded like it was in our room. Why would the Ritz have us stay in a room with construction going on next door?? They knew we had a baby with us as well. We did not pay for a vacation where we can't sleep. Not fun.|-Spa: massage was booked for my husband and he arrived early to do paperwork and use the facilities. The staff was frazzled and while he was waiting the entire time, the spa called our room to ask where he was. He was there, checked in, and waiting for someone the entire time. Awkward.|-Beach: I wouldn't call it a beach. Not suitable for children. ||Overall, the bad outweighed the good. We couldn't sleep well and the staff are clearly not experienced. There is a sense of staff entitlement amongst our run-ins with both big and small nuances. The inconveniences proved to be incredibly stressful. I do believe feedback is necessary to help improve, but we were disappointed in our stay. The GM was incredibly kind and dealt with our matters, however, these instances just don't need to happen. We just wanted a relaxing and enjoyable stay. Especially...

I spent three nights and 4 days with my wife and two young kids this summer at the Ritz.

The experience is nothing short of phenomenal. From the moment you enter, everybody - and I mean everybody - makes you feel as if you are the king of the world. Big smiles and professional, attentive, helpful service follows you wherever you go.

Excitement starts at the door: The guys compete on who will help you and your wife first, while their colleagues are high-fiving your kids. This is followed by warm greetings from courteous ladies and gentlemen upon entering the front door, along with some dates, coffee, or cold refreshments.

Front Desk: If you're a Bonvoy member or you made prior arrangements when reserving, everything will be in place waiting for you. The personnel are as welcoming as you can imagine, and they make sure the process doesn't take a second longer than it should.

Room: We stayed in an Executive Suite. It's fantastic! Modern, spacious, super clean, with a nice view of Lusail. But again, what stands out for me is how accommodating the hotel is. They brought in two extra mattresses (not beds, upon my request) for the kids, free of charge, and quickly re-oriented the living room to make it perfect for our purposes. At one point my wife wanted to heat food for the children… we thought they'd take it, heat it, and bring it back. Nope! For convenience, they gave us a microwave we can use until checkout!

Breakfast: I've been to tens of 5- star hotels across the globe, this is probably the best hotel breakfast I've had. Everything you can think about is there, and it's all super tasty and fresh, with live bakery and egg stations and everything. But again, the people! Even though the place was jam-packed during our stay, at any time we needed something, there was a person there to serve us with a big smile. Huge props to a lady called Oana here, who is not only the breakfast quality manager but also the person responsible for training & culture.

Spa & Swimming Pool: I booked a 60- minute massage for my wife. She took it with a lady called Soromi. She fell in love with it! In general, the spa and health club are well-known locally as one of the best in Doha. We tried both the outdoor and indoor pools. Even though the weather was hot, the outdoor pool was packed. Indoor is a quarter-olympic I think; it was more convenient for our purposes. Outdoor would be amazing November-April I would say. We also booked a tennis court for an hour. We loved it! The court has a very high ceiling and in general the room is huge.

STK: My wife and I had dinner at STK, the rooftop high-end steakhouse. I'm not a food critic, but I loved it. Again, the same outstanding quality of service. We had fish tacos, the lamb shank, and Australian fillet. Just superb.

Saving the best for last: Ritz Kids!!!

The hotel is astonishingly family friendly. At the Ritz, Doha summer is NOT a problem. They have this incredible program called Ritz Kids. There's a beautiful, dedicated room at the Lower Lobby where kids can do a lot of activities, all day every day. They have a full-on schedule that includes pizza making, cookies icing, arts and painting, video games, movies, and more. My kids loved the pizza making session! They take them to a live bakery at the breakfast place so they bake their own pizzas, and the family can have them for lunch (for free!) We don't have video game consoles at our home, so this room became my kids' favourite, they really enjoyed playing PS4 with other kids. But there's more! Outside the breakfast area, the hotel has a mini-farm and a mini-botanic garden! My young boys were given some green plants (animal feed) and they started feeding the goats and ducks. It was beautiful.

In general, amazing experience, couldn't have asked for anything better to spend our Adha break.

Huge shoutout to General Manager Carlo Javakhia. The whole hotel flows seamlessly with a single outstanding culture and incredible, attentive, empathetic service. And he himself is always there, at breakfast, in the lobby, everywhere.

We...

We had an AMAZING vacation at the Ritz Carlton Doha! We stayed a total of 11 nights at this resort, and we wished we had more time! Here are the specific reviews for different aspects of the hotel

THE SERVICE The staff at this hotel is what sets it apart from its competitors. I have been to many hotels, but this one stands out amongst the rest! From the moment you set foot into the hotel, the staff would be so delighted to greet you and assist you, there wouldn’t be any needs left unmet. Ahmed’s team at the Front Office (Bakhtiyor, Navisha and Aina) helped us out throughout our stay and made sure we had everything we needed. Wiam at the lounge offered us amazing service and dining recommendations around the area. Afaf, Wafa and Hatim at the restaurant offered impeccable service and made sure we were stuffed to the brim with amazing food!

THE ROOM We had a King room with balcony. The room is beautiful with all the amenities included, and a balcony overseeing the waters. It is a little on the small side, but we were still able to put a roll away bed for our child. The Housekeeping staff did an amazing job cleaning and maintaining the room.

THE POOLS/BEACH There is a main outside pool and an indoor lap pool. There were plenty of beach chairs with sun umbrellas, though they may be scarce during busy times. We loved the layout of the pool, how they weave into different areas and eventually leads to the waterfalls. There’s also a cold pool and hot tub tucked away in the area - you just have to find it to enjoy it! The beach is AMAZING. There are cabanas you can book, and they provide sunscreen, towels, and even have complimentary watermelon juice and ice water for the guests. We went in May so the sun was blazing hot, but we had an amazing time swimming in the sea and chilling in the cabanas. We thoroughly enjoyed it!

THE DINING There are so many options for dining! There’s the main restaurant downstairs, The Lagoon, where we had breakfast everyday (more on that later), but they also have different themes for dinner at night. We visited the Italian Night one time and it was great! They had an incredible spread of food, including pastas, pizzas, antipasto, salads, and everything you could think of!

The breakfast spread at the Lagoon is one of the best in my experience. It is so expansive it took us days to truly taste everything they had to offer! They had multiple selections of fruits/salads, fresh bakery (delicious French style), western breakfast food items, Arabic and Asian favorites, etc. I’m writing this review 6 months after our visits, and all joking aside, our family still reminisce the experience as one of the BEST we’ve had. Of course, Wafa, Afaf and Hatim made our time even more enjoyable! They come to chat with us everyday and brought us our favorites without us even asking for them. Thank you so much for taking care of us!

Then there’s the beautiful STK steakhouse at the top floor of the property. The view and the food were equally amazing! We ordered the tomahawk and it was made to perfection. They gave us a complimentary churros and we enjoyed that as well. We didn’t get to try their Le Petit Chef experience, maybe next time!

We also enjoyed the afternoon tea at the Lounge. It was delicate and delicious. We especially loved the Moroccan mint tea that they brewed and pour out in front of us. Wiam was always there to ensure we had everything we asked for. She also gave us really good dining recommendations outside of the hotel.

Sel & Miel brought a taste of Paris to the property. They offer fresh bakery everyday and a luxurious charcuterie spread as well. They make delicious coffees and teas, and my favorite is enjoying their homemade crusty bread with sel & miel (salt and honey) and butter.

One night, we went to the B-Lounge for their fusion Japanese food. The atmosphere was modern and chill, and they had a DJ which made the restaurant come alive. The food was very delicious and portions were generous. We would...