THERE IS MORE TO DO THAN YOU MIGHT IMAGINE AT THE TOWERING INTERCONTINENTAL DOHA THE CITY. LOCATED IN THE HEART OF WEST BAY, IT IS WALKING DISTANCE TO BOTH THE CIT Y CENTRE AND THE GATE MALLS. CHANCES ARE THOUGH; YOU WON’T BE NEEDING TO GO TO EITHER OF THOSE ON A STAYCATION AT THIS HOTEL AS FACT’S CRAIG FERRIMAN FINDS OUT ON A RECENT STAY AT THE 5-STAR HOSPITALITY ESCAPE…

Staff at InterContinental Doha The City are consummately professional, highly trained and offer an immediate and warm welcome upon arrival. The rooms are clean, bright and modern with stunning views of the city centre and from my room on the 30th floor, I could see as far as the sea. Shortly after check-in on a Thursday night, I headed down to The Square which is the main international all-day dining venue. On Thursday nights though, it’s a seafood feast. With the lifts atrium in the middle of the floor, the restaurant wraps around the entirety of the floor and if you walk around for long enough you will have walked around in a full square. Throughout that square is a never-ending buffet of different seafood options. I started with sushi, sashimi and salads then moved onto scallops, mussels and other cold-water fish. There was a whole-cooked hammour and a whole-cooked, herb-crusted salmon which fell off the bone in flakes. Having filled my boots, I was fortunate that I didn’t have far to go home but just a ride in the lift up 30 floors fast. Whilst The Square is the all-day dining restaurant, this is not where I ate breakfast. I went for an alternative option which was the Al Jalsa Garden Lounge located just off the lobby in the cute courtyard that serves as a late night Arabic garden and shisha venue.

The genius of the InterContinental property is to know how to make great use of space and the al fresco breakfast option with a smaller but better outdoor buffet providing a nice and chilled start to the day. The 46th floor is where the gym and pool are and I spent my Friday morning there. The gym is very spacious and looks out at stunning views of Doha. You can see as far as The Pearl in one direction and across West Bay’s skyscrapers in another direction. It’s a very pleasant space. The pool is on the same floor and manages to nail an indoor vibe but in fact is outdoors by virtue of slats in the roof. This lets in the fresh air and the warmth and glow of the midday rays. I enjoyed lying on a lounger and taking a cool dip in the pool that looks out over a great height.

✤STAYCATION SPOTLIGHT

Brunch is offered every Friday in The Square and I headed down to check it out. There are mountains of food of numerous varieties and from several regions. What stood out was the family-friendly nature of the brunch and how inclusive it felt. There were kids play pens for the young ones to have somewhere to enjoy and make some noise. The number of family groups was a noticeable feature so it’s an ideal brunch for larger groups and family functions. If a lazy day, enjoying a spa treatment and lounging by the pool is more your thing and you want to avoid the chaos of brunch, there is always a chance to indulge in the evening. We started our evening at la hora lorca, or happy hour, in the recently re-luanched sky bar called La Vista 55. This felt like a cool and glitzy way to start the night and then we went downstairs to Prime restaurant to dine. It’s a spectacularly good steak restaurant with a simple but sensational menu that cannot fail to delight. Service is very personalised and the food was exceptional. The short-cooked spare ribs and tenderloin waygu beef steak there still live long in the mind for how tasty they were. InterContinental Doha The City is a first rate city hotel and still feels very new. The rooms are modern and contemporary. The bathrooms are notably spacious and feel lush and luxurious. The views are very impressive and little touches add to the whole thing like the coffee making machine with high end coffee capsules that you can insert into it. That is one of many examples of things you get in this hotel – personalised touches – that you don’t get everywhere else. I wished I could have stayed longer because I really was starting to feel at home there, living the high life! ✤