Doha Locals - What would you recommend?
Hi there,
The wife and I have been looking at and reading about Qatar for months now and nothing we've read so far is putting us off moving out there. Now I am being a bit premature because although I've had interviews with a company out in Doha I've not yet received a job offer (currently at selection stage - I'm an IT Project Manager). Nevertheless, being a realist I'm aware that no amount of reading I do will quite sum up actually visiting the place itself and as such I'm looking to come out for 4-5 days to experience the place first hand in the next couple of weeks.
I'm looking at a hotel near to the museum of Islamic Art, nothing special. Just something cheap because I didn't want my experience to be based on staying in a beach front 5* hotel. After all, when I move out there it's likely to be in an apartment or a compound villa and not 5* living. As I say, I'm a realist.
I will do some tourist things while there (the museum looks great and will be visited) but on the whole I want to try and experience the place as a local would, not a tourist. So....any recommendations on what I should do, where should I go to see the real local Doha, not the tourist Doha? I'm aware everyone in Doha drives (something pretty dangerous I'm told), public transport is in its infancy and there is no central part of the city where everyone congregates. So that being said I may hire a car, or given that it's only a few days for the visit just travel around by taxis.
Any help/advice you can give would be gratly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
haha nice.....The sun I'm expecting along with intense heat. The sand though.......does that impact the quality of air out there? Also with WASTA I guess to a certain extent that's the same in a lot of places, albeit not to the same degree. More often than not in life it's a case of "who you know" not "what you know". I assumed being a foreigner would compound this further with the language barrier and all.
haha yeah.....don't the US only give something like 2 weeks annual leave a year. Canada the same too.....
If you think the work/life balance in the UK is bad, stay away from the US.
@Salsal111 - I'm actually coming from the UK....wanting to move more for the way of life, safety etc. Life in Qatar as far as I can tell is a bit more relaxed than here in the UK. Over here people don't have time for their families and work life balance is atrocious. You also say the weather is too hot......over here it's too wet. So in your opinion what makes you say it's so bad. What's the 3 worst things about Doha and on that note what are the 3 best things?
Malaysia i must say is AMAZING, you can see everything fascinating I qatar in 2 hours, it's very hot n humid and can only walk for 2 minutes without looking like you just step out of a swimming pool. If your coming from the slums then this is paradise but coming from the west or Malaysia then it's the opposite.
@Muhammad - Indeed. Always happy to listen to folks but ultimately it's how the wife and I feel which is why we need to come out and experience it first hand.
A question for anyone reading this however. In Malaysia the culture there seems to be to eat out a lot because food is so cheap it's almost more expensive to prepare/cook food at home than to eat out in a cafe etc. So wondering what it's like in Doha because it seems that living costs, food costs etc. are all really high due to 90% of food being imported. So what do the locals do? Is it really that expensive to eat out in the local non-tourist places?
check here you will know about the thinking of different peoples..
http://www.qatarliving.com/socialising/posts/are-you-happy-living-qatar-0
@shady: you are most welcome :) but by the way m living happily here hope you will also like it might be some negative comments will come so be careful while taking any one's view...
best of luck :)
Muhammad: Sorry to be so difficult.....it's just that because I want to live there as opposed to just visit for a holiday I figured that the best way to approach this was to not just do the normal tourist activities. Big thanks for your suggestions....I've just Google'd souq Waqif & Katara and have found some new websites to read through. So again thanks.
Zafirah: Thanks for your hotel recommendation but to be honest it's a little upmarket for what I'm after. Found one that according to tripadvisor is clean and welcoming and that works out roughly 300QAR per night. Like I say, not after 5* treatment on this trip. Everyone falls in love with holiday destinations when treated like a prince :) I'm needing to get a realistic view on the place.
I can suggest a hotel - Frazer suites - walking distance to Museum of Islamic Arts.
http://doha.frasershospitality.com/
The rest of your "things to do in Qatar" - you can ask the hotel to guide you through...
Good luck!
its pretty difficult what you are asking for :/ I will suggest go to souq Waqif & Katara..