After a great flight from Sydney in Qatar first I was headed to Dubai and had quite a short transit in Doha. When I disembarked there was a staff member with a sign with my name on it, and she escorted me through security and into the Qatar Airways Al Safwa lounge, that’s great service considering the tickets were on different PNR’s.

The Al Safwa lounge is quite exclusive. To enter you either have to be flying first class on short and long-haul flights or connecting from first onto a business class flight, Oneworld Emerald’s cannot access the lounge with status.

The lounge is massive! Not as big as the Emirates lounges in Dubai but still a very impressive size.

The lounge has its own duty-free area.

Electronics, perfumes, suits, cigarettes, and more are all for sale.

Hugo Boss suits for sale in a lounge, seen that before?

The lounge has a heap of seating in every section. Often while you’re sitting down a staff member will ask if you would like a drink and it would be brought to you.

The lounge desk can help with any questions, flight details and can also store your luggage for you.

Yes, that is a waterfall like structure, it’s pretty damn impressive!

The waterfall object is just stunning in the lounge. However, it’s had its fair share of problems such as flooding when the lounge first opened.

 

 

 

 

 

The sit-down restaurant has an a la carte menu, and it can seat 250 people. Not that the lounge would often see 100+ people.

The restaurant also has a manned bar and coffee on request.

The restaurant probably only had ten people there at the time of taking photos. There is also a smoking room right next to the restaurant which is an interesting location to put one.

 

There is also small snacks, tea and Arabic coffee available.

The bar staff were pretty busy in the morning pouring drinks, even at 6:00 in the morning. The drinks weren’t for me by the way 😉

There’s a second dining area at the other end of the lounge which is more self-service orientated, there a usually staff there but there was no need as it was quiet.

Self-serve juice, fruits, and pastries are all fresh and topped up regularly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If your flight is at a bus gate, there is a separate section for first passengers. They will have a separate bus, so there’s no need to walk down to the gate.

The corridors of the lounge are long but nicely lit and not dark.

There are a few bathroom facilities in the lounge, and there is staff in there full time making sure they are clean, when I entered they were spotless.

 

Another beautiful aspect of the lounge is the other wall waterfall.

 

The lounge has a business area with iMacs, and they are wirelessly connected to printers.

Another cool part of the lounge is the games room, the room also has a Ferrari simulator, but it was broken when I visited.

The lounge has some nap rooms; some have twin beds some has 1. You can only access the nap rooms if you’re transiting for 5 or more hours.

 

The rooms also had shower rooms which you used to have to pay for, but now they are free.

 

 

The spa area has a number of rooms for different treatments, a Jacuzzi, and a relaxation area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As soon as my connecting flight to Dubai started boarding I was picked up by the same staff member and escorted down to aircraft, very impressive service.