Doha, Qatar

The Ned Doha

Price per night from$247.18

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (QAR900.00), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

Style

Ministry of pleasure

Setting

Niche on the Corniche

The Brit-born members’ club has landed in the Qatari capital, taking over the Brutalist digs of the former Ministry of the Interior at the Ned Doha with opulent Seventies decor that transforms its retro-concrete lodgings. Those ministers clearly knew a thing or two about location, meaning you can benefit from its on-the-Corniche setting, stellar city views and proximity to Al Bidda park. A glut of restaurants and bars, a spa and vast courtyard pool bring together all you could ask of an upscale boutique stay, its convivial welcome enhanced by live music and dining events.

Smith Extra

Get this when you book through us:

A bottle of house wine

Facilities

Photos The Ned Doha facilities

Need to know

Rooms

90, including 12 suites.

Check–Out

Noon; earliest check-in, 3pm. Both are flexible, subject to additional charges and availability.

Prices

Double rooms from £196.97 (QAR900).

More details

Rates are room-only but you can order breakfast à la carte at Millie’s Grill in the hotel from QAR180.

Also

The hotel is fully wheelchair-accessible and two rooms are adapted for wheelchair users.

Please note

Ned's Club Upstairs is a separate members-only area: hotel guests can access most facilities such as the pool, gym and spa, with the exception of this members' club lounge, restaurant and bar.

At the hotel

Live music stage, concierge, paid laundry service, and free WiFi. In rooms: HD TV, Marshall Bluetooth speaker, minibar, free tea and coffee, free bottled water and full-size Cowshed bath products.

Our favourite rooms

Pleasing proportions are the incidental blessing of taking over a Brutalist building and the Ned Doha puts them to good use across all bedrooms, never stinting on space to lounge, private covered balconies and roomy ensuite bathrooms. Any of the Medium rooms will have you cooing over vintage furnishings, dipping into the retro drinks cabinet and marvelling at the views. For a bath tub, opt for a Large bedroom or any of the suites. Corner-spot View Suites (Park or Palace) are our favourites for their dual-aspect balconies, generous living space and walk-in closets.

Poolside

Outdoors at ground level, a heated 30-metre-long pool with ladder entry is for hotel guests and the Ned members only between 7am and 9pm. It’s edged on all sides by a shaded deck protected from the Qatari sunshine by the building’s trademark concrete slats, under which there are rows of striped sunloungers, backed by frothily planted raised-beds. Drinks and snacks can be ordered and brought to you courtesy of poolside bar service. (Accompanied little Smiths can swim here until 10am only.)

Spa

Mid-century-modern wooden panelling and monochrome veined-marble lend vintage sophistication to Ned’s Club Spa on the fourth floor. Light-filled relaxation areas with city views are yours to waft around between steams and pummels in the Moroccan hammam, (free) sessions in the steam room or sauna, and a choice of Cowshed massages (with maternity and couple’s options). Ned’s Club Gym has Technogym machines and kit, as well as studios put to good use for yoga, group classes and personal training. And after all that, you’ll want to head straight to the resident juice bar.

Packing tips

A wardrobe deserving of your Doha digs should above all model variety: light layers for city sightseeing by day; touches of glamour for dining at the Ned after sundown, and suitably retro swimwear and floppily-brimmed hats for poolside.

Also

The Ned Doha’s sister hotels are Smith-approved stays: the Ned City of London and New York’s the Ned NoMad. If you want access to Ned's Club Upstairs, you'll need to be a member.

Children

Welcome, although the atmosphere is adults-only, with time restrictions around when little Smiths can be in the Club or pool. Talk to a Smith travel team specialist about adding an extra bed or cot to your room.

Food and Drink

Photos The Ned Doha food and drink

Dress Code

Pitch the glitz-o-meter somewhere centre-dial with threads versatile enough to take you from bar to dinner without ruling out an impromptu shimmy, should the mood/music take you…

Hotel restaurant

Millie’s Grill is the hotel’s all-day brasserie where pendant lights and booth-side lamps bring a warm glow to a convivial dining room kitted out with veined marble, curvaceous booths and ochre-hued upholstery. The globetrotting menu centres around the grill, with mains such as dover sole with capers and brown butter, Wagyu rib-eye, lobster thermidor and Tasmanian lamb. But this is also a spot to enjoy brunch (shakshuka, avo on toast, full English) or afternoon tea (tiered stands of individual desserts, mini cakes and scones). Asian-Pacific plates star at Kaia – a smart den of russet wood and olive upholstery (open for lunch and dinner); it features a dedicated sushi menu, mains such as crispy aromatic duck, black cod with tarragon miso and sesame teriyaki salmon, plus poké bowls, and small plates (steamed dumplings, miso aubergine, Japanese fried chicken) to accompany cocktails including tequila-laced Picante de Casa and cooling Eastern Standard. Dressed like a modish Milanese trattoria in peacock blue and polished wood, Cecconi’s has Italian food for all levels of hunger (from noon till night): cicchetti and negronis for apéro hour; hall-of-fame secondi such as chicken parmigiana and veal milanese; salads and starters for the undecided, and pizza and pasta for when only carbs will do. Its accompanying wine list has a commendable Italian bias. Courtyard-set Hadika is a Levantine garden restaurant open for lunch and dinner, serving mezze hot and cold, salads and grills. For shakes, burgers, fries, bagels and cheesecake, seek out a red-leather booth at all-American Electric Diner (closed Sundays). Vegan burgers, tofu with cauliflower couscous, and sea bass tacos are typical of the health-focused, Californian-style fare you’ll find at air-conditioned terrace restaurant Malibu Kitchen (across the way from the pool): if the smoothies and salads don’t grab you, perhaps the thought of Cali-themed cocktails on a couch in the shade just might. As well as live music, the Nickel Lounge serves up casual American comfort food including lobster rolls, hot dogs and club sandwiches, as well as travel-inspired tipples to Atrium-Stage-side tables (we like the sound of an England-referencing Pound made with Earl Grey syrup and Pimm’s). Overlooking West Bay and the Amiri Diwan, Ned’s Club Upstairs is the hotel’s members-only lounge, lavishly appointed with oversized chandeliers and Seventies-glamorous furnishings: line up crab cakes or tuna crudo followed by burgers, aged tomahawk or citrus chicken, or opt to graze on pizzette, croquettes or oysters by the half dozen. 

Hotel bar

 A handful of the Ned Doha’s restaurants double as lounge spots where you’re free to forgo dinner for drinks only: the Nickel Lounge with its geography-toting cocktail list and calendar of live music is the most obvious of these; but Malibu Kitchen has low-slung sofas alfresco plus an impressive optics-run of spirits, mai-tais and mocktails, and bottled beers. The choice of wines by the glass at Cecconi’s puts it in pole position for pre- or post-dinner drinks, and there are themed evenings at Kaia when the mood is more cocktails and light bites than full-on feasting. Last bar standing is always the ebullient Ned’s Club Upstairs: maybe it’s the choice of sours and spritzes, the beer on draught or the wealth of whiskies, gins and rums; possibly it’s the bird’s-eye city views twinkling to the horizon, but certainly it’s the convivial atmosphere and classically dressed, lamp-lit tables that secure its night-owl status.

Last orders

Millie’s Grill is open 6am–midnight; members-only Ned’s Club Upstairs, 9am–1am; for Cecconi’s, Hadika and Kaia, you can dine from noon till midnight; Malibu Kitchen and Electric Diner are open noon until 11pm. The Nickel Bar opens at 8am until midnight.

Room service

You can order food and drinks to your room around the clock.

Location

Photos The Ned Doha location
Address
The Ned Doha
Building 23 Street 910 Zone 12 Corniche
Doha
PO Box 15327
Qatar

The Ned Doha is beside Al Bidda park, with Doha Palace views and a Gulf-side spot on waterfront promenade, the Corniche.

Planes

Hamad International is 20 minutes away by road and private transfers can be arranged (at extra cost, prices vary) through the hotel’s concierge.

Trains

Al Bidda metro station is a 15-minute walk from the hotel.

Automobiles

You’re unlikely to need wheels of your own in the city when cabs and a metro network can serve your needs. But if you are committed to a car, the hotel has a private basement carpark and free valet parking.

Other

Private helicopter transfers will take you as far as Hamad International, 20 minutes by road from the hotel.

Worth getting out of bed for

The Qatari capital has had plenty of international attention in recent times (some good, some less so) thanks to the FIFA World Cup – the (soccer-free) legacy of which is a wealth of new or improved attractions. Top of the pops has to be the National Museum, where the prize-winning architecture is as much of a draw as the Qatar-related exhibits exploring the country’s history and heritage. The other dominant building overlooking the Gulf is the cube-stacked Museum of Islamic Art, which was significantly overhauled and reopened in time for the footie fans (find exhibitions about IM Pei’s renovations on the ground floor): its galleries explore the history, evolution and global reach of the region’s art, spanning centuries – tick off the Franchetti tapestry, Blue Qur’an, Hamida Banu Begum’s ancient manuscript of the Ramayana epic, the emerald-and-diamond glitz of the Varanasi necklace and the intricate, enamel and gilt-adorned Cavour Vase (the museum is also home to top-floor restaurant IDAM by Alain Ducasse). Malls are ten a riyal in the Qatari capital – among them gargantuan Festival City (which has a theme park), and the Mall of Qatar. Explore the shops and restaurants of man-made island the Pearl-Qatar; assess the likeness of faux-Venice on a gondola ride at Villagio Mall, and rave over the raptors at Souq Waqif’s Falcon Souq.

Local restaurants

There’s little chance of finding a cuisine or budget that isn’t catered for somewhere among the city’s burgeoning restaurant scene: ask the concierge to help you navigate the geography of dining spots near the Corniche and those on the Pearl – the Ned’s knowledgeable team is best placed to have the intel on Doha’s constantly expanding choice of openings.

Reviews

Photos The Ned Doha reviews

Anonymous review

Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this destination club-hotel in the Qatari capital and unpacked their hand-painted serving bowls and souk-bartered silks, a full account of their glamorous Gulf-front stay will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside the Ned Doha…

The Ned Doha is a Brutalist behemoth transformed: the former Ministry of the Interior is now a ministry of chic interiors – all hints of dreary bureaucracy swept aside in favour of Murano chandeliers, mid-century furniture and opulent textiles that are glamorous cheerleaders for the 1970s heritage and stark architecture of their setting. Let the decade of disco be your inspiration for some unadulterated fun in Qatar’s capital – the Ned Doha is certainly well set-up for it, from its Atrium-stage music venue to the late-night lounge chatter at members-only spot, Ned’s Club Upstairs. A stay at this Corniche-front crashpad gives you access to other members-only frills, too, including the sprawling Ned Club gym and vintage-revamped Cowshed spa (make its Moroccan hammam your first port of call). Restaurants in the house are no mere numbers game either: their plates may travel the globe from tacos at Malibu Kitchen, via Levantine lunches at Hadika, to Asian-inspired suppers at Kaia, but together these dining spots offer further variety by hosting a handful of weekly events, such as sushi nights, cocktail hours and weekend brunches. The concrete-framed pool – lined by striped sunloungers and a stunning 30 metres long – is worthy of special mention, too. The Ned Doha, we’re ready to dive in…

Book now

Price per night from $247.18