Hamad Doha Airport

Chaotic and disappointing transit experience We arrived around 6am in the morning for transit from Australia to Europe, with 1.5 hours of transit time allowed by Qatar Airways. The line at the Transfer Security was shockingly long. Passengers asking for help due to approaching gate closing time were advised to continue lining up, while staff walked around to direct traffic instead of attempting to open up new security check points (only 2 out of about 8 were open). Halfway through the queue, a large number of passengers understandably became anxious and formed new lines, pushing through and creating almost a riot like situation. At this point our gate was closing in 15 minutes and, having been pushed back even further, we pleaded for help and were directed by staff to the already crowded 'Express Lane' - only to then be shouted at by a different staff member there that only Business Class passengers were allowed, and that despite the gate closing in 15 minutes and the fact that we had been advised to present there we needed to go back to the original line, "go back, you are not allowed here". While we understand the importance of security checks for transit passengers and the high volume of passengers at this time of the day, we found the unhelpful and rude demeanour highly unprofessional and disappointing for a new airport with supposedly good reputation. .

In my opinion, Doha airport really lacks for transit passengers. Yes there is the quiet room and showers but the "quiet room" is too brightly lit and some people don't understand what quiet is. We had a 6 hour transit and spent 3 hours in the quiet room where we were constantly disturbed with people talking, mobile phones ringing etc. The room was also quite dirty with rubbish on the ground. It would make a huge difference if occasionally a staff member came through and cleaned the room and also made sure people were respecting the fact that it was a quiet room. We had just transited through Kuala Lumpur where we also had 6 hours and used their very reasonably priced transit hotel. We enquired at the transit hotel, "The Airport Hotel" at Hamad airport and told that it was only possible to book rooms for 8 hours and it was $235 USD. How ridiculous. We paid $50 USD for 6 hours in Kuala Lumpur. They really need to include a reasonably priced transit hotel for passengers, especially since there seems to be a lot of long transit times with Qatar airways. My experience there will really influence my decision to fly Qatar airways in the future if it includes a long transit time. Very uncomfortable experience for a new airport.

Doha Hamad is much better than the old airport and is now better than when the new facility first brought into service. However, the security queues for transit are really bad. Not quite sure why such a level of security is required when passengers are airside, having already passed scrutiny at the departing airport? It took us about 40 mins to get through and into the duty free area. A strange dearth of casual seating in the duty free area. A few benches or small sofas with a table would have been nice. The only seating in this area are those that are attached to the restaurants/cafes. Other than that, the airport authority has done a good job for passenger comfort. There are showers available, very clean toilets, quiet rooms with loungers - however, some are not so quiet if situated near an employee area. Visited one 'quiet room' where we were treated to employees laughing and talking outside in a passage with an exit door noisily swinging open and shut. Big variety of duty free, which we used. Check prices of chocolate in departure airport and compare with Doha prices as not all offers are good deals. Travelators now been brought online which makes it easier for passengers. Free wifi is useful to keep in touch with family. For boarding I like the concept of seating and loading by zones, it's just too bad not all passengers adhere to it. Ground staff could do with a microphone as their instructions were not easy to hear.

Much better than the old airport, no long bus transfers to terminal. Terminal is very comfortable with lots of seating, many with power points for recharging phones etc. Toilets were clean. Didnt really go in any of the shops, but most were high end with probably prices to match

This should be one of the best airports in the world. The facility is beautiful, well-designed, and logical. Instead, the arrival and departure experience is ruined by systemic and staff-wide incompetence and overblown security measures. Upon arrival, we were greeted with very few open passport control kiosks, staffed by lazy, indifferent personnel. Departure is worse. The additional security check at the gate is useless and creates very dangerous traffic jams, especially with young children underfoot. Additionally, we received conflicting information at every turn. "Go to this line" / "No, go to this one", "keep your laptop in your bag" / "take your laptop out of the bag". To make matters even worse, the additional passport check by the gate attendant was not only useless, it added to an already dangerous queuing situation, especially with the Dallas flight passing through the same security measures at the exact same time.

I wasn't massively impressed with this airport. It is big and sleek, yes, but it's not a very 'comfortable' place for a long transit (mine was 6 hours). The AC is too cold in my opinion, I was shivering around 3 hours in. The 'quiet rooms' are hard to find, are not actually rooms (just cordoned off areas), and only have a handful of hard plastic loungers in (more uncomfortable the normal individual seats at the departure gates). Having lots of time on my hands, I thought I would go for a little shop. The vast majority of the shops are extremely expensive designer brands. The wifi is quite poor, it took me ages to get it to connect at first and thereafter it frequently disconnected whilst using it. On the plus side, the toilets are clean.

Doha's Hamad International Airport is quite a place but the chaos one can experience as a transit passenger does not leave a wish to come back. It would appear at Doha you may need more than an hour to get through. Doha has a very good shopping and dining area once you get there but the queing to get to the goodies is inefficient.

Beautifull and efficient airport. Modern and easy to connect. Pre boarding checks are excellent and professional. Signs to gates are clearly marked and easy to navigate. Short connection times between flights are easy to meet. It is a big airport but well managed.

I was really impressed when we arrived at Doha Airport for our transit flight from Budapest to Bangkok. Interior of the whole terminal looks amazing, very clean and spacious. Very easy to navigate and to find the gates. There´s also many smoking areas which is good for layover passangers.

Style over substance. Arriving into Doha after a long flight it is hard not to be impressed by the beautiful refined architecture and sense of space, and of course it helps that the airport is still relatively new and fresh. There is decent free internet (although on first leg transit couldn't connect at all), the usual range of retail outlets (with a heavy emphasis on luxury brands) and a general sense of calm even when the airport is busy. My issue however is the airport really is heavy on catering to premium class passengers and fails on delivering to the average economy class traveller. If you have an 8 hour layover like mine, arriving late at night there is very little to do and little comfort available unless you are prepared to pay a premium for either one of the lounges or the eye watering expensive transit airport hotel if you need a room or access to a gym or shower. The general seating areas are uncomfortable with eames style leather benches with no reclining arms and no head rests to get comfortable in. The quiet area lounges are neither quiet or particularly loungey and astonishingly there are no shower cubicles in the restrooms. In a newly built airport I would have assumed that this would come as standard even if there was a nominal fee for use. Spending $50 to access a lounge just to have a shower is pretty poor in my opinion. The restrooms themselves are spacious, spotlessly clean and airy and plenty of them so I cant understand why there arent any showers in even a designated shower block. After having coffee and a meal in one of the several very nice restaurants it would be nice if there was something cultural to experience within the airport to get a better understanding of Qatar life which is lacking. The big bear art installation is indeed a nice novelty but it would be nice to have something more engaging along with this and with a sense of place for short term visitors passing through to enjoy. Qatar Airways are a decent airline and I would be happy to connect through this airport again however I would consider carefully on a stopover of more than 3 hours if so.