After the disappointment of our missed connection, we went through transit security which is on the second level above the main concourse and just below the lounges in the older (a whopping eight years old) South part of the airport. There are also similar facilities in the newer North section. I was at least happy that we had a flight option to get to Nairobi by the next morning as a 24 hour delay would have thrown the whole safari schedule off.

I took the obligatory pictures of the teddy bear, which my family thought was kind of silly. Then we followed the signs to the Al-Mourjan lounge which were fairly easy to spot.

We took the long escalator up to the lounge entrance and had our boarding passes checked at the bottom and the top. We entered the lounge and asked where there were some loungers as everyone was tired. It was not very crowded at 6:30pm when we arrived.

We were directed to the business center and behind the business area there were loungers. We grabbed four and basically decided we would camp there for our layover. If anyone wanted to eat, shower, etc. we would go in smaller groups so we wouldn’t lose our spot. There were charging ports at all the loungers.

My older daughter and I decided to go find the showers. There are two sets, one close to the restrooms in the main large room and one behind the deli area toward the back of the lounge. We found no wait at the second set so we each took a shower. I had read that the shower rooms were too warm, but I didn’t find it too bad. I also realized that I had forgotten my deodorant. ☹ As an aside, I tried to buy deodorant at Doha airport and it was the equivalent of US$24 for a tiny bottle so I figured I would wait for Nairobi and just borrow my wife’s.

We took turns going to the restaurant to eat and the sushi was surprisingly good.

Most of the other food was pretty heavy for pre-flight dining. There were also some salads and sandwiches available in the deli area. They do not allow taking food from the dining areas to other seating areas. I suppose that makes for a cleaner lounge, but it was a bit annoying as we’re used to just grabbing food and bringing it to where we sit. Here are the menus for the deli which were available via QR Code. Beverages were the same in the main dining area.

At some point, I realized I had left my jacket on the plane. I checked with the agents at the lounge and that began a three hour saga of “We found it” “It wasn’t yours” “We think it’s in lost and found” “Turns out it’s not there” and so on. So, someone on the next flight to Melbourne has my jacket (or more likely it was thrown out).

I tried to watch NFL football on my phone, but even with VPN, I could not get any links to work. I ended up listening to the Dolphins game on the SiriusXM app while we all napped on and off.

Overall, I think we enjoyed the lounge despite our unwanted layover. I found it a bit sterile and cold (in look not temperature) and we preferred the Turkish lounge in Istanbul with all the food stations and activities. It wasn’t a bad place to wait and certainly better than the main concourse with all the screaming kids and retail overload.

Around 12:30am, we left and went to our gate in the B concourse. We noticed that the lounge was significantly busier at that hour than when we arrived.

Up Next: Qatar A330 DOH-NBO – Not What We Booked

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