All style AND substance
I’ve stayed in a lot of “boutique” hotels that are really just standard hotels with a few design quirks. The Mondrian does not fit that category – it’s a stunning space throughout, from the bathrooms to the communal space and into the rooms and restaurants.
A Short History of the Mondrian in Doha
The Mondrian opened in 2017 and was created by Dutch designer Marcel Wanders. This was the first Middle Eastern hotel for the Ennismore group, and one of the first hotels at The Pearl.
How to get to the Mondrian
The Mondrian is 20 – 30 minutes from the airport, depending on traffic. Our Uber cost QAR106, or £23. There’s a metro station 11 minutes walk from the hotel, which is fine in Winter but in the middle of the Summer it might be a challenge if you’re adverse to extreme heat.
The hotel is located right next to the Lagoona Mall, which we walked to (around four minutes). It’s a mid-sized mall that has a good selection of shops and a range of restaurants. It also has a ain’t Carrefour.
The Mondrian sits at the entrance to The Pearl, the manmade island that was the first area in Doha where foreign nationals could own property. It’s a huge bit of land, which contains a number of other hotels, including the St Regis and the Four Seasons.
Getting around Doha from the Mondrian is pretty easy – we used Uber regularly. Other than the mall next to the hotel, there wasn’t much to walk to. The hotel sits on a triangular site: on one side of the hotel is a busy five-lane motorway, the other side is a mall, and the third side faces the lagoon.
It’s worth saying that there was absolutely zero road noise audible in our room, which faced onto the road.
What are the rooms like?
We stayed in a Deluxe Loft Suite. This was a huge, beautiful suite that we adored. The room cost us £1,231 for four nights (£307 per night). We booked the room through the Avios Hotels website, which earned us 12,300 Avios at a rate of 10/£.
The room was located at the end of the floor, occupying what is effectively a corner position in an oval hotel. The Mondrian corridors are dark, in that way that some boutique hotels espouse lighting. It was fine once we had got our cases into the room, but our first trip upstairs meant we had to pull out our iPhone torches to find the right door.
When you enter the room, you walk into a large hallway, possibly the largest I’ve ever had in a hotel. One door leads directly into the suite itself, while another leads to the second bathroom, which also features a shower. Lining the walls are full-height cupboards. You will not run out of storage space in this room.
Entering the suite…
The suite really begins in the living room, which is enormous. There are two sofas arranged in a U shape, with one of the sofas being oversized to the point where sitting on it means your feet won’t be anywhere close to the floor. Despite this the seating was comfortable, and there were two side tables between the sofas.
There’s also a four-person dining table in the living room, and to one side is a large white desk space with a reading lamp. At the end of this desk, you have a coffee machine and a small fridge.
Scattered around the lounge, you have arty objects. There’s a gold animal in a glass case, there are small white ornaments, and one of the walls has some interesting “quirky” features.
The living room is an L shape as it surrounds the guest bathroom in the hallway. On one side, you have a desk, chair and lighting, along with more objects on the wall. It’s a frankly stunning place to work, as you’re also right next to the windows that wrap around the building. This suite is so huge that the desk feels like a long walk away from the sofas.
Aside from some splashes of colour and dark woods in the hallway, this suite follows the design of the rest of the hotel, which is white. White walls, ceilings and the floor tiles are white marble effect. It might sound like it’s too much, but they’re clever with their colour, and there’s enough to break it up.
The bedroom at the Mondrian Doha
The living space leads on to the bedroom, which is spacious, and it’s also the most vibrant room due to a wall with patterned and colourful wallpaper. There’s a large circular column in the bedroom, but the room is so large that it doesn’t cause you any problems. There is a single chair next to one side of the bed, a dressing table with a stool, and a TV facing the bed.
The bed was a super king, with oversized pillows. I found it to be comfortable, and with the blackout curtains we had four great nights’ sleep here.
Off the bedroom, there’s a walk-in wardrobe area, which was – like the rest of the suite – huge. It’s a great place to dump your suitcases.
The primary bathroom at the Mondrian Doha
The bathroom is split into three, with a separate toilet and bidet in a room with a full-height door. The rest of the bathroom is contained in a narrow strip along the side of the bedroom. The thin space starts with a large counter (with just one sink) and a large mirror.
There’s a walk-through shower (the water pressure was great) that then leads to an egg-bath. You can also access the bath via a sliding door from the main bedroom. The amenities in both bathrooms were Malin + Goetz.
The bathroom was probably the least impressive space in this suite. That’s not to say it was bad; it was just unimpressive. The counter top could easily have fit three or four sinks, so having just one felt miserly.
The gym and facilities
On the top floor of the hotel, there’s a swimming pool. If you’ve seen any photos of the Mondrian, you will have seen the pool area. It’s a beautiful space with a relatively small pool. It’s one of the most stunning pools that I’ve seen in a hotel, but it’s not big.
The gym is big, but a little cramped. There are four running machines that have great views out across the bay, a Smith machine, and plenty of other kit. It’s not the best space, but the machines are new, in good condition and there’s a reasonable range. There’s also a small balcony that you access from the main gym.
There’s an ESPA Spa at the hotel. We didn’t get a chance to use it, but the pricing is reasonable. A sixty-minute signature massage costs £125, which I feel is a standard price in a luxury hotel. Ninety minutes comes in at £171. In addition, the Spa also has a wellness area, which includes a Turkish Hammam and a heated hidden garden. As with all spas in the Middle East, it has separate male and female areas.
Eating and drinking at the Mondrian Doha
There are plenty of dining options at the Mondrian.
- Breakfast is served at the Mondrian Bistro on the ground floor, a relaxing space that’s off reception. Service starts at 7am, and ends at 10:30am, and there’s a lunch service from 12:30pm to 3:30pm.
- Mormorito opens for dinner only (6pm – 11pm) serving Japanese food
- Smoke and Mirrors inverts the Mondrians white colour scheme, with a dark and dimly lit space. There’s a small food menu, but an extensive drinks menu, plus lots of cigars.
- The Ellamia coffee shop (plus an ice cream stand) exists in the Mondrian’s giant lobby. It’s open from 9am to 11pm.
- The Hudson Tavern is an attractive burger and sports bar open from afternoon to late evening (4pm – 12 midnight), with an earlier opening time (12:30pm) on Fridays and Saturdays.
- Walima Doha is an open air Mediterranean restaurant open for dinner from 5pm to 12 midnight.
You can also eat at the rooftop pool, with a light menu available from 12noon to 9pm. Salads, burgers and soft drinks are on offer, with food costing around £10 – £15 per item, plus there’s a kids’ menu available.
Breakfast at the Mondrian
My favourite meal of the day, and the Mondrian didn’t disappoint. Breakfast is served in the Mondrian Bistro, which is a beautiful, relaxing space. The majority of items are self-service, with a small menu of hot options delivered via a server. The service in here was top-notch, and we looked forward to seeing our regular waitress each morning.
If you’re thinking of ordering food to be delivered to the hotel, then the drivers will go to a different entrance, which is in the basement. Therefore, you won’t have to stand at the front waiting for your food, and you can get a lift straight back to your floor.
Video walkthrough of the Mondrian
A batch of photos from the Mondrian
This is a very photogenic hotel, and there’s a batch of photos that I didn’t include above.
Final Thoughts on the Mondrian Doha
I thoroughly enjoyed our stay at this hotel. It’s a beautiful space, well-priced considering the room size, and the service was top-notch. Would we visit again? Absolutely.
The room was quiet, and we had four great nights’ sleep here. It is very hard to fault the Mondrian; the biggest challenge – and it’s not a deal breaker – was the lack of things to do within walking distance. Taxis in the Middle East are cost-effective, so it really wasn’t an issue.
What I’ve found with boutique hotels is that they can fade over time. Those quirky design elements can look outdated, and they can be hard to repair. The Mondrian might be eight years old, but it looks new. If you’re looking for somewhere unique to stay in Doha, you can do a lot worse.
Rating the Mondrian Doha
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