The Sharq, Doha

If you really want to embrace a decadent expat lifestyle, The Sharq pool bar is an excellent place to start. It’s stupid, overpriced and ridiculous. Kinda like Doha.

At 350 QR (USD $120) per day to gain admission, it’s one of the most expensive hotel beaches in the country. And while that kind of money might be justified if the Sharq was on some next-level-shit, it’s actually sub-par on several counts. Let’s list them:

1. It’s located right next to the airport and directly underneath the flight path. A Boeing 747 will roar overhead every ten minutes or so. You half expect each of these planes to crash into your deck chair and kill you.

2. The beach is kinda crappy. You’re basically going to be looking out at a sprawling commercial port and oil tankers on the horizon. Neither of these suggests ‘clean waters’. Which is probably why no one ever goes swimming at the beach. Instead people hang out in the pool.

3. The Sharq Village & Spa is comprised of numerous small villas grouped together. There’s nothing technically wrong with that, but it also feels like you’re hanging out in a residential apartment complex rather than a five-star hotel.

4. The pool area is filled with assholes. Due to all the above issues, no self-respecting person in Doha would hang out here. That just leaves people who think it’s a good idea to hang out in overpriced hotel pools with crap views. Do you want to be friends with these people? Um, no.

Okay, to be fair, it’s not all bad. The pool does have a swim-up bar so you can get weird on cocktails while half submerged in water. There’s a certain bent appeal to that. Also, there’s the … no, wait, that’s it.

So yeah, The Sharq pool bar is filled with assholes that believe going to the worst beach / most expensive pool in the country is an acceptable lifestyle choice. If you feel like blowing huge wads of cash to join them, go for it. For everyone else, there’s The Sheraton, Four Seasons and Intercon. All of which provide better views and beaches for less money.

You can find more tips on living and working in Qatar in my book — God Willing: How to survive expat life in Qatar.