Going to Qatar 2022: tickets, accommodations, etc. (non-politics)

Is anyone planning on working remotely in Qatar on non game days? If so, interested in hearing your approach. I’ve been thinking of renting a WeWork / Regus office for a couple of days

 

Can we sleep there? Lol

 

I'll be doing some work on and off just to stay in touch as 1 month is too long for me to be totally out of touch. I've been renting from Regus for several years now so can just use one of their offices in Doha but it's usually not private, just a desk in the lobby. Did a quick search and Regus has 9 locations in Doha, 1 a short walk from the apartment I'm renting/sharing:

https://www.regus.com/en-us/qatar/doha

no idea as to availability or if they do short term rentals, like for a few days. I'll just be working from our apartment I think but will keep this in mind. If I get a hotel for the second part of my stay as planned, that'll work for me.

 

You’ve got your own room in the apartment we booked that should work ok, we might be the distraction though

 

Yes, a hotel would be ideal and that is what I have done on other trips. But it doesn’t appear that I’ll be able to get a hotel in Doha. Unfortunately, I will need a private office in Wework or Regus.
By the way, what is the Regus fee?

 

I knew this was all utter nonsense they would build more hotels of any value. They can barely fill out the rooms in established hotels now in non WC dates other than the super rich rooms to visiting VIPs. Qatar is a country by definition but for the most part it’s an asset selling country, excluding Hydrocarbons their economy is not built on anything self sustaining. To build 100 more was a pipe dream sold to FIFA and buried somewhere on page 111 of the official bid. Probs close to that concept fan village and entertainment hubs, another pipe dream. You’ll get football, transport and overpriced accommodation with an occasional beer and that’s it. Set your expectations low and hope it gets close to mediocre.

 

Like in Dubai, I think whatsapp calls make it difficult to spy and control
Or it is may be to force pple to pay international calls..more income

 

Is there a way to find a private driver from Emirates to Doha ? These flight prices are going crazy

 

totally agree. There's a reason why you can book a hotel in Doha at any time other than during the WC for less than half of what it costs in most cities, US$150/night gets you a room in a really nice western business hotel, $200+ gets you into a luxury hotel. It's because demand is soft outside of the WC. There never was going to be 100 more hotels built, there is no demand for it, and hotels are built by businesses who want to make money. it was a lie amongst other lies in their bid. One of the biggest being the feasibility of a summer tournament with the airconditioned stadiums, which they turned back on as soon as they got the bid.

 

This cup gets more expensive by the minute data calling blocked what a joke

 

no idea, I don't work for Regus I've just leased and office from them for the past 5 years or so and never did that. Plus I imagine every city is different. There was a link to get a quote online, I would contact them. It's part of my privileges as a renter from them already, but not sure if they even do daily rentals for just anyone. And if they do, demand might be high during the WC with all the people coming in working on aspects of the tournament.

Also, I thought WeWork does those big open co-working type offices, where you are in a big room amongst others; i.e., not private officers. Not for me for sure.

 

yeah that's a shitty surprise. I do all my calls back home while on International travel using WhatsApp. I also have a VPN (ExpressVPN), but sometimes it doesn't work as it can be detected that you're using a VPN and it can be blocked too.

 

Is it reasonable to assume that hotel rooms will become freely available (ie NOT via accommodation portal) after the R16 games when most supporters will have departed?

 

I wouldn't assume that (hope, for sure - but wouldn't count on it). As of 2021 Qatar had ~30K hotel rooms. Figure ~4K of those are going to the teams themselves. Even if they clear out after getting eliminated, there's no way for any hotel to know which will or won't be available. Also, I'm sure some number will keep a chunk of their rooms for ppl to stick around till the end. Then there's all the TV, radio, FIFA operatives, partners, sponsors, etc. I'm gonna guess another 5K? Maybe more? And they are there for the duration. Now come the hospitality guests. According to FIFA demand for this cup is "record breaking"... So, there go the rest of your rooms. My guess is there will be *better* availability for after the R16. With "better" being something like 10 rooms instead of 7.

I *really* hope I'm wrong....

 

How do you compare the 3 fan villages? I am trying to get “Fan Village Cabins Ras Bu Fontas” for my last two days at Doha as it is closer to airport. But I am a little concerned about flight noise.

 

Express VPN do work here. I have never had an issue with it so far.

 

Summer tournament would have happened. They build air conditioned stadiums, and trust me its cold inside the stadiums even when its 50 degrees outside. And they even turn it on in winter, i dont know why, its freezing cold when they do that in winter. But for fans, winter makes since, because the weather is very pleasant. Summer the 13:00 games would have been nightmare to reach with 15-20 min walk to the stadiums.

 

I am also waiting for this, just booked the apartment until 7th Dec so I can jump into a better hotel with the days where less matches, more off days we have.

 

Yep, free calls means phone company loses money...

 

the whole thing was one huge lie anyway. it has that one advantage of all fans in one single city, and without it it would have ended in total desaster.
in the end it will all probably depend on how strict they are going to enforce their idiotic inhuman laws. not more and not less!

 

I enquired about Hotel rooms and this is the reply I received today:

"Thank you for your enquiry on hotel availability.
All hotel inventory has been reserved by key event groups; therefore, we unfortunately don’t have any inventory available for other client groups. We would recommend that you arrange your accommodation now because we cannot guarantee inventory to meet your requirements will become available at a later date."

 

My experience with ExpressVPN has been good - used it for several years when working out of Saudi Arabia. I know that in UAE, Whatsapp calls are blocked but there are some other calling Apps that are not (yet) blocked like BOTIM and Comera

 

So what calling apps then would be advisable to use in Qatar without using the VPN?

 

Good News !!!
https://dohanews.co/almost-5000-hotel-rooms-to-be-added-before-the-fifa-world-cup/

 

For the legitmacy if this article I would just point out one sentence in it:

"World Cup organisers have promised supporters that the event will be “as affordable as possible for everyone,” FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 CEO Nasser Al-Khater noted in an interview with SunSport."