The Best $35 You Can Spend at Qatar’s $16 Billion Airport
Have a long layover? Enjoy a juice and lounge by the pool. (Photo: Vitality)
A chipper young man with a baby face and a crisp polo shirt smiles and gives a small wave as I approach the counter.
“How can I make your day better?” he says in pitch perfect English.
It’s a brilliant question to ask someone in an airport and one that is never asked at an airport in the United States. In fact most airport and airline workers in America these days might as well say what they are thinking: “How can I make your day just a little worse?”
Sure Qatar’s $16 Billion Hamad International Airport in Doha has life-sized animatronic dinosaurs, a $6.8 million 7-Meter-tall bear sculpture from Swiss artist Urs Fischer and one of the largest Christian Dior perfumeries you’ve ever seen. But the real crowing gem of Hamad, the thing that sets it apart from all other airports, the thing that ruined me for all other terminals, is the Vitality Well-Being and Fitness Center.
After a brief visit before my morning flight on Qatar Airways from Doha to New York City, I made a pledge to never visit another XpresSpa again. Their over-priced manicured, limp-wristed massages and vague scent of sweaty feet will never compare to Vitality, home a 25 meter temperature-controlled indoor lap pool, a fully equipped gymnasium, a hydrotherapy tub and not one, but two squash courts.
Related: How to Make the Most of a Layover in Doha
The best part about this fantastic post-security airport amenity? It’s open to everyone. This isn’t some premium class secret perk. I hate those! For about $35 anyone can visit and take full advantage of the pool, gym and Jacuzzi facilities.
Didn’t bring your bathing suit? You can buy a very modest one-piece for $40. Want to work on your squash game? For about $16 you get a court, shoes, a racquet and even an instructor to play with you.
The gym at the airport is better equipped than my sports club at home in New York City. (Photo: Vitality)
And all of this is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, ensuring that even the most brutal layovers can have a modicum of relaxation. Not interested in swimming? Just take a nap in one of the comfy lounge chairs surrounding the pool. I don’t know about you, but a comfortable nap during a ten hour layover is worth $35 to me.
Or relax poolside, breathe in the aroma of the lavender scented candles and take advantage of the free wifi while looking down on the passengers bustling through the terminal below you. During my visit my fellow passengers, many wearing abayas and thobes, lounged near the pool, sipping on fresh-squeezed juices.
Related: How Qatar is Building a Whole New City From Scratch for the 2022 World Cup
Scented candles provide mood lighting in the hydrotherapy tub that is included in your $35 entry fee. (Photo: Vitality)
If you’re looking to splurge, Vitality offers hot stone, aroma therapy and deep tissue massages in addition to cosmetic facial services. All massages and facials come with access to the pool and gym.
Related: 13 Reasons Americans Should Feel Right at Home in Doha
The spa’s tagline is “the perfect venue for restoring energy and balance when flying.” And that is exactly what it is. This is what every single airport in America is missing, a place of calm and serenity. A place with scented candles and a heated pool.
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