Bottom Line Review: Hyatt Regency Oryx Doha, Qatar

After staying overnight at the InterContinental Johannesburg O.R.Tambo Airport, it was time for us to fly back home. We flew Qatar Airways in business class which was awesome because both legs of our flight with them was in QSuites. That meant we got to enjoy a total of 24 hours in QSuites (8 hours from Johannesburg, then 16 hours to Miami), with an overnight layover in Doha in between.

Hamad International Airport in Doha has a hotel within the terminal – Oryx Airport Hotel – but room rates were ~$350 per night. That wasn’t worth it because only a 15 minute drive from the airport is the Hyatt Regency Oryx Doha which is a category 1 property in the World of Hyatt program.

Hyatt Regency Oryx Doha Bottom Line Review

Our flight arrived in Doha about 5:30pm and we were due to fly out at 8am the next morning, so it was perfect layover timing when it came to getting a hotel, other than the fact that we had to leave too early to have breakfast at the hotel.

The Hyatt Regency is a more-than-worthwhile choice if you’re looking for an overnight stay like we were. It seemed like it could also be a decent option for a longer stay too, although there are other hotel options that’d be better from a location standpoint.

That said, it’s hard to argue against the Hyatt Regency Oryx Doha from a value perspective when booked with points considering it’s a category 1 property. Elite recognition was fairly good, although there weren’t any suites available. There’s a Club Lounge which had a good selection of food and beverages, along with bars and restaurants.

• Points Price: With it being a category 1 Hyatt property, it costs 3,500, 5,000 or 6,500 points per night depending on if it’s at off-peak, standard or peak pricing. The night we stayed we redeemed 5,000 points.
• Cash Price: As is usually the case, this can vary depending on the day of the week and time of year. For the night we booked the cash rate would’ve been $115. Some nights can be booked for less than $100, while other nights cost more than $200.
• Points Value: Pretty good, but unlikely to get outsized value. With award pricing topping out at 6,500 points per night, you’d be hard-pressed to get less than 1.5cpp of value from your points, but you should get at least 2cpp.
• Resort or Destination Fee: None.
• Parking: The hotel offers complimentary self-parking. There’s no option for valet parking listed on their website.
• Room: We booked a 1 King standard room type as that was the best option available when booking with points. The room was a good size with a two-seater sofa, along with a desk and office chair. The bathroom had a large walk-in shower (no bathtub), toilet and bidet.
• Housekeeping: We only stayed one night and so I can’t really comment on housekeeping service other than that our room was clean when we arrived and everything seemed in order.
• Turndown service: No.
• Internet: This is complimentary for all guests. The speed was good and I was able to get some work done before our flight back the next morning.
• Dining: The hotel has a few dining options:
  • Choices – This is where breakfast, lunch and dinner are all served. It seems to primarily be a buffet, but with some a la carte options.
  • The Cellar – This is a Spanish restaurant that has happy hours throughout the week.
  • Al Nafourah Garden – This is an outdoor restaurant serving Middle Eastern and Lebanese food.
  • Jazz Club – This only seems to serve drinks.
  • Regency Club Lounge – I’m assuming breakfast is available there, but they definitely have evening canapes and drinks.
  • Sky Lounge – The Sky Lounge is in the main atrium and is more of a deli/coffee bar
  • Splash – This offers poolside food and drinks
• Spa: Yes, although I didn’t see a spa treatment menu.
• Fitness Room: Yes. It seemed to have a decent amount of equipment and weights, although there were people working out when I stopped by and so I didn’t get any photos.
• Pool: Yes, there’s an outdoor swimming pool. It was closed when I went to take a photo; I’m not sure if that’s because it was 8pm or if it’s closed for renovation.
• Welcome Amenities: Waiting in our room for us was a bottle of red wine, a plate of fruit and a tray with three chocolate truffles.
• Service: We had limited staff interaction as we were only there one night. The front desk agent was friendly and efficient when checking in, while the Club Lounge attendant was helpful.
• Location: The Hyatt Regency Oryx Doha is right next to Hamad International Airport, although it’s still a 15 minute drive to get there from the taxi/Uber pickup spot. It’s another 10-15 minute drive downtown, so it’s not ideally placed if you want to be within walking distance of attractions, but Uber rides seemed fairly cheap and so it wouldn’t be expensive to get around.
• Elite Benefits: I have Hyatt Globalist status, but the benefits we received for this stay were limited:
  • Free breakfast – We would’ve received this, but we had to leave before 6am.
  • Lounge access – The hotel has a Club Lounge. They serve canapes and drinks from 6pm-8pm which we took advantage of. There was a pretty good selection of food; several hot options, cold cuts, hummus, fruit, desserts, etc. They also had beer, wine and some spirits. While the food and drink selection wasn’t as extensive as some Club Lounges in Asia and so I wouldn’t want to eat there every night on a longer stay, it was more than enough to fill us up for the evening rather than paying for a meal in one of the hotel’s restaurants or getting food delivered.
  • Suite upgrade – When checking in we were advised there weren’t any suites available to upgrade us to.
  • Late checkout – Our early start meant we didn’t need to use this.
  • Free parking on award nights – We took an Uber to and from the hotel, so didn’t need to park there. Besides, the hotel offers free self-parking to all guests.
• Would I stay again? Possibly. At only 3,500-6,500 World of Hyatt points per night, it’s hard to beat the value points-wise, particularly if you have Globalist status or Club Access Awards and would therefore be able to use their lounge at no additional cost.
  However, it doesn’t seem to be in an ideal location if you’d like to be able to walk to attractions straight from your hotel. Doha seems to have a ton of better-placed hotels bookable for a reasonable number of points depending on your dates. There’s a Hampton in Old Town for fewer than 20,000 Hilton Honors points, an InterContinental for only 17,000 IHG One Rewards points, several Marriott properties bookable with 35k free night certificates and more.
  I’d therefore stay at the Hyatt Regency again on an overnight layover where I wasn’t planning on visiting anything, but probably not if I actually wanted to explore Doha.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Points Value – 3,500, 5,000 or 6,500 points per night makes this good value.
• Club Lounge – This was open and had a decent spread – certainly enough food to fill us up as an evening meal.

Cons

• Location – Not necessarily a con given its relative proximity to the airport, but it’s not in the mix of anything.

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