FIFA World Cup teams and their supporters are racing to grab the best of Qatar’s luxury hotels ahead of this December’s football tournament in November and December.
According to reports from the UK, the England and France WAGs (wives and girlfriends) are ahead of the rest in securing their accommodation at Banana Island Resort, a luxury spot 25 minutes by boat from the Doha seafront.
According to the resort’s sales director, the best rooms are the £6,000 (US$6,446) a night chalets, built on stilts, which sit in the Arabian Sea. The resort also has a helipad, cinema, surf pool with a wave machine and scuba diving courses
The WAGs won’t be totally hidden from prying paparazzi, who can catch a boat and pay a hefty day rate to enjoy the resort's pool and beach.
The England players won’t be there. They are booked into a hotel converted from former pearl fishermen's chalets, in the traditional souk district at Al Wakra.
There is no shortage of luxury accommodation in Qatar’s capital city, Doha. Eleven new hotels will open ahead of the World Cup.
They include The St Regis Marsa Arabia Island, The Pearl; Rixos Gulf Hotel, Andaz Doha, The Chedi Katara Hotel, Waldorf Astoria Lusail Doha, The Outpost (tented desert accommodation), Element West Bay Doha and Al Samriya, Autograph Collection Hotel, which is set inside a farm 20km from Doha.