Before I booked my stay at the Sharq Village and Spa (part of the vast Marriott group) in Doha, Qatar, I read some reviews mocking the resort as a kitschy “Arabian Disneyland”. As you know, I like it when hotels fit their style to the place and its history, so I actually liked the idea of living in this Arabian-style village. It’s important to me, though, that a place is not kitschy, but authentic. So I was eager to find out whether those accusations were true for the Sharq!

On a one-night stop-over with the wonderful Qatar Airways Business Class I had enough time to check it out and even try a massage in the spa.