Marking its Doha hat-trick and taking this Swiss hospitality firm’s total Qatar inventory to more than 640 keys, the luxurious Victorian-style building of Movenpick Hotel Al Aziziyah Doha, formerly Grand Heritage Hotel Doha, entered the Movenpick fold this May.
Since then, the upscale 139-room hospitality destination has been attracting a large audience to its many restaurants and tea lounges besides its luxurious royal living experience.
Movenpick Hotel Al Aziziyah Doha, located in the city’s internationally-renowned Aspire Zone, also known as Doha Sports City, intends to not only be well-placed to host top-ranking international sports teams, with Aspire playing a critical role in the run up to the World Cup, but will also cater to corporate groups staging events at the nearby Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC), now considered a regional hub for meetings and events.
“It is a wonderful product. It is a beautiful hotel. I am sure there was no hesitation from Movenpick side when this was being discussed as a future Movenpick hotel,” Beat Peter, the General Manager of the hotel tells Community in a chat over Iftar at the hotel’s Turkish restaurant Agora.  
“The Victorian era was the idea and inspiration when the hotel was built. When we took over it was not our intention to change everything. What we normally do is we would come in, we would analyse and then after some time we come up with some suggestions on how to improve,” says Peter, who has joined the hotel recently.  
Changing everything, he says, is neither required nor intended. They are fully aware of the past of the hotel, the customers of the hotel and they know the fact that it is a very popular hotel among the local Qatari population and people from the Gulf in general.
The intention, Peter says, is to bring some typical Movenpick touches to the hotel. Take the ‘chocolate hour’ for instance. They do this at all Movenpick hotels — every day for one hour they serve chocolate and teasers.
There are also ‘healthy shops’ — one of the employees going around the hotel during the breakfast and serving guests with healthy food and also explaining to them its health benefits. The hotel also does ‘power bites’ for children. These small touches and attention to details is a trademark of the Swiss hospitality, according to Peter. 
“What sets this hotel apart from others is the location. We are located in this Aspire Zone surrounded by beautiful garden besides the inside and outside of the hotel displaying beautiful greenery and the Victorian style of the architecture of the building,” says the general manager.
“The food and beverage is also very unique. There is Victoria Tea Lounge with different kinds of teas from all over the world, the Turkish restaurant Agora with our Turkish Chef,” he says.  They also have Blue, where they serve sushi and steak. The restaurant has a wonderful terrace where you can sit in the sun in winters.
Flavours is an all-day dining restaurant where they serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. There is also a luxury spa with six treatment rooms, a fitness centre and an indoor pool, plus five function rooms. The occupancy at the hotel remains around 70 percent year round, says Peter.
“The whole Victorian feels continues into the hotel from outside. The interior design of the rooms, the furniture, the art work and the carpets, it is continuously in that same royal design. It also gives a very luxurious feeling and at the same time we wanted it to be easy for the guests and not complicated,” he adds.
Being located in Aspire certainly helps those groups of sportspeople, he says, who use any of the many sports facilities available in Aspire Zone. The hotel is also popular among holidaymakers. Another convenience are the nearby shopping malls, about 10 minutes by foot. 
Peter, a Swiss national with over 20 years of experience in the industry, has spent the last five years working for Movenpick Hotels & Resorts in the Middle East.
His new role at Movenpick Hotel Al Aziziyah Doha will be his third general manager’s position with the upscale hospitality company. His previous placements were at Movenpick Hotel Kuwait and Movenpick Resort & Spa Tala Bay Aqaba in Jordan. Prior to his work with Movenpick Hotels & Resorts, he managed highly renowned hotels in Europe.