Cruise terminal, HIA 'Orchard' among best new ways to travel in 2023

Three new entities in Qatar’s sparkling travel offering, and a ‘reimagined’ cultural masterpiece have been recognised by a leading international publication.
The Grand Cruise Terminal at Old Doha Port and the ‘Orchard’ at Hamad International Airport (HIA) have been named among ‘The Best New Ways to Travel This Year: 2023 Hot List’ by ‘Conde Nast Traveler’.
Also featured is The Ned Doha, the new luxury hotel on the Doha Corniche. It is named among ‘The Best New Hotels in Africa and the Middle East: 2023 Hot List’.
The “reimagined” Museum of Islamic Art (MIA), which was reopened last year following a revamp, is also mentioned on the 2023 list as one of ‘The Best New Museums in the World’.
The 27th edition of the list contains “the most exciting new openings in travel, from the freshest airport terminals to exciting train and air routes”. It is a curated collection of the world’s best new transportation projects. To Page 3
There are similar ‘hot lists’ for the world’s best new hotels, cruises, restaurants and cultural destinations. Regarding the Grand Cruise Terminal, the Conde Nast Traveler website says: “Qatar’s art-filled Hamad International Airport is regularly voted among the world’s best by air travellers, and now passengers arriving by sea will be greeted in similar style at the just-launched Doha Grand Cruise Terminal. Opened just before the FIFA World Cup, the new facility sprawls along the water’s edge near the city centre. It is able to host two mega-ships simultaneously, with a capacity to welcome 12,000 passengers per day. “In a nod to traditional Arabian architecture, the building’s sand-coloured façade features rows of repeated arches, creating dramatic contrasts of light and shadow. There’s an art gallery, a large open-air rooftop terrace, and, perhaps most thrillingly, an escalator for arriving passengers that passes through a vast aquarium before emerging into the bright Doha sunshine.” Providing a fillip to tourism in Qatar, the terminal has received a large number of passengers since its opening, who have arrived in Doha as part on board various cruise ships. According to official figures released by Mwani Qatar recently, the Old Doha Port achieved a record tourist season in 2022-2023, witnessing the arrival of 273,666 visitors (passengers and crew) on board 55 cruise ships. The visitor numbers marked a 166% increase, while the number of ships saw a jump of 62%, compared to the 2021-2022 season. The 2022-2023 season also saw the boarding of 19,400 tourists on trips starting from Doha, stressing the port’s role in promoting cruise tourism in line with the goals of Qatar National Vision 2030. The Conde Nast Traveler list also refers to the ‘Orchard’ at HIA, while highlighting “new and revamped airlines and airports, from Doha to Honolulu”. It notes that airports “are creating large green spaces, only indoors-like the ‘Orchard’, a 60,000sq ft atrium garden with 300 trees and 25,000 plants at the newly expanded Hamad International Airport in Qatar”. The ‘Orchard’, which was unveiled as part of the HIA expansion project, consists of an indoor tropical garden, a water feature, retail and F&B under a grid shell roof. “Set to truly elevate passenger’s experiences and redefine airport travel, the ‘Orchard’ is an indoor tropical garden with a beautiful water feature that will be the focal point for visitors at HIA. With a host of different flora – the ‘Orchard’ includes over 300 trees and 25,000 plants sourced from sustainable forests from around the world,” the HIA website says. Regarding The Ned Doha, the website says: “In a region where hotels tend to rely on being the biggest, boldest and most expensive to draw attention, The Ned Doha has chosen instead to embody supreme stylishness. Housed in a former government ministry, the look inside is utilitarian but sultry: geometric features and original waffled concrete ceilings are softened by layered fabrics, bold patterns, and Murano glass chandeliers. Rooms exude 1970s glamour, with vintage references including Roberts radios, clunky rotary-dial phones beside the beds, and TVs hidden behind tapestries designed by local artists. “The terrazzo balconies look out over the sea, Al Bidda Park, or the Amiri Diwan palace, where camels patrol throughout the day. Walnut-clad walls double as gallery space for the hotel’s collection of more than 350 pieces, many by Qatar-based artists and most by women. “As with its big sister in London, which is also a members’ club, The Ned Doha’s social scene centres on a circular stage with nightly live music, surrounded by the hubbub of diners in Cecconi’s and Millie’s Grill. Outdoors, sunshine filters through overhead drapes at Malibu Kitchen, which serves colourful Californian cuisine next to a pool flanked by striped daybeds and cabanas. “But the best spot to reflect on what this atmospheric hotel brings to the city is at a table loaded with excellent Levantine meze, salads, and grills beneath the frangipani trees at Hadika.” Referring to the MIA, Conde Nast Traveler says: “When the I M Pei–designed Museum of Islamic Art first opened in 2008, just months before Pei’s 92nd birthday, it was the first major project in Qatar to set architecture-loving hearts aflutter. Now, after an extensive enhancement project, its dramatic interior spaces are looking better than ever. Spanning 1,400 years of history, the museum’s galleries have been reimagined and reinstalled, introducing new visitor trails and child-friendly resources as well as more than 1,000 newly conserved or acquired objects displayed for the first time. There’s also a new gallery exploring the building’s creation story.”