Sharq Village & Spa marks 15th anniversary

“The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company proudly operates the hotel as a luxury resort for discerning travellers seeking the ultimate resort experience, with its lavish Qatari-styled interiors combined with state-of-the-art facilities that create a welcoming and calming sanctuary"

 

 

 

Sharq Village & Spa, a Ritz-Carlton Hotel Doha, marks its 15th anniversary on Thursday, providing authentic Qatari and luxury hospitality over the years.A journey that began on March 10, 2007, this iconic resort has made an everlasting impression over the years on its valued patrons; ranging from Qataris to expatriates and the global traveller, seeking unique experiences in unexplored destinations.“We are elated to celebrate 15 splendid years of providing our patrons with luxury hospitality and carrying on the vision of resolute Ritz-Carlton service culture through the years. This is what inherently drives us each day to impress on every guest that walks through our doors with indelible #RCMemories,” Sharq Village & Spa general manager Yazan Latif said in a press statement.“The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company proudly operates the hotel as a luxury resort for discerning travellers seeking the ultimate resort experience, with its lavish Qatari-styled interiors combined with state-of-the-art facilities that create a welcoming and calming sanctuary.“The seamless blend of Qatar’s heritage and culture, merging with its forward-thinking visionary ideas, nurtures the very essence of this resort.“Our scenography, ‘Experience the Past, Today’, brings a whole new meaning to the sensory journey our guests can expect when they stay with us and to me, this is undeniably one of the most powerful statements brought to life every day and for many more years to come,” Latif added.Sharq Village & Spa, a Katara Hospitality-owned hotel, was once a ‘fishing village’ and stands proud today as a leading luxury 5-star resort in Doha, Qatar. As pearl divers, fishermen and merchants hauled their heavy dhows ashore to trade in the ancient souk, the village began its evolution. When Sharq Village & Spa was first conceived, Qatari architect Ibrahim Jaidah was given the sole injunction of re-imagining the old fishing town that was once settled there. Sharq Village & Spa started off as a private commission from Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, who had personally selected Jaidah to work on the project. With no design brief apart from the fact that it should be a hotel, Jaidah was determined to recreate the village that was once here, a place where tourists and residents alike could walk their way through history and visualise the stories originating there that remain a mystery. Today, the hotel is a beacon for Qatari hospitality and an accurate representation of how Qatari villagers once lived, both metaphorically and architecturally. Design-wise, the site replicates the main characteristics of Qatari architecture and the attention to detail is so particular, that it creates a sense of living history, adding to any visitor’s experience. What stands in the Sharq area of Qatar today is a five-star hotel that is akin to a traditional Qatari freej (village). The features of the design have been unearthed from old photographs of traditional settlements like Al Khulaifat and Sharq, the latter of which occupied the site. Merging local insight with architectural prowess, the design team was able to craft a new low-rise hotel typology that was no more than two floors high and suitable for tourists and guests.The hotel’s architectural design was straightforward and minimal, mimicking the traditional approach while the façade and interior were more opulent and luxurious. Nevertheless, these two aspects blended perfectly. Walking through Sharq Village & Spa evokes the feeling of wandering the streets of a local village but also inspires fascination at the strikingly modern facilities of the hotel. To quote architect Jaidah after the launch of this stunning resort back in 2007, he said: “Sharq Village & Spa brought life back to the Sharq district. Twenty-five years earlier, Qatar National Hotels Limited had developed Gulf Hotel in this area to attract developments back to it. With similar aims, it introduced Sharq Village & Spa, a new type of hotel. We had no urban retreats along the beach in Doha. This is a retreat right in the middle of the city – you are central yet secluded – and that is what the hotel guests love most about it.”