Qatar - A visit to Pearl Island, Qanat Quartier and Gewan Island (Part 2)

Check the link to Tom's Signs

If you want to read about my first day in Doha, here is the post:

Part 1 - https://sami-colourfulworld.blogspot.com/2025/01/monthly-wrap-up-december-qatar.html

Saturday 21st Dec - My son in law's family had arrived overnight from France, so today we took 2 Ubers (they seem to be the preferred means of transport in Doha and are quite cheap) and drove to the Pearl.

Pearl Island is a man-made island on the other side of West Bay District (where my daughter lives), and it sits on 4 million sqm of reclaimed land, with 32km of new coastline! Known for its luxury hotels, marinas, luxury retail spaces, a variety of cafes and restaurants, pedestrian friendly areas along the marinas, landscaped gardens and a popular residential area with 25000 residences - in apartment towers, villas and townhouses. You can even get a permanent visa if you buy a residence here :)

This area also known as the "Arabian Riviera", is divided into 10 architectural themed precincts:

Pearl Island seen from space. Karina lives in a villa around the bottom area of the canals on the left

Just for curiosity here are the 10 areas of the Pearl. We only visited the first 4.

1. Abraj Quartier – The gateway to The Pearl Island 
A prime location for offices, businesses and companies; with 7 towers up to 42 floors. The UDC tower is where we went to see the maquette for the island and where you can buy your new apartment if you so wish. 

2. Porto Arabia – Cosmopolitan Riviera - inspired by the French Riviera lifestyle with an open-air retail design overlooking Qatar’s largest  award-winning marina. The colorful waterfront, known as La Croisette, is a lively 3.5-kilometer pedestrianized concourse, lined with numerous upscale retail stores and dining outlets. Here they also have 31 residential towers and townhouses.

In the middle another tiny island houses the St. Regis Marsa Arabia Island, with the St Regis hotel and the Four Seasons resort and residences.

3. Medina Centrale – The vibrant town center -  Located between the residential and retail district of Porto Arabia and the relaxed, family-oriented beachfront community of Viva Bahriya, this area is characterized by Spanish-style low-rise buildings, abundant green spaces and various retail shops, an indoor entertainment center, a cinema complex and an international hospital.

4. Qanat Quartier – Venetian charm - With pastel-colored low-rise buildings, 1,6km of canals, pedestrian-friendly piazzas, it's Qatar’s very own little Venice. Each water way is spanned by stylish bridges evoking the soul of Italian romantic living, pedestrian friendly squares. A wide choice of boutiques and outlets offer a great shopping experience, plus a variety of food outlets. It also boasts a world-class beach front with outstanding views, and a visitor parking space for over 1,000 cars.

5. Costa Malaz – A Tranquil Sanctuary - this precinct is an oasis of calm and quiet luxury. The luxurious “Marsa Malaz Kempinski” hotel is situated on an islet in the central bay of this precinct. It also has luxury beachfront villas and canal links to Qanat quartier and direct beach access.

6. Viva Bahriya – Sophisticated beachfront living - With its Moroccan-themed architecture, this is a serene beachfront family destination featuring studios, apartments, along with luxury penthouses and low-rise townhouses. Complete with its own stretch of pristine beach, making it a haven for water sports enthusiasts. It has 29 residential towers and Moroccan styled townhouses with direct water views.

7. Giardino Village – A villa sanctuary within urban surroundings -  located in a tranquil enclave with close proximity to the vibrant retail hubs of Medina Centrale and Porto Arabia, making it perfect for those wanting a discreet residence in a more sheltered area. Carefully positioned amidst a lush, landscaped parkland, The Pearl Island’s Giardino Village precinct promises to be the most comprehensive community on the Island. Its low rise buildings are from 3 to 6 floors only, and the International school is located here.

8. Floresta Gardens – Parisian Inspired Architecture -  offers a variety of community living options with beautiful waterfront and public realm views and access to retail services and numerous amenities, with 10 mid-rise residential towers,115 villas and a shopping mall.

9. Perlita Gardens – Lush Green Seclusion - is a mixed villa and townhouse gated development located immediately to the South of Medina Centrale precinct.

10. Isola Dana – Enviable living in the Rarest of Settings - Named after the world’s rarest and most valuable pearl - Isola Dana precinct comprises of nine 18,000 sqm independent islands and is the largest, most private residential precinct in the Island, accessed via a dedicated causeway and gatehouse. Palatial homes adorn these exquisite islands, the likes of which cannot be seen anywhere in the Middle East and rarely throughout the world. Each island has its own expansive beach and protected harbor for yachts and motor cruisers. The complex is served by an access channel 4m deep to facilitate passage to larger private vessels. I was told that most of the Qatari royal family reside here, and I'm sure it would be almost impossible to go through the gatehouse.

Bridge from the freeway to the Pearl and Tower 1 where they have the UDC offices where the Pearl maquette can be seen and the sales office

Doha city centre seen behind us

The city centre in the distance

Tower 1 and 2 at the entrance to The Pearl

The maquettes of the Pearl are impressive. Taken from the first floor and you can see Karina and Jose on the left

After checking the impressive maquette we walked to Qanat Quartier, Qatar's Little Venice, with canals and bridges and rows of pastel coloured buildings lining the canals. I spotted a Cat-Cafe, but we didn't really have time to stop as the sun goes down around 4,45 in December, and we still had lots to see.

Can you spot the horse-shoe building at the far end? - it's the Katara towers or Crescent tower

A copy of Ponte di Rialto in Venice

From Qanat we walked to Gewan Island. Another real-estate project by UDC (who also did The Pearl), also a man-made island next to The Pearl island, spanning 400,000sqm, completed in 2022, with a total of 659 residential units - apartments and villas and 11,000 sqm of retail spaces.

A metal sculpture at the Hilton Hotel on the way to Gewan Island

The island also has a golf course within the 5 star "Corinthia Gewan Island Qatar Hotel", a sea-side promenade, green areas, entertainment facilities, a clubhouse and a mosque, as well as Crystal Walkway - the longest climatized retail pedestrian walkway.

The beach next to the Hilton Hotel

Bridge over a canal into Gewan Island

Next to a canal this promenade was decorated with blue  Murano trees and other Murano "plants". Just wow!!

Looking toward Qanat Quartier at sunset

On the marble pavement of Crystal Walk dozens of illuminated boxes are the star attraction, featuring crystal artworks with desert, sea, forest, snow or machinery themes.

A snow themed box

See themed boxes

The family

Another display made with crystals shows the UDC (United Development Company) projects.

The UDC buildings crystal display

Then it was time to go home, change into something a bit fancier and call 2 Ubers again, to take us to Tono, a Peruvian restaurant, under the leadership of international chef Akira Back, at 6 La Croisette, The Pearl.

The simple narrow entrance leading to a lift (elevator) to the second floor does not prepare you for the glitzy dining room two floors up.

Views over Porto Arabia marina

Thomas had booked a table for us 7 on the terrace, with views over Porto Arabia marina for the Sunset Hour special. It costs 99 QAR (about 43 AUD) a person, and entitles you to 3 alcoholic beverages (or non-alcoholic if you prefer) and a snack platter. The platter was beautifully presented and delicious, and it gives you a taste of their share food concept.

The restaurant also has live Salsa music and the staff were lovely and attentive.

PS: Alcohol is very expensive in Qatar, and can only be served in hotels and top restaurants within hotels and some clubs. Foreign residents can also buy alcohol for personal consumption with a letter from their employer with their position, salary, etc, that enables them to get a permit. The 99 QAR can actually be considered a very reasonable price for 3 drinks. The Qataris are not allowed to drink.

I had 2 alcoholic drinks and 1 Mocktail

After enjoying our drinks and "starters" we went home to have dinner.

I had forgotten to mention my first impressions of Doha in my previous post:

The State of Qatar, a hereditary monarchy by the House of Thani since 1868, whose capital is Doha, is home to about 2,7 million people, 80% of which live in the capital. Foreign workers constitute about 85 to 90% of the population, most migrants coming from South Asia and the Philippines. It's one of the richest countries in the world, workers don't pay tax and also one of the safest countries with hardly any petty crime.

There are cameras everywhere, but I certainly didn't mind as I felt safe.

I saw ladies leaving their bags 20 or 30mt away from where they were taking photos and nobody touched anything...

The city is super modern and has the most beautiful architecture, the most amazing buildings, everything is built to match and there are suburbs with various themes - be it Italian, French or Arab, even the street lamps match the building style 😍. 

The internet speed is super high compared to Australian internet speeds, and you can get free wi-fi in restaurants, cafes, shopping centres, museums, streets... 

One day we measured the internet speed at my daughter's house and she says they don't even have the best, but it was 649.1 download, 370.9 upload. Compared to mine at home toda which was 11.49 download and 0.77 upload 😒.

I was taken by surprise by the cleanliness - there is just not a scrap of paper on the streets or pavements, no gum, no cigarette butts, no stray leaves.... There seems to always be someone sweeping the pavements, museums, gardens and everything else!

There are loads of public toilets and always someone working there that will keep everything spotless.

In Museums they always had cleaners wiping kids fingerprints from glass surfaces.

Gardens and green spaces everywhere and all well care for, with lots of flowers and pruned shrubs. Don't forget the country is mostly desert, and they have desalination plants for water.

As a sign of respect men and women should cover their shoulders and knees. Although I saw a lot of foreigners with mini skirts, low cut and sleeveless dresses... but I think if it's the tradition of the country that you cover up, you should do it.

 

In Mosques women might be asked to put on an abaya, or maybe just cover their head with a scarf. Everyone must remove their shoes. Another practice that happens in everyone's houses - you remove your shoes at the entrance and go barefoot or put on socks or thongs/flip-flops to go inside.

I found everyone to be polite and most of the Uber drivers would engage in conversation if you addressed them first. The Qataris (both men and women) that we saw walking around town appeared to be very zen and calm, walking slowly, pushing prams or holding kid's hands.

Everywhere we ate, from a restaurant in the Souq (market) to upmarket restaurants in Hotels, the food was well presented, even artistically presented, and always delicious and the service always impeccable.

The only thing that surprised me in the negative was the number of stray cats that I saw everywhere - from the Souq to the fancy suburbs.

Apparently there were a couple of volunteer associations that used to round up stray animals and sterilize them. But during the Covid 19 pandemic, a lot of animals were abandoned by families due to misinformation on pets contracting the virus and transmitting it to people, while some people lost their jobs and could no longer afford to keep pets, or even foreign workers who went back home and left the pets behind.

Due to to the high cost of visiting a vet, a lot of people don't neuter their animals and they are then more prone to running away to mate, and lose their way home.

Another strange thing was the fact that I saw lots of young kids not strapped in their car seats, instead they would sit in the front on the Mother's lap, they would be kneeling on the back seat waving their arms outside the car, and I even saw kids standing up in the back seat with their heads and hands poking out of the sun-roof.

Also I noticed Qataris have quite an aggressive way of driving, not indicating, just crossing in front..... we got a few frights in the Ubers.

                    Film I took from the balcony of Tono Restaurant at the Pearl Island