Thursday, 28 Mar 2024

We've seen Qatar World Cup 'hotels' for fans and our advice is: really don't go

These are the ‘fan villages’ where England supporters will be expected to fork out £200 a night to stay during this month’s World Cup.

Photos from the Al-Emadi fan village show thousands of brightly-painted aluminium portacabins laid out in long rows in the desert.

But the interior isn’t as eye-catching, with guests getting either a single or double bed depending on who they are staying with along with basic toilet and drink-making facilities.

There is a temporary supermarket on site and outdoor screens to watch the games.

But organisers have repeatedly warned fans that the country’s strict Sharia laws prohibit the sale of alcohol outside of specially licenced venues such as restaurants, hotels and fan zones at particular times – seemingly excluding fan villages.

Qatar is expecting more than a million visitors during the month-long tournament, with the peak number expected between November 24 and 28, during the busy group stage.

On average, fans will spend seven nights in Qatar, according to Omar Al-Jaber, executive director of accommodations.



Metro World Cup 2022 coverage

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  • When does the Premier League stop for the World Cup 2022?

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Organisers introduced more than 500 shuttle flights a day allowing fans to stay in neighbouring cities like Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, alleviating concerns tiny Qatar would face an accommodation shortage.

With a population of three million, Qatar has fewer than 31,000 hotel rooms so organisers identified a total of 130,000 rooms in alternative accommodation, converting all available real estate stock into temporary housing.

Accor, Europe’s largest hotels operator, is managing most of the apartments and villas.

Three cruise ships will dock at Doha’s port to provide more than 5,000 rooms.

Some fans will stay in 1,000 modern tents on a man-made island north of Doha.

In case inclement weather like sandstorms or rain make tents or fan villages uninhabitable, organisers have arranged ‘backup rooms in a different area’, especially for people who opted to stay in an open-space area like a fan village, Mr Al-Jaber said.

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