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MY DOHA
Whitney Robinson, design guru and consultant to Qatar Museums
Over the past two decades the once quiet Gulf town of Doha has become a city of astonishing architectural spectacle and cultural ambition, evidenced by its global influence and evolving identity at the intersection of heritage and innovation. Part-time resident, design guru WHITNEY ROBINSON, shares with Raffles 1887 his go-to itinerary for the Qatar capital.
TO say that Doha has changed since I first arrived in 2006 is as much of an understatement as calling the skyline’s neon glow subtle. What was once a quiet Gulf pearl-diving town, defined by low-rise buildings and open desert roads, has ascended – quite literally – into a city of architectural spectacle and cultural ambition. The transformation isn’t just in the shimmering glass towers that now punctuate the horizon, nor in the museums that have rewritten Doha’s artistic landscape: it is foundational, embedded in the city’s urban fabric, its global influence, and its evolving identity at the intersection of heritage and modernity.
I spend about four months a year in Doha, making it my de facto second home (disclaimer: I consult for Qatar Museums). My roots are in New York City, and while it surprises many of my friends until they see it for themselves, the two cities share more in common than one might expect. Both are in a constant state of transformation – always under construction. Yet amid Doha’s rapid growth, certain experiences remain timeless. My go-to itinerary – one I swear by and share with every friend, editor and designer who visits – is designed to showcase the inimitable and often quirky blend of heritage and innovation that defines this city.
My day begins early, typically at 5am with the first morning prayer, which feels like the alarm clock of the city. During the winter months, Doha’s climate is reminiscent of Miami’s, with warm days and cool evenings – often a surprise for those unfamiliar with the region’s seasonal shifts. While many take to the Corniche, a waterfront promenade not unlike the Croisette in Cannes, I prefer to start my morning at The Ned Doha, a members’ club and hotel housed in the former Ministry of Interior building. Designed by David Chipperfield, The Ned is a masterful example of adaptive reuse, preserving the integrity of the original structure while infusing it with contemporary and international cool.
From the top floor club, the view of the I.M. Pei-designed Museum of Islamic Art serves as the city’s unofficial beacon, an architectural marvel the Chinese-American architect, most famous for creating the Louvre’s glass pyramid, based on a 12th-century Egyptian mosque. In November 2025 the museum will host a retrospective of Pei’s life and work.
If anything, Doha, and its fearless cultural leader Sheikha Al Mayassa Bint Hamad bint Khalifa Al thani, understands the power of architecture in shaping identity. Nowhere is this more evident than in the National Museum of Qatar designed by Jean Nouvel. The NMoQ, or desert rose, as it is affectionately known by locals, is dedicated to telling the story of Qatar (including its meteoric rise as the result of natural gas deposits). I always recommend beginning any visit to Doha here; it provides an essential context for understanding the country’s past, present and future.
The museum also houses one of Doha’s great restaurants, Jiwan. Overlooking the corniche, its interior was created by Sydney-based Japanese architect Koichi Takada and echoes the natural curves of sand dunes. The menu, conceptualised by Alain Ducasse, presents a French-inspired interpretation of Qatari cuisine.
Shopping in Doha is a tale of extreme opposites. At one end, there’s Place Vendôme, the city’s newest mall and its answer to Avenue Montaigne – if Avenue Montaigne were housed in a million-square-metre, glass-ceilinged, air-conditioned palace. Think designer boutiques (even the Hermès has a private garden terrace), marble floors and an excess of chandeliers. At the other end, there’s Souq Waqif, the city’s labyrinthine, beating heart, where centuries-old trading culture is alive and well. Here, I weave through alleys thick with the scent of saffron and oud, duck into fabric shops where tailors can whip up a bespoke thobe in a matter of hours. And – because this is Qatar – swing by the Falcon Hospital, where regal birds receive VIP-level healthcare (yes, falconry is serious business here). Damasca One is the dinner option in the souq, a longstanding institution serving some of the finest Syrian cuisine in Doha, with Thursday nights being particularly lively, as locals and visitors wind down the week with shish taouk and shisha.
"No trip to Doha is complete without a pilgrimage to the desert – specifically to the sculpture East/West by Richard Serra… nowhere on earth makes me feel more that art has the power to redefine space and perception"
No trip to Doha is complete without a pilgrimage to the desert – specifically, to the public art sculpture East/West by Richard Serra. Comprising four towering steel plates, each over 14 metres in height, the installation spans a kilometre, a Kubrickian vision in the Arabian desert, whose steel plates glow at sunset (my favourite time to visit). Nowhere on earth other than this place makes me feel art has the power to redefine space and perception more.
From the raw beauty of the desert, it’s back to Doha’s latest hospitality landmark: Raffles. The first impression is, unsurprisingly, architectural – a silhouette that could belong in Stargate or Star Wars. I head straight to the 36th floor to Acoustic, where a rainbow-hued staircase mirrors the West Bay skyline, to toast with friends over a Cranberry Moonwalk mocktail and truffle fries – somehow, the perfect embodiment of Doha itself.
Whitney Robinson has been telling stories through design for more than 20 years. As Editor-in-Chief of Elle Decor, he showcased the design world’s most important international developments and discovered and championed its most promising emerging talent. His design publishing career included stints at Town & Country and House Beautiful; with regular contributions to Condé Nast Traveler, Departures, The New York Times Style Magazine and WSJ. Through his company Whitney Robinson International, a collective of designers, editors, architects, marketers, artists and creators, he is now bringing his vision to hospitality and real estate development, including a private members arts club in Qatar, viewing each project as a chance to change how we feel and understand different cultures.
Portrait of Whitney Robinson by Brigitte Lacombe
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