The luxury brand, Louis Vuitton, has recently launched its first branded lounge at Hamad International Airport (HIA) in Doha, Qatar. This newly opened luxury lounge is in partnership with the Qatar-based airline Qatar Airways.
The Louis Vuitton luxury lounge
The new lounge opened late last week and sits above the already-existing Louis Vuitton store. The store coexists in an area with a variety of luxury shops that include Bvlgari, Fendi, and Omega. The rest of Hamad Airport is rated as a five-star airport by Skytrax and is additionally a hub for Qatar Airways.
The Louis Vuitton Lounge was opened with a specific partnership with Qatar Airways. The new lounge will offer Qatar Airways's first and business-class passengers a wide range of benefits. This includes various food offerings, drinks, and shopping at the luxury store.
The new lounge is also specially furnished. The interior of the Louis Vuitton lounge includes designer furnishings from various artists. This includes India Mahdavi's low tables and Costela armchairs that Martin Eisler designed.
A restaurant is attached to the finely furnished lounge to provide Qatar Airways passengers with exquisite food. The menu has been created by the three-star Michelin Chef Yannick Alleno. This menu is also specifically designed to highlight various local ingredients in Qatar. Qatari cuisine is influenced by a variety of spices and foods that include saffron, nuts, limes, and cinnamon.
Another benefit to flying through Hamad International Airport
The airport is opening the Louis Vuitton branded luxury lounge in addition to several other already existing lounges. The airport already houses luxurious lounges like the Al Safwa First Lounge and the Al Mourjan Business Lounge.
In addition to the existing luxurious lounges, the Louis Vuitton Lounge's restaurant will join an existing list of other luxury-branded restaurants in the airport. This includes several upscale dining options such as Emporio Armani Caffee, Fendi Caffee, Ralph Lauren's Ralph's Coffee, and Harrod's Tearoom.
In addition to the Louis Vuitton Lounge in Hamad International Airport, the brand has opened several other branded restaurants. In Paris, France, Louis Vuitton launched the Maxime Frédéric located at the Louis Vuitton café. This eatery is named after its head pastry chef and was opened as a part of the LV Dream. The LV Dream is a free exhibition experience that is supposed to chronicle the brand.
The airport is adding the lounge in addition to expanding several routes over the upcoming travel season. Early last week, Qatar Airways announced that it would resume flights to Bahrain from Doha. This will resume the route after nearly six years due to the Qatar blockade. This will be in addition to Gulf Air flying the same route. Both of these airlines are planning to operate these routes with Airbus A320s and will fly 14 flights per week between the pair.
In addition to opening the route to Bahrain, Qatar Airways also announced it would resume its operations at Auckland Airport (AKL) in New Zealand. This route, which is one of the world's longest nonstop routes, ceased operating due to the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020.