The Mandarin Oriental is set to open a hotel in Doha, Qatar, in March 2017 as part of a sprawling 76-acre reinvigoration of the city’s old commercial district into a thriving, new downtown designed to be modern yet deeply connected to Qatari traditions and culture.

The spa at Mandarin Oriental Doha has been planned and designed with a scheme that connects the Oriental heritage of Mandarin Oriental with a sense of place in the Qatari development, Jeremy McCarthy, Mandarin Oriental’s group director of spa, told Spa Opportunities.

“The facilities have been specifically designed with sensitivity to the local culture and customs,” he explained. “For example, there is complete gender separation upon entry, with separate reception salons for male and female guests. This separation occurs throughout the spa journey.”

The spa journey will take guests from the reception lounges to changing and bathing facilities, with each bathing area featuring an indoor swimming pool with poolside heated loungers. Supporting these are saunas, steamrooms and experience showers.

Each changing room also has a small prayer room for guests to “respectfully meet their religious obligations,” said McCarthy, as well as a Tea Lounge for guests to relax before being collected by their therapists.

There will be a separate ladies-only fitness centre accessed directly from the women’s changing rooms, as well as a barber shop – accessed from the male fitness changing rooms – with traditional barber stations and two beauty-treatment rooms for facial and body treatments, as well as hand and nail care.

Six single treatment rooms can be assigned to either male or female use with privacy maintained via clever doorway placements in the connecting corridors. This same connectivity allows couples to emerge from their respective Tea Lounges to a couple’s treatment room that is equipped with a daybed, foot wash area and Rasul mud cabin with shower.

The spa will also feature two VIP Treatment Suites with private elevator access directly from the car park, for those who wish to visit the spa discretely.

“The VIP Treatment Suites allow guests to dress, bathe, relax, have treatments and even take light meals during extended spa programmes,” said McCarthy.

One VIP Suite has a scrub room for exfoliation and the other has a couple’s vitality pool. Both share a Thai treatment room with traditional Thai futon.

The Fitness & Wellness Centre will offer a wide range of cardio options, a strength and conditioning zone, free weights and three studios, including one devoted to yoga that can be accessed from both the ladies fitness centre and from the main fitness area. The other two studios, accessed from the main fitness area, will be a multifunctional group exercise studio and a Movement Studio, focused on functional fitness and core strength, balance, agility and coordination.