Doha's first Gay Club (created by mistake)

Doha's first gay club?

Quite a few visitors are landing here by searching for gay doha, doha gay club, gay in qatar, etc. There's a running joke here which I'd better explain. Doha Sofitel (Le Mercure) has a history of fixing what's not broken and as a result driving away its regular customers. Until fairly recently, Le Club in the second floor, though rough and ready, was quite a lively venue, frequented mainly by Indians, Filipinos, Chinese working girls, Lebanese and a few European ex-pats. The following sequence is how they managed to snatch dismal failure from the jaws of success, in ten easy steps.

01) declare your low dive 'members only'
02) refuse membership to single women
03) refuse membership to unmarried couples
04) as above, but more so, if the woman is Chinese
05) fail to notice that married couples have never come here
06) gaze in amazement at all these empty tables
07) convince yourself that the quietness is a sign of recession
08) fail to notice that Qatar is not in recession
09) turn a blind eye to the pretty boys holding hands
10) be grateful that your takings have bottomed out
11) well done, Sofitel, another first!

shorts and shadows

So, no, sorry if your visit has been wasted, but it's not really become a gay club after all. Having said that, it's probably as close to one as Doha can provide. You'll certainly never find a legal gay bar here. And it's well worth a visit for the relatively cheap beer and one of the best live bands in town. (Yes, I know that's not saying much!)

Now, since you've come, why not read some more?

boogie on down, boys

Some of Doha's dancing boys - not a woman in sight. Except for the band, of course, three girls to boot, but they are paid to be there!
Postscript: the excellent band, Boggs and the Girls, have been replaced by a dismal outfit comprising a keyboard man and two karaoke girls who seem unfamiliar with basic intonation. But as  the Dohaland demolition has already reached the other side of the street, it probably hardly matters any more. The end is nigh!