Qatar on Wednesday unveiled a 6,000-cabin fan village in an isolated lot near its airports, an offering for housing toward the lower end of what’s available for the upcoming World Cup just days away from starting.
As journalists toured the cabins, desert winds kicked up
sand at the 3.1 square-kilometer (1.1 square-mile) site, which housed a metro
station, a bus stop, and a planned temporary restaurant and convenience store.
The area could in theory hold as many as 12,000 people if booked at capacity,
officials said.
Artificial green grass coveredare the walkways outside, with
common areas filled with large bean-bag style chairs under a gray sky
Wednesday. Competing nations’ flags flapped in the strong desert wind, a large
screen also present at the site for fans to watch matches. Workers milled about
the site, checking on its final touches.
The brightly colored cabins, each with thin walls, are
designed to hold one or two people with twin beds, a nightstand, a small table
and chair, air conditioning, a toilet and a shower inside.
Each will go for around $200 a night — $270 with board — as
the tournament goes on. Some 60% of the cabins are already booked for the
tournament, said Omar al-Jaber, the head of accommodation at Qatar’s Supreme
Committee for Delivery and Legacy for the tournament.
There will be other rooms offered at $80 a night farther out
than this site near Doha International Airport and Hamad International Airport,
both of which will be seeing flights at all hours during the tournament. Planes
rumbled overhead during the visit Wednesday.
Those staying at the Fan Village can expect a 40-minute
commute to stadium sites.
“Most of the fan(s) they prefer if it’s not a hotel, they
prefer the apartment and villa,” al-Jaber said, noting those options are
managed by French hospitality company Accor. However, those wanting budget
accommodation will come to this site and the other for cheaper options, he
said.
In the lead-up to the tournament, concerns about hotel room
space and high prices for the rooms available have trailed Qatar, which lacks
hotel capacity for all teams, workers, volunteers and fans at the World Cup. So
Doha has created camping and cabin sites, hiring cruise ships, and encouraging
fans to stay in neighboring countries and fly in for games.
Qatar has estimated it will have 130,000 rooms per day for
the tournament.
Already, nearby Dubai in the United Arab Emirates has
planned for an influx of World Cup fans who want to stay there where their
money may go further.
“Now, the shuttle flights option, it’s one of the options
for the people who stay already in our neighbor countries and ... they would
like to just to spend a day for to attend the match,” al-Jaber said. “So this
is a good option for them in a state of their case.”
He added: “If they would like to come and stay, they are
more than welcome, of course, and there is a many, many options for them.”
There are still multiple options available for fans in Qatar
available to rent, ranging from hotels, cruise ship rooms, traditional dhow
sailing vessels and tents, the fan village, porta cabins and caravans. al-Jaber
said.
“We have enough accommodation and people still they can come
and enjoy the tournament and of course they can choose what they are looking
for from the accommodation,” he said.
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