Yelp Review 2023 #12:…read more
Based in Zürich, Switzerland, Match Hospitality delivers hospitality packages for sporting events such as the World Cup, Formula 1, etc at venues all over the world. Getting tickets to the 2022 World Cup was close to impossible - a friend of mine tried but he got no tickets. Good thing, we got ours through Match Hospitality months in advance.
Although the package costs the price of a car, it includes match tickets beautifully packaged in individual sleeves in a box (we went to the last four games which started at $1000 each), hotel, private transportation to/ from the airport and stadiums, separate hospitality entrances with lines shorter than regular spectator lines, a lounge access, gifts at every game, processing our Hayya card (which was our visa entry upon arrival in Qatar so we can breeze through immigration at the airport, and access to public transportation in Doha).
Before getting to the World Cup:
We got our match tickets mailed to us a month prior. But there was a hiccup trying to get my Hayya application approved. I provided Match Hospitality my passport information for them to process my Hayya application. I waited and it was still pending. 5 weeks prior to my flight leaving the US, I noticed the passport number Match Hospitality had entered was missing a digit! I had them fix it and 2 days later, my Hayya application got approved but it was too late for them to mail my Hayya card to me.
Upon arrival at Doha Hamad International Airport:
There was a separate line for World Cup attendees vs everybody else. With my Hayya card downloaded on my phone, I breezed through the arrival gate and straight to baggage claim. All I had to do with scan my passport and my Hayya QR code - no human contact but no passport stamp. We met with a hospitality host who welcomed us and escorted us to our private car. It was only a 15-minute drive from the airport to our hotel in Corniche.
Getting to the games:
We got picked up from the hotel 2-3 hours before the match. Three out of four drivers were excellent - calm, professional, weaved through traffic like no other and got us to the stadium on time. Freeways going to stadiums in Doha had designated lanes for regular spectators, VIP, and hospitality. Hospitality parking lot is much closer to the stadium - you only walk 5-10 minutes. The spectator parking lot is far (at least a 20-minute walk to the stadium).
That one bad driver:
Let's talk about our driver for the 3rd place match between Croatia and Morocco on December 17th: he was absolutely terrible! Which is the reason I had to dock 1 star for this review. He was rude and from the get-go, he knew he didn't have a hospitality parking permit and blamed "the office" for not giving him one. We got to the entrance of the hospitality parking lot and he got told to go to a different parking lot because he didn't have hospitality parking permit. He was arguing with the parking attendants. He angrily drove away without remembering the directions the parking attendant gave him but I did. I told him where to go and he was arguing with me! WTF? We got to another entrance and got turned away again and our driver was blaming the parking attendants for not knowing what they're doing. It's everybody else's fault except his. I was very mad and my sister had to tell me that the country our driver is from (somewhere in Africa), men don't respect women's opinions - I don't give a flying f***! If we paid a lot of money for good service with HOSPITALITY, I shouldn't have to deal with shenanigans! The last parking attendant told him to just drop us off close to the stadium and then park at the spectator lot - again, he did not listen and parked at spectator parking lot and made us walk 20-30 minutes to the stadium. I told my sister to contact James (our hospitality contact) about our driver. James apologized and that was it. After the game, he had the audacity to rush us to get back in the car. It was already dark by the time the game was over and the lot was super packed and we couldn't find the car. Our driver shared his location with us but it took us to the wrong place and once again, it was our fault and not his. What an absolute d***!
At the stadium:
We had our own hospitality entrance with shorter lines and access to the lounge where we can eat, drink, be one with the (hospitality) crowd, and have a great time before and after the match. The hosts were helpful and gave us our wristbands, lanyards, and gifts. At the lounge: lots of snacks, cold and hot food, unlimited drinks including alcohol which is banned from being sold at every stadium in Doha. We had our own shop, restrooms, live entertainment and lots of activities: face painting station, foosball, photo booth, futbol clinic, etc.
Overall, it was a good experience with just one big annoying misogynistic hiccup.
