Your average library may demand that you maintain a polite degree of hush, but you’ll probably be tempted to shout your mouth off after a visit to this palatial bar. Like its parent hotel, the Four Seasons, the Library Bar exudes an air of class, and it’s a world removed from the grim functionality of most of Doha’s drinking dens. The exalted ambience may hint at stuffiness, but once you are ensconced in a deep comfortable chair or sofa, the outward layer of pretension will soon slip away to reveal something much more laid-back.

The jazzy music policy helps – Chet Baker, Elvis Costello and Madeleine Peyroux among the luminaries featured on a surprisingly hip soundtrack – as do the complimentary nibbles, including tasty marinated olives and a heaped bowl of mixed nuts. And by the time a drink arrives from an epic and alluring menu, relaxation levels will be so high that the extortionate bill should prompt little more than the arch raising of an eyebrow.