The BBC has posted a rather humorous article on the author's vain attempts to have a non-superficial experience of Qatar: Trying to lift the veil on Qatar.

Nit-picking: it's untrue foreigners can't rent property. "Most" Qatari women don't cover their faces, and Land Cruisers don't look like tanks. Is Faris supposed to be Qatari, 'cause if so, what's he doing in a galabia? And what's with Saud "Il Thani" -- is he Italian?! The world's biggest mall was not on his Doha city tour since it's in Beijing, and Souq Waqif was recently renovated, not demolished. I understand that you never get the full picture of somewhere after visiting for only a couple days, but all those things are easily fact-checkable!