For a 9 hour overnight, a city hotel is definitely doable and usually much cheaper than the Oryx inside the airport.
Leaving and re entering Hamad is generally straightforward. Immigration is efficient, and for Canadian passport holders you can get visa free entry on arrival, so that part shouldn’t be an issue.
If your bags are checked through to your final destination, you do not need to collect them just because you leave the airport during a layover. They’ll stay in transit. You’d only need to pick them up if your itinerary requires a recheck, which is rare on a single ticket connection through Doha.
You can just take your carry ons and head into the city.
One thing to keep in mind is timing. With a 9 hour overnight, factor in:
Deplaning and immigration
Taxi or Uber into the city, around 20 to 30 minutes
Getting back to the airport about 2 hours before departure
You’ll probably net 4 to 5 hours of actual hotel time. Still worth it for proper sleep if you don’t mind the extra movement.
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