Tone, trust me I'm the world's worst flyer, but I've just come back from a London - Dubai - Male - Dubai - London trip on Emirates and as far as cabin service, comfort etc, they were great. To the best of my knowledge, Emirates are a "pukka" airline - there shouldn't be any safety concerns.
Can't comment about stopovers etc to Qatar, but as far as comfort was concerned, cabin was comfortable (and some flights were quiet, so room to stretch out), food and booze were fine.
Huge range of nationalities amongst the flight deck and cabin crew - all the crew we encountered were very friendly and without the Singapore-girl type subservience that I find a little spooky.
Overall, wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.