Uzbekistan

“Go for the experience. Stay for its faded glory.”

This hotel is iconic, to the extent that it is literally one of the tourist stops on the Tashkent city bus tours that visit the top floor bar with its city wide views. I chose to stay in the hotel because I thought it would be a great experience staying in a bit of Uzbekistan history and it deliver… more

This hotel is iconic, to the extent that it is literally one of the tourist stops on the Tashkent city bus tours that visit the top floor bar with its city wide views. I chose to stay in the hotel because I thought it would be a great experience staying in a bit of Uzbekistan history and it delivered that with its dramatic architecture, soviet era spy history and is much loved by the cities birds. So yes it does have atmosphere in spades The hotel is in a great location for the metro, places to eat and sightseeing, every cab driver knows exactly where it is and it is affordable. Next door is a high end restaurant with live music that attracts expensive cars and guests each night. Beyond that the hotel itself is on the basic side when it comes to accommodation. Once you're through the glitzy lobby and past the large banqueting halls used for local weddings the corridors and rooms are tired. The beds were comfortable enough with clean linen, but the bathrooms were retro - though some had phones in! No doubt so KBG spies could take important calls in private. Housekeeping is just a bottle of water and fresh towels, facilities are sparse and staff helpfulness is hit and miss. There is a lobby bar and a top floor bar, they are fine for a quick drink or a look at the view but not much more than that. There's also a barbers and a small shop. The breakfast is plentiful but not the best quality and the gym looks like it was abandoned in the 1980s, but does have a cracking view of the mountains beyond the city. (I did hear that they are building a pool and new gym complex at some point so maybe the old gym has just been left to its own devices.) All in all I don't regret staying here, it is an impressive building and I enjoyed its faded glory. It was worth the money we paid, has some great views and added some cultural colour to our trip to Tashkent. I would recommend it for that. (Finally not a hotel comment - or an advert - but if you are visiting Uzbekistan download the Yandex Go app. You don't need to enter card details but you can order cabs like you would on Uber and pay cash for trips around the city for a couple of quid)

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“Traditional hotel”

Centrally located old authentic hotel big room sizes but needs a lot of upgrades not a good value fir your price but breakfast was good