The Shahar

First of all, they gave us a room with no window. Because the small ship-like round thing in the attic cannot count as one. I suffer from a mild claustrophobia which kicked in instantly. Although I have explained that to the young boy at the reception and he went on to explain to the lady manager in the back office, they initially tried to persuade me to sleep in that room for the night and we can find another in the morning. The fact that the manager did not come out was unprofessional and let a second bitter taste in my mouth. They finally moved us to the neighbouring room which does have a window, but it also has a wall in front of it. So great. Fourth, there’s a foul smell coming from the shower sewer. All in all, it really is one the worst hotels I’ve stayed in the past…I don’t remember how many years. And the staff was not of much help with it either. I believe their extraordinary reviews on booking and on google are fake, as they are way too bombastic and unrealistic for this place. We will move to the new room they will propose in the morning and only if it smells ok we will stay because we don’t want to move around once more, but most likely we’ll move to another hotel altogether, with all the trouble. This is not how we expected our Uzbekistan trip to end. All the other hotels in Khiva, Bukhara and Samarkand were nice and first of all, the staff was super helpful and nice.

I travelled to The Shahar Hotel directly from Tashkent airport. It isn’t far but took a little while owing to the busy traffic. The hotel is situated a little bit out of the centre of Tashkent but still within walking distance. The hotel has been built in a traditional style. I really liked it from the moment I arrived. There is an outdoor seating area where you can also enjoy breakfast and then there is the main entrance to the hotel. The staff were all great. I particularly liked the young gentleman on reception who checked me in. I found him to be very helpful and he even ordered some food on my behalf which was then delivered to the hotel. He then served it to me in the hotel restaurant, definitely going above and beyond. My bedroom was on the ground floor and was fabulous. It was really large, having a dressing area with a big wardrobe and then a very large bedroom area with additional seating and tea/coffee making facilities The hotel thoughtfully provides everything the traveller may need. They also provided different snacks which was a nice touch. The rooms were immaculately clean. The bathroom nicely decorated and with a good shower. The wifi was also good. The breakfast served was very generous and delicious. Across the road from the hotel is a river with a pathway that runs along side it. Following this pathway creates a pleasant walk which takes you into central Almaty. The walk is approximately 20mins but public transport is also available. The hotel also arranged a car and driver for me to take me to Samarkand. All in all an excellent stay in a very good value hotel.

This is a fairly small hotel with very helpful staff who went out of their way to make our stay as pleasant as possible. We were a group of 6 and everyone was pleased with the rooms and the friendly hotel staff. The breakfast was very nice. It was very good value for money, and I would definitely stay here again if I visit Tashkent in the future.