Asl Hotel

Breakfast was sparse on fruit, and I had to ask repeatedly for items that weren’t set out, even bottled water. Earlier, we’d both struggled to get hot water in the freezing weather. My shower started lukewarm and quickly turned cold, so I couldn’t wash properly. My friend was in another room and had to ask to move because it smelled of cigarettes. The room heating was too weak for me to sleep comfortably. In the morning a boy was looking after reception, but otherwise nobody was there and no one picked up the phone. It was a really sad stay.

The room was spacious and clean, and the man at reception was genuinely kind and helpful. Still, the bed mattress was wider than its frame, and breakfast didn’t offer many choices. The hotel sits right among Bukhara’s tourist sights, which is convenient but also very noisy. We’d booked a room overlooking the square, but were put on the terrace instead. Staff said there was no availability from the first night, and in the end we were glad to miss the square noise. With so many quieter places around, we probably wouldn’t stay here again.

We ended up hauling our bags to another hotel down the street after the tour organizer, upset on our behalf, quickly arranged a room for us. The receptionist said our original hotel was overbooked and this was all they could offer. The first room we saw had grimy walls, shabby towels, two tired looking twin beds, and thin windows that let in plaza noise, from honking cars to barking dogs. We were then offered an upstairs room, but it was mid-renovation, smelled strongly of new carpet, had no real heat, and contained little beyond a bed and four bare walls. The reception area at ASL Hotel had looked modern, with clean floors, so the room was a shock.

Friendly staff and clean rooms, with a perfect location. For what you get, it could even cost more :)