Marakanda

Most of this stay was a mess. The air conditioning was barely blowing, and when we asked reception to fix it or at least clean the filter, nothing improved. There was no shower hose by the toilet, and the bathroom bin hadn't been cleaned or emptied. We asked to change the mattress; they offered another room, but it was much smaller than the first. The tissues were poor quality, and the English skills were limited. I can't be sure, but I think I may have got food poisoning from the very limited breakfast. The worst issue came after checkout. At the time, check-in and check-out seemed fine, but after driving more than five hours to Tashkent, we found that markanda hotel hadn't registered either one. Their number ending in 11 wouldn't take calls from me or the hotels. They eventually answered through their second number, but I couldn't register at my next hotel. I was left waiting in the street until markanda had registered me for one day. I regret paying 140,000 Uzbek som. I wouldn't recommend this horrible hotel.

We felt well looked after here, even when it seemed we were the only guests on our first night. The staff were so friendly and helped with every request. A great place to stay in Samarkand, and I’d come back if I visit again.

The location was the one bright spot, but our stay was a mess from check-in to checkout. We had prepaid through Agoda for three nights, yet the hotel said it hadn’t received the money. We contacted Agoda to sort it out even though we had already paid and felt it was the hotel’s responsibility to resolve. The next day, staff told us we had to leave by 4 p.m. if it wasn’t fixed. Jahangir, an admin staff member, was especially aggressive and made us regret booking from the start. Our room had plenty of problems too. The shower sprayed everywhere except toward us, leaving the bathroom wet despite the curtain. We complained several times, but they only replaced the shower head on our last day. The room wasn’t clean: there was hair on the bed linen and dust on the radiator. There were no windows in our room. The deluxe rooms cost extra, and their windows apparently can’t be opened either, they’re just glass walls. The mattress was very hard, with such thin padding that we could feel the springs, so we slept badly throughout our stay. The drinking glasses were filthy and unusable. Breakfast was just okay and had very few options. When something ran out, they didn’t replenish it for late arrivals. After checkout, the staff wouldn’t even look at us, let alone help with our luggage, which I’ve never experienced at another hotel. I wouldn’t recommend staying here. It wasn’t worth the money.

The rooms were spacious and clean, and the decor was lovely. Service was good too.