GARNI -Hotel Barbakan

Great hotel just off old town center. Good food, great staff, comfortable rooms.

This hotel is in a good location but is very old They have secure parking but the entrance is very narrow and there is a high curb on the right that you cannot see at night as the entrance is on an incline thus a scratch on the car 1st in 30 years. The breakfast is very good in an atrium room but there is no lift to the rooms and the stairs are steep and narrow.

I was not expecting too much from this hotel so I did not get disappointed. The entire inside of the hotel could use a big face-lift. The room on the 1st floor (no lift) was OK with a hard bed, a very heavy cover and too flat pillow. There was a smell from the bad drainage in the bathroom that could be fixed by running some water or shower (the shower head in 103 really needs changing) or closing the door. The modern flat screen TV and the minibar (no alcohol) will work when you flip the plug switch by the TV. The Wi-Fi in the room is very weak (they only have 802.11g radio type). I was unable to do anything in the room but I would sit in the cafe till closing (10:00 PM) and surf the web while sipping drinks or having dinner. The food is good, but watch out for the confit of duck breast, it did come swimming in a "lake" of its own fat. Their coffee machine does not make a good espresso. Have it elsewhere. The staff was very friendly and helpful. Room Tip: To avoid the street traffic noise (and the heat of the sun), ask for a room on a lower floor facing the private parking lot behind the hotel.

Staff was very busy in the restaurant when we arrived so our reception was rushed. Coffee at breakfast was instant coffee so not what we expected in Europe. The food was good. The room was comfortable and the staff gave us good tourist information. The hotel is close to main town square.

Unfortunately I cannot recommend this hotel! We were the only occupants during our 2 day stay and they put us on the 3rd floor in the attic! No lift, an extremely narrow stair case. On top of this, we were informed by the receptionist that if we were to enter the hotel after 11pm we would have to use our keys us the hotel was locked, due to there being no staff. Despite the hotel stating it had 24 hour reception! The breakfast was quite poor, the bread was at least 2 days old, and had to be toasted! We did not enjoy our stay at all.