Grand Plaza Hotel Samarkand

The hotel is clean and comfortable; rooms have a decent size. Breakfast is good. Hotel staff is young and willing to help in any way. They helped us to find a private driver for a full day. The location is excellent.

Nothing.

The location was great, and the room was very big and very clean, with a wardrobe, kettle and tea/coffee options, a fridge stocked with snacks and a comfortable bed. As other reviews have pointed out, it's a bit of a bare room but that was not an issue for me, especially since I stayed less than one full night and it had all I needed (a hairdryer)

There is something about this hotel that I can't quite put my finger on it. The photos on Booking.com look like the hotel, but in person it feels a bit less luxurious and the atmosphere is a bit odd. When I arrived, the main entrance had a red cordon in front of it so it took me a minute to realise you were supposed to use one of the two side doors (which were closed, but not locked). The lobby was exactly like the photos but dark, because lights in the central part of it were not on. Reception was manned by very sweet but a bit clueless receptionists. The one I checked in with had forgotten to ask me to pay, so he called me to the room shortly afterwards to come down and pay. When I indicated I wanted to pay with Apple pay, he nodded but the card reader was not equipped for contactless payments. After watching me try to pay with my phone did he said it's an old card reader that requires a physical card (he could have said that from the start). The one at check-out, when I asked for a copy of proof of accommodation (which is no longer required, but I wanted for my records), didn't seem to know what I was asking for and how to do it and called someone else, who came in a few minutes and did it. All other hotels I stayed at in Uzbekistan could fulfil that request on the spot. Both receptionists were very polite and spoke fairly good English. The reception desk is so that whoever is sitting from the hotel staff cannot see who passes by, so every time I would walk into the lobby I would see a head bob up. There were other instances where other men, presumably associated with the hotel, were also in the lobby and would look at me pass by, so I felt quite observed but never unsafe. It's just a bit strange. I stayed only one afternoon until the early hours of the following morning to catch my flight, and in that time only saw two other guests (it is the low season, though). I did not try the breakfast.

1. Location 2. Nice staff 3. CLean environment 4. Great city

Nothing bad

Very good location for sightseeing and easy walk to most attractions

Perhaps a small lounge chair in the room

As a start the staff is great and they go the extra mile. The rooms look and are for the most part great. The location is more or less perfect.

I would as an European appreciate a mix of local and continental/English breakfast. You also serve "juice" which essentially is closer to American cool-aid or in other words sugarwater with fruit taste. That's not juice, it's a poor substitute for the real thing. You really only need real apple juice, orange (apelsin) juice and as a local option pomegranate juice. Not the cool-aid version, real juice made from fruits either in concentrate or freshly made. The airconditioner did not work properly. It makes a lot of sound and blows a little air but doesn't really heat, cool or change out the air. It is more or less better not turned on at all. The bed is overall great but it's way too hard. It seems you have 2 out of 3 parts of the bed, the top soft part which makes it bearable to sleep on isn't there. Now a days you don't need a TV with channels, just install smart TV:s which that can install android apps and make sure you have Netflix, YouTube and Spotify as pre-set apps and you're good to go. Do please increase the pressure in your showers. It will save you water and have guest spend less time in them whilst increasing their satisfaction...

Great hotel, in a really central location for sight seeing, good restaurants within walking distance. Very spacious room with good size bathroom. Friendly staff too. Good selection at hotel for breakfast to cater for many nationalities.