Hotel Grand Samarkand Superior - B

The hotel, located in the newer part of the city and supposedly one of the city’s best, was unusually located, in a quiet side street off a major avenue, but there was nothing commercial within 300 meters. Even stranger, there were two Grand Superior hotels facing each other – I guess they called them A and B. We were told that the owner wanted to expand but couldn’t buy the adjacent lot so he did the next best thing – buy the lot across the street. So even our tour leader wasn’t sure which side we were booked at and he had to ask. But more problematic, breakfast would be served alternately between the two locations. Which meant that for a two night stay, chances are you had to cross the street in the morning then cross it again after breakfast, at least once. My wife and I were going to be given a two bed guest room but when we asked for a king bed, they moved us to a ground floor room that had a tiny window. The hallways were decorated with nice artifacts. The room was fully carpeted and sufficiently large, so we had space on the floor to lay both our luggage fully opened. We appreciated the desk and bed lamps, including bedside reading lights. There were enough power outlets for our devices; they even had a power ***** available, which we didn’t see anywhere else. But we couldn’t get the TV to work. There were a couple of odd pieces of wood furniture, including a wardrobe cabinet which wasn’t deep enough so the hangers had to slant sideways. The bathroom was on the small side, with what seems to be a standard for Uzbekistan – a 30 inch by 30 inch shower stall. Breakfast was the best we’ve seen in the three Central Asian countries we’ve visited so far – there seemed to be enough of most everything. There was an elder gentleman who greeted all the breakfast guests and who made sure the staff were on top of everything. We loved the attention. Dinner was at the same location – they served good soup, salad, and beef stroganoff on a bed of mashed potatoes – nice. Again, the same elderly gent oversaw the dinner operations.

I spent 4 nights here as part of a group tour. The rooms are pretty comfortable, with a view of the leafy central courtyard. Unfortunately there is practically no sound-proofing between rooms so I was woken up repeatedly during the night by my next door neighbour until I had a quiet word (he was part of my tour group and very cooperative). Breakfast was fine (if you like instant coffee - that's all we had anywhere in UZ) and the waiter was friendly. The dining room was very crowded, though. They had at least two tour groups in at a time and it was a real scrum. We had one dinner there after a long day on the road from Khiva. Food was OK but not special. There is a partner hotel over the road (Grand Samarkand A), also catering for tour groups. That looks a bit nicer and has an (unheated) outdoor indoor pool. People in B can use those facilities but take a towel because there's none provided. I used the sauna in the basement of A but you have to warn them an hour ahead so they can turn it on! There's a plunge pool with it but no loungers to relax on. I also had a massage arranged through the hotel because I had spare time and there was nothing else to do locally. I was told I could have it in the sauna area then use the sauna afterwards. They called me in my room a while later to say there was no massage table in the sauna area so would I have the massage in my room then go across the road to the sauna afterwards?! I did that but the fantastic lady masseuse (Ludmilla) had difficulty conducting the massage on my relatively low bed. The price was 50 US$, by the way, which I thought was really steep but she was very good. The hotel took a cut, of course. In terms of location, these hotels are far from the tourist attractions. Samarkand is a large city and there's nothing much in this area. I'd advise staying much closer to the historic areas. You can get a taxi from the hotel but make sure you have the address to get a taxi back.

Very nice staff and comfortable ( if dated rooms). When we were there pool, restaurant and bar all closed so services limited. Breakfast was poor for a 4* hotel with instant coffee- unbelievable. Needs to raise its game to be really good.