호텔 그랜드 사마르칸드(Hotel Grand Samarkand Superior B)

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.