Strandhoteller i Tadsjikistan

"This hotel has some good qualities, but it has a long way to go before it can consider itself five-star. Good nice breakfast large rooms Big comfortable bed Bad broken shower—impossible to find the hot water or turn water off Elevator keycard scanner is decades old, doesn’t work—have to scan 7-8 times to get anywhere Pool always out of clean towels Pool boy was rude and arrogant Pool area too small front desk staff cold and unwelcoming tried to arrange a transfer to Samarkand through the hotel, hoping to avoid being scammed by a taxi. We were quoted a huge price which they later dropped by 35% (?). We asked for a written agreement (price & drop-off at hotel in Samarkand) to avoid a hidden charge for crossing the border etc. (we are well-travelled and this has happened before). The manager said this was impossible as it was Sunday, but assured us we would pay the quoted price. • We said we appreciated his assurance but that it would be useless when we had crossed the border in a stranger’s car, no longer had internet to contact him etc. He called the driver who now said there would be a 30% tax on top of the quoted price. I told him this is exactly why I wanted the agreement in writing. A lot more back & forth involved the manager laughing in my face for requiring this (we thought this may be because I was a woman, as front desk staff always greeted us with, “hello sir” and ignored me). It worked out, but this level of service is unacceptable for a 5-star hotel."

"Great stay, in good location."