Silk Road Empire Hotel

We had the best time at the Silk Road Empire Hotel! The room was beautifully decorated and clean, breakfast was delicious and all of the staff were so kind and friendly. On arrival we were told to expect some exciting surprises and this did not disappoint! We were treated to complementary wine each evening, given a room upgrade, a complementary airport transfer and even received a parting gift on departure. We cannot thank the team at the Silk Road Empire Hotel enough for our wonderful stay! We would highly recommend this hotel to anyone wanting to stay in Samarkand.

An incredibly beautiful hotel. So well decorated that it its like a museum inside. The rooms are excellent and very modern. The staff is super helpful. There is a Bar and a restaurant with great food. Very well located. Quite a memorable place to stay

This hotel is very welcoming, beautifully furnished and decorated. The hotel staff are friendly and efficient. The room I stayed in was nothing but luxurious with very comfortable beds and tasteful furnishing. Plenty of wardrobe space with a sofa to relax on and marble bathroom. It is within walking distance of the historic sights. I would definitely return and recommend this hotel to anyone who wants a relaxing stay in a historic hotel.

This hotel is fairly new. It’s extremely clean and the breakfasts are absolutely wonderful. Eggs, toast , juices, clean dining room. Our room was large with two Queen beds and one single bed. Showers are standard. The staff seemed fairly straightforward, but there’s a real problem there. The manager, Muhammad, pulled us to one side and sat us on the couch and explained that he would move us to the Presidential Suite at no extra cost to us if we agreed to give the hotel a 10 Point rating on ***********. Taken aback I informed him we do not take bribes! I told him our room was just fine, and it was! Then we asked the Concierge if he would purchase two First Class two person couchette train tickets from Samarkand to to Khiva and back. We gave him the money and two days later he gave us our tickets and we were quite pleased…..until we got to the train at discovered he had PURCHASED STEERAGE class tickets and pocketed the difference. Imagine a 10 hour train ride in a four person compartment with two LARGE women assigned the lower bunks and we, my wife is 72 and I am 77, climbing up into bunk beds with the outside temperature at 102 degrees F. - for 10 HOURS I cannot emphasize enough to stay anywhere but the Silk Road Empire Hotel

I booked this hotel through a major booking platform based on their rating. After I paid and checked out, my stay was cancelled by the hotel so I can not post a review there! Unbelievable! Therefore I would not trust their average rating! Pros : Room was modern, breakfast was acceptable (but I concur with the review mentioning the old lady starring), reception staff spoke decent English. Complimentary transfer to the train station. Complimentary soft drinks. Early check in at 12.30. Small gift upon checkout. Cons : - location : Really not the best, you can walk to registan in 20min or take a 5min taxi but the hotel is not in the touristic area which is between Registan and Shah-i-Zinda. - hotel layout : hotel is above a store, access is on second floor, although my room had a real window, most rooms are windowless and are overlooking the inner corridor. - vibe of the place : empty, depressing, barely saw any other guests - bathroom amenities : no shower gel in the dispenser (I used my own so I didn't ask for some but it was never refilled during my stay). - noise : really poor sound proofing and you can hear loud conversations from the staff in the corridor late in the evening - payment: they don't want you to pay with cards, and gives you multiple pretexts for it and they add a surcharge if you do it. All other hotels in uzbekistan I stayed at had no such surcharge and gladly accepted card payments with a smile. - service : Staff has generally no proper hospitality training. It was more a family guesthouse than a proper hotel. At first they seem willing to help, but it didn't feel genuine and clearly they don't know their place, particularly the manager. He begged no less than 4 times to get a 10/10 evaluation. By contrast, in my next hotel in Uzbekistan I was asked: "please leave us a review so we know what we can do better". I hope he can take note.