Samarkand’s hotel scene splits into two kinds of places: courtyard guesthouses in the old mahallas around the Registan, and modern four-star blocks built along University Boulevard and near the railway station in the last ten years. Both are cheap by European standards. A clean three-star double near the Registan runs 35-60 dollars with breakfast, a new four-star with a pool 90-150. Seven hotels below cover both types. Each has hundreds of reviews on Booking.com and a guest score above 8.5, and all sit within a 10-minute taxi ride of the Registan, which in Samarkand means 15,000-20,000 som, or under two dollars.
Reviews and current prices are behind the buttons under each hotel.
Orient Star Hotel 4*
Orient Star is an older four-star on Registan Street, a 10-minute walk from the square itself and 6.4 km from the airport. It has been around long enough that the rooms show it, and reviews say so, but the location and the price keep it full. Points that come up repeatedly in guest reviews:
- Rooms: Comfortable and clean, with furniture from an earlier decade. Air conditioning works, which matters in July when the city hits 40°C.
- Location: Walking distance to the Registan and the Gur-e-Amir mausoleum, taxi to the airport in 15 minutes.
- Staff: Friendly and quick to sort out taxis, train tickets and laundry. This is the single most repeated comment.
- Dining: Restaurant and bar on site, terrace in summer. Breakfast is filling but a few guests call it three-star rather than four.
Hotel Minor 3*
Hotel Minor sits across the street from the Registan, and that is the whole argument. From the rooftop terrace you see the three madrasahs lit up at night without paying for the evening light show. It is a small family-run hotel, three stars, 5.8 km from the airport.
- Location: Registan in two minutes on foot, Bibi-Khanym Mosque and the Siyob Bazaar in ten. No other hotel on this list is closer to the main sights.
- Amenities: Rooftop terrace, small restaurant, a shared kitchen for guests, free shuttle from the station or airport if you ask in advance.
- Rooms: Clean, simple, on the small side. Ask for an upper floor if you want the view from your window and not only from the roof.
- Staff: Amir and his family get named in review after review for help with train tickets to Bukhara and taxis to Shakhrisabz.
- Getting there: 15 minutes from the airport by taxi, and the same from the Afrosiyob high-speed train station, which makes it convenient for air travelers and rail arrivals alike. Wi-Fi is free and works.
Rabat Boutique Hotel 3*
Rabat Boutique is the highest-rated of the old-town guesthouses on most booking sites, and the reason is space. Rooms are large for a three-star, beds are wide, and the whole place is wrapped in a garden with a vine-covered terrace where breakfast is served in warm months.
- Location: In the old mahalla south-west of the Registan, so the Registan, Gur-e-Amir and Rukhabad are all within a 10-15 minute walk through quiet streets.
- Amenities: Garden, terrace with city views, free Wi-Fi, 24-hour reception. No pool.
- Rooms: Spacious, clean, with big beds. Several guests mention the mattresses specifically, which is rare in reviews.
- Service: Professional rather than family-style. Airport pickup can be arranged for a few dollars.
- Overall: If you want the guesthouse feel without small rooms and shared bathrooms, this is the one.
Shohjahon Palace Hotel & Spa 4*
Shohjahon Palace is a modern four-star with an actual spa, which in Samarkand is still unusual. It is built for people who spend the day on their feet in the heat and want a pool and a massage afterwards rather than a courtyard and a teapot.
- Location: In the newer part of the center, a short taxi ride rather than a walk to the Registan. Restaurants and a supermarket nearby.
- Amenities: Spa with sauna, hammam and massage, indoor pool, restaurant, room service. The spa is the reason to choose it over the others.
- Rooms: Large, modern, with proper blackout curtains and quiet air conditioning. Good for anyone coming off the overnight train from Tashkent or a late flight.
- Service: Consistent rather than warm. Staff speak English, which is not a given in Samarkand.
- Overall: The comfort pick, and still under 150 dollars a night in most months.
Savitsky Plaza 4*
Savitsky Plaza is a small four-star named after the painter and museum founder Igor Savitsky, and the interiors follow the theme: reproductions of Uzbek avant-garde works, suzani textiles and carved wood in the rooms. Guests mention the decor more than anything else.
- Location: Central, near University Boulevard, about 10 minutes by taxi to the Registan and the same to the station.
- Amenities: Restaurant, terrace, free Wi-Fi, airport transfer on request. No pool.
- Rooms: Spotless, well decorated, with comfortable beds and air conditioning that reviewers single out as working properly, which tells you something about the competition.
- Service: Professional, English-speaking, quick to fix problems. Several reviews describe staff walking guests to a nearby restaurant to make sure they found it.
- Overall: The design choice. Pick it if you want the room itself to be part of the trip.
Zarafshon Parkside 4*
Zarafshon Parkside is one of the newer four-stars in the city, and it has the thing most Samarkand hotels lack: an outdoor pool. It opens from roughly May to September, which are exactly the months you will want it.
- Location: Beside a park in the modern center, a 10-minute taxi to the Registan. Quiet at night.
- Amenities: Seasonal outdoor pool, fitness room, garden, terrace, restaurant. Breakfast is a buffet with a proper omelette station.
- Rooms: Big, with king-size beds, good linen and white marble bathrooms. Among the largest standard rooms in the city.
- Service: Attentive without hovering. The pool bar keeps sensible hours in summer.
- Overall: The choice for a summer visit, or for anyone travelling with children who need somewhere to burn energy after the mosques.
Lia! by Minyoun Stars of Ulugbek 4*
Lia! is part of the Silk Road Samarkand complex on the eastern edge of the city, a purpose-built resort district opened in 2022 with a congress hall, a canal and a cluster of hotels run by the Chinese Minyoun group. It is the most international-feeling hotel on this list, with the trade-off that the Registan is a 20-minute drive away.
- Location: In the Silk Road Samarkand complex, next to the Eternal City, a reconstructed old-town street of restaurants and craft shops. Taxi to the center costs about two dollars.
- Amenities: Restaurant, 24-hour reception, room service, free Wi-Fi, access to the complex’s pools and spa.
- Rooms: New, spacious and very clean. Reviews mention the housekeeping standard more than the design.
- Service: Trained hotel-chain service, English spoken at every desk.
- Overall: Best for conference visitors and for anyone who values a new building over walking distance to the sights.
Picking Between Them
For a first visit of two or three nights, stay within walking distance of the Registan: Hotel Minor for the view, Rabat Boutique for the space, Orient Star for the price. The square is best at 7 am and after 9 pm, and walking there beats waiting for a taxi. In June to August, when afternoons pass 38°C, a pool changes the day, and that means Zarafshon Parkside or Shohjahon Palace. Savitsky Plaza is for people who care about interiors, and Lia! for those who arrive for an event at the Silk Road complex.
Two practical notes. Registration: hotels in Uzbekistan issue a registration slip for each night, and border officers occasionally ask to see them on departure, so keep the slips. Payment: most of these hotels take cards, but smaller guesthouses may prefer cash in som, and ATMs near the Registan run out of money on weekends. Withdraw in Tashkent or at the airport on arrival.
For the wider picture, our hotel guest score study of Uzbekistan places Samarkand right beside Bukhara near the top.
