Few countries show a starker split between the capital and the heritage towns. In Uzbekistan the old Silk Road cities do not just beat Tashkent. They post some of the highest guest scores we have measured anywhere.
Our data covers the most booked hotels of four Uzbek cities on Booking.com: 142 properties and 51,234 verified reviews, collected from April to July 2026.
Khiva leads the country
| City | Avg guest score | Hotels rated 9+ | Hotels below 7 | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Khiva | 8.64 | 66% | 0% | 50 |
| Bukhara | 8.56 | 60% | 0% | 48 |
| Samarkand | 8.56 | 59% | 0% | 34 |
| Tashkent | 7.70 | 10% | 10% | 10 |
Khiva’s popular hotels average 8.64 and two thirds of them hold a 9 or better. For scale, Barcelona manages 10% on the same measure and Dubai 14%. A walled desert town of forty thousand people beats both with room to spare.
Look at the zeros in the fourth column too. Across 132 popular hotels in the three old cities, not a single one scores below 7. We found no other market in our 22 city dataset with a clean sheet like that at this scale.
Its budget tier is the engine. Khiva’s cheap hotels average 8.73, higher than its expensive ones. Islam Khodja and Khiva Ibrohim Guest House each hold a 9 from six hundred plus reviews at $$ prices. Book inside the old walls and the odds favour you. New to the city? Start with our Khiva travel guide and the rundown of ways to get there.
The fewer the stars, the happier the guests
| Star level | Avg guest score | Hotels measured |
|---|---|---|
| 3 stars | 8.73 | 30 |
| 4 stars | 8.50 | 14 |
| 5 stars | 8.00 | 1 |
Uzbekistan is the one country in our data where the star scale runs backwards. Three star places average 8.73 and beat the four star tier by a quarter of a point. The sole five star property trails them both.
Nothing about that is a paradox once you see the market. A three star label here usually means a converted merchant house with eight rooms and a family at the door. A higher class often means a bigger building and a longer corridor between you and anyone who cares. Guests notice, and they score accordingly.
Bukhara and Samarkand run close behind
Both average 8.56. Both put six of every ten popular hotels at a 9 or above. Family guesthouses near the old centres drive the scores, places like Mukhlisabegim in Bukhara and Tilyakori in Samarkand, each rated 9 across hundreds of reviews at modest prices.
Behind the numbers stands a human pattern. Hosts cook the breakfast, walk guests to the gate and fix problems on the spot. Owners get named in reviews here more often than in any other market we track. For planning, see our Bukhara hotel guide, our hotel picks for Samarkand and the seven sights worth your time there.
Hotels guests keep rating a 9
All of the places below combine a 9 with the deepest review piles in their city.
| City | Hotel | Reviews | Price tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Khiva | Madrasah Polvon-Qori Boutique Hotel | 1,173 | $$$$ |
| Khiva | Khiva Siyovush Hotel | 1,049 | $$$$ |
| Khiva | Islam Khodja | 699 | $$ |
| Bukhara | Boutique Hotel Minzifa | 1,030 | $$$$ |
| Bukhara | Amulet Hotel | 639 | $$$$ |
| Samarkand | Bibikhanum Hotel | 1,134 | $$$$ |
| Samarkand | Rabat Boutique | 773 | $$$$ |
| Tashkent | LOTTE City Hotels Tashkent Palace | 1,372 | $$$$ |
The first name on the list is a former madrasah from the nineteenth century, and you sleep in what used to be scholars’ cells around a courtyard. More than a thousand guests rate the experience a 9. Rooms like that are the reason the old cities score the way they do.
Tashkent is the outlier
The capital averages 7.70 and one hotel in ten reaches a 9. Its listings skew toward business towers, and the sample is small at ten hotels, so judge it gently. Even so, the contrast with the old cities is hard to miss.
One relic tells the story of the market. Hotel Uzbekistan, the vast Soviet slab on Amir Timur Square, is the most reviewed property in the country at 2,879 opinions, and it scores a 7. People book it for the architecture and forgive the rest. Our Tashkent guide helps with picking a district that works.
Pick your season with care
April, May, September and October are the months this country was made for. Days sit in the mid twenties, the light is soft and the courtyards earn their keep. Book those months early. Guesthouses with eight rooms fill fast, and the best rated ones go first.
July and August are a different matter. Khiva and Bukhara sit in desert country, and afternoons pass 40C. Locals move in the morning and after sunset, and so should you. Winter has its own case. From November to March the crowds vanish, the rates drop by a third and the domes carry snow. Cold aside, it may be the most atmospheric time to stand alone on the Registan.
About these numbers
All scores are Booking.com guest ratings of each city’s most booked hotels, recorded between April and July 2026, up to fifty per city. Tashkent’s sample is ten hotels. Any figure here may be quoted freely. A link back to this page as the source is all we ask.
