The best accommodations Uzbekistan

Budget & Tips

This will be the main expense of your trip. In the tourist cities of Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva, rates can skyrocket during peak tourist periods, and it's not uncommon for establishments to be fully booked, even though the offer is growing considerably. Expect to pay a minimum of €15 per night for the dormitory section of a B&B, €80 for a room in a guesthouse and over €200 for luxury hotels. The advantage of these accommodations: breakfasts are often pantagruelic!

To be booked

It's advisable to book your accommodation in advance, via local agencies or certain websites. This is particularly advisable during the high season (May/June and September/October), although you'll always find something to stay, but be careful with your budget.

What's very local

The headache of check-in.

Some accommodation providers will give you the registration tickets supplied night after night by your hotels during your successive stops; you'll need to have them with you at the airport to leave the country, and they may be asked for by the customs officer (which is less and less frequent).

For some years now, tourists passing through Uzbekistan no longer need to register with OVIR, the government body that handles formalities for foreigners on the national territory. Tourists now register directly with hotels. Not all hotels are authorized to receive foreign tourists: they undergo regular checks by OVIR and can therefore be a little fussy about these formalities.

At the end of your stay, the hotel must give you a document (the famous registration) stating the number of nights you have stayed. If you don't receive a document, you're checking in online. Hotels are used to this practice, and it doesn't take long. You will be asked to leave your passport on arrival, so that all the necessary information can be copied. The registration form includes information such as passport number, visa number (for those who need it only, stay over 30 days), first and last name, arrival and departure dates, signature and hotel stamp.

Otherwise, it is of course possible not to sleep in a hotel, if you are traveling at night or camping in the wilderness. Opinions differ on this question: some tourism professionals speak of a quota of 3 nights without registration, others of 5 nights. In short, when in doubt, it's best to be able to justify your entire itinerary, without making yourself sick if you miss a night here or there. If you're traveling with an agency, let them know if you're missing any recordings. If you're traveling solo and you're missing a record, simply say you were on the road or slept under the stars.