Heartland Hostel Samarkand

Very close to the centre and friendly staff.

Spacious bunks. Nice mattress. Free coffee and tea. Kitchen is spacious and equipped for cooking. Good location.

Ensuite bathroom 1 of the 2 sinks didn't work and smelled like sewage.

- Good location - lovely and kind staff - washing for 35 som per load - Comfy and clean hostel - Staff gave me a discount if I paid in cash instead of card - Towels provided

- I stayed in a mixed room as an only girl (potentially no other girls booked the mixed dorm) room was less cleaner than I’m used to due to the men staying

The facilities were OK, it had a kitchen and my room had enough space although the bed was a bit hard. The bathroom was OK, had a decent amount of space, though it could have done with a bit of an update. The host did arrange some group meals and get togethers although not really through the advertised WhatsApp group. It was a good place to meet people.

I got a bit annoyed by the fact that the front door to the hostel got stuck and the host acted like it was somehow my fault instead of being apologetic. While she did have my registration slip ready, I didn't see where she'd left it straight away and she got annoyed at me for knocking on the office window, like she told me to do the night before. That left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. She did help me with my suitcase though once we did get the taxi driver to help unlock the door. Beds were hard, free tea and coffee but no free water. The property does accept card but she strongly discourages card payment which makes it a bit more awkward to pay. Also got bitten by what I suspect was bed bugs while I was there. EDIT: The time I left was actually closer to 6am - not that it matters anyway. The point was that regardless of the time, having a door that was stuck and an abrupt host was incredibly unhelpful.