Hotel Mosque Baland: "A friendly home in Bukhara" Top 5 Page for this destination Bukhara Hotel Tip by toonsarah

This was probably my favourite of the hotels we stayed in during our trip round Uzbekistan. It’s a small, family-run affair, not much more than a B&B despite its grand name, situated in a residential street on the south western fringes of the old town, about 15 minutes’ walk from the Lyab-i-Hauz. Rooms are grouped around the typical Uzbek central courtyard. Ours was a good size, nicely decorated, clean and with a comfortable large double bed. We had a fridge to keep our water chilled, efficient air-conditioning and a TV we never got round to switching on.

The family who run the hotel are friendly and keen to be helpful though they speak little English. They happily changed money for us, served green tea whenever it was wanted at no charge, and other drinks, including beer, at very reasonable ones. On both evenings here we ended the day very pleasantly sitting on the dais in the courtyard, chatting about the day over a vodka or beer. On the second of these evenings this part of town experienced a power cut so we sat for a while by candle-light.

The hotel was booked as part of a tour so I can’t be sure of the prices but according to our guidebook it’s $25 to $40, while Marat our guide reckoned $30 for a single, $40 for a double.

Unique Qualities: The room where breakfast is served is decorated in typical Uzbek style with ganch (carved alabaster) and niches displaying colourful ceramics, and is truly stunning. Breakfasts were pretty good, with the usual drinking yoghurt, bread, cheese and meat supplemented each day by a hot dish (omelette on one, porridge the other). We also had tea there on our first evening and they produced a beautiful cake for Georgina, whose birthday it was – see photos 3 & 4.

And OK, this isn’t your usual “unique quality” and it wasn’t my favourite aspect of the hotel, but it has to be mentioned. The toilet in our bathroom had the most unusual seat I’ve come across, covered in a soft slightly fluffy fabric (such as you might use for a child’s pyjamas) adorned with cute cartoon mice (ditto) – see photo 5. It seemed perfectly clean, but didn’t strike us as the most hygienic of decorative touches, especially in a country where regrettably foreign tourists do often have to spend more time than they would like in its vicinity ;)

Address: 18 Mosque Baland Street
Comparison: less expensive than average
Directions: Leave Lyab-i-Hauz through Moneychangers Dome, keep left when the road forks, after c.5 mins turn right almost opposite a ruined madrassah and follow this road more or less straight. The hotel is on the left after about 3 junctions.
othercontact: baland@bukhara.silk.org
Phone: 223 6434
Price: less than US$20
Theme: Bed and Breakfast