Arka is the only mid-range/verging on top-end place in Skopje that's located not among the soulless concrete blocks of the Soviet-era new city but on the other side of the river where the oriental, Osman-era core of the city is located. This means you have bazaars, mosques, medresas and a citadel right outside your door - a qonderful setting to finish off a great holiday (as in our case). Amenities are average for the price, service is super-friendly, but the undoubted highlight is, as many have said before me, the breakfast room with its rooftop terrace and the fantastic views over Skopje and surroundings - truly majestic!

Ok, a lot of reviews underline the hotel's location, supposed to be in a weird or unpleasant area of town. So I was on my guard upon our arrival at the hotel. I would say that the hotel is certainly located in the most typical part of town, surrounded by mosques and old low buildings. One of the reviewers mentionned he didn't enjoy being stared at whenever he would get to or leave the hotel. I believe this "staring" by the locals is just a mark of interest, I never felt it to be aggressive in any way. Other areas of Skopje are, in my opinion, less interesting and perhaps more dangerous than the Old Town around Bitpazarska.
The hotel is very modern, and very easy to spot from just about anywhere in the city.(makes it easy to find your way back) It is very close to remains of the city walls and numerous points of interest including Mosques, small shops, local markets, museums, restaurants and food joints. As stated in other reviews please hold on to your wallet and valuables upon crossing the Stonebridge, where young pickpockets operate, sometimes quite aggressively. Fortunately, one of the hotel's plusses is that it offers in-room individual safes (at least my room - 606 -had one).
My room was fairly big, with all the usual amenities expected in an upper class hotel, including toothbrush and toothpaste, a fairly rare find even in luxury hotels. Employees were talkative and courteous and most of them spoke very good English. Breakfast is very good, with Ajvar (local specialty) and other specialties available, as well as standard ""western" food.
From what I have seen, there are several parking spaces in front of the hotel.
The negative points include a pool that is only "decorative" as one of the employee told us, and this is somewhat deceptive, considering what's shown on the hotel's website. Also in my room, the bedcover was not spotless, with a few stains. But overall, the room was clean.
Too bad the hotel doesn't have a restaurant.
A final word for Ohrid. If you have a day, go there. It's 170 km away from Skopje, and well worth the trip.

I stayed here for just one night so am basing my opinion and views on just that. The only word I can think to describe this place is 'weird'. It's weirdly located, does things weirdly and 'feels' weird. It's walkable from the railway station but is sited down an alleyway near to a bazaar, although not as difficult to find as it might sound. Check-in's quick although not over-friendly. The room, however, requires an explanation all of its own.

As is usually the way the lights and so on only work if there's a keycard in the slot provided. The difficulty comes about as a result of the lights being operated by a remote control, which you've got to find before you can switch them on. Not easy in a dark room where you don't know what you're looking for.... The air-con, whilst powerful, is overly loud and does not create a sound sleeping environment. Most bizarre is the hotel's practice of playing 90s dance music via the corridor speakers at a fair volume until about 10pm - not ideal if you've got to be up at the crack of dawn?! Finally the windowcleaner came round before 7am the next morning - not ideal if you fancy a lie-in.

Would I visit Skopje again? No. Would I stay here again if I did? No. It's just weird, and not a particularly cheap weird either.

I stayed in Arks for two nights on a business trip. The hotel is nice but nowhere near as nice as on the website. The location is interesting as it is on the edge of the old quarter of the city and some 10-15 minutes walk to the main square. Rooms are spacious and clean. The swimming pool was not working, although you could have breakfast around it with great views of the city.