I frequently visit Karachi for Audit and stayed in almost all hotels of Karachi. I have been given a moderate feedback by locals about Faran Hotel yet I decided to check it out myself.

To my surprise, the staff and service officials are not only professionally groomed and well-mannered but also very supportive and friendly. Above all its in the center of the city and I can move to any location in Karchi from this hotel.

I am going to stay there in my very next visit or so.

I stayed at Hotel Faran during Dec 08 whilst visiting Karachi. i didnt know much about it before, but was told it was a basic budget hotel. That is exactly what it is. I stayed in a twin room which had fairly comfortable beds, a tv, a fridge with mini bar, good wardrobe space.

The staff were very helpful and informative. There is wireless internet facility but I had trouble connecting as someone else mentioned in a previous review. i often had to sit by the lifts to get a signal. It isnt really suitable for families and there seemed to be large groups of male tourists and businessman staying there. As a female, I did feel a little uncomfortable at times.
The internal decor is dated and run down and the hotel could do with a could clean up especially the carpets. in fact the carpets were not vacumed once whilst i stayed there!

overall i probably wouldnt stay there again unless i was on a budget. There are many other nicer hotels in Karachi if you can afford it.

We stayed at this hotel for 4 days in Dec 08 and found the reception staff very helpful upon arrival at 1am.

The rooms were very basic, simple and very old fashioned. Wallpaper was peeling off the walls, there wasn't a proper shower, no hairdryer and there was a dead cockroach in my room which despite house-keeping cleaning the room was still there for 4 days. The carpet was very old and needs replacing urgently. The breakfast wasn't that 'continental'; just egg and toast or paratha, keema, carton orange juice etc.

Good points were that there was toilet paper available, wireless wasn't always available in the rooms as said in the previous review and there was a mini-bar available in the room so at least you can buy food/drink and put it in the fridge. When the electricity went you would have to wait for at least a minute for the generator to come into action. The hotel is very close to the airport, Tariq Road.

Overall, if I had to visit Karachi again I would probably find out the availability of other hotels before booking Hotel Faran

I stayed for 5 nites around X'mas '08 & didn't move to another hotel coz I wasn't familiar w/ Karachi initially. what drew me to Faran was that hotel was located within walking distance to KFC, Pizza Hut & local restaurants. Hotel restaurant is expensive (when compared to adjacent local restaurants - when in Rome, do as the Romans..) & subject to 24% government services taxes. all u can eat breakfast buffet sold out by 9 am; early bird catches the worm!
Faran Hotel need to remove the carpets; which were not regularly vacuumed & a source of dust & contamination. Carpets should be replaced with tiles that are easier to clean & do not trap so much dust! the shower hose in water bath-tub is too short for those standing taller than 6 feet. the water flow is pretty slow; but be thankful for hot water. frequent electricity disruption; be prepared to wait out 1 minute in the dark in the bathroom until they bring on power from generators. wireless internet does not work in room; most guests using their laptops sit in ground floor lobby or near elevator shaft on 2nd or 3rd floor, to get strongest WiFi signal. TV carries CNN, HBO, Showtime, Fox, the works; but TV signal disrupted for 45 minutes on average around 1pm, 6pm & 7:30 pm; that's when Muslims have prayer time. be prepared to get billed every 2 days. counter staff were Kind & Gracious enough to extend my check-out time to 7 pm on day I left. I’ve found a better hotel for slightly more $ in City centre for next trip.