Stayed for over a week as most hotels fully booked. Lovely view from top floor across park to mountains. Rooms very basic, but clean and adequate room for business traveller. Food options are limited, but fortunately several restaurants in walking distance. Limited direct internet access without purchasing expensive wireless card. Minibar never restocked without asking, especially just for water.

The outside of this hotel is exceedingly drab and ugly. The reception area is spacious, marble covered but souless.

The bedroom creates an altogether better impression, recently painted in white with good condition, heavily lacquered dark wood furniture. This was the only hotel we found of eight in Central Asia where the curtains fully drew across the windows. The bedroom was well equipped with minibar, hairdrier, phone and satellite tv albeit mostly Russian stations but with BBC World. The beds were comfortable and the airconditioning quiet and good. The pleasant view from our miniscule 'balcony' was of the park and the mountains. The advertised rack rate was £80 for a standard double.

The breakfast buffet had a wide choice of food you probably wouldn't want to eat. The least appetising items included stewed tea, cold tinned peas, oily reheated fried eggs and meatballs presumably from the previous evening's buffet. We didn't try supper!

Finally, the hotel room information pack contains extensive instructions about earthquakes. Listen out for 'dogs howling one week before, and whimpering 4-6 hours prior to, the quake'. Be warned!

It's easy to knock these places but I will try and be as subjective as possible

The hotel was clean and the room comfortable. The staff will provide assistance without pushing themselves but I found their English to be very limited.

The hotel has a list of amenties but do not expect to be kept amused. The pool is tiny, smallest I have seen in fact and did not look too clean. They have two bars, one in reception and one on the staircase on the second floor, I was there a week and did not see more than two people at either. There is a billiard room, when the staff eventually found it I was given a box of balls which did not fit down the holes on the table. They have a casino but there are about 20 others to choose from within walking distance, it seems to be the national pastime.

I would avoid the resteraunt with the possible exception of breakfast, the meals are all buffet and very similar each day. The hotel has a small Chech resteraunt out back called Brino, it is far better but you will have to pay cash.

There was only one English speaking TV channel, CNN.

All that said, the hotel is central and convenient, with a reasonable view from the front, horrible from the back. The Silk Way shopping mall is round the corner and the business district is close by. In all not too bad for the money.

From the outside this looks like a typical communist ers concrete block. However it is very pleasant inside and the staff are friendly. The views from the front bedrooms are superb overlooking Panfilov Park with the spires and domes of the Zenkov Cathedral glinting through the trees and incredible mountains beyond. Must be one of the most spectacular views in the world. Visited June 2001.