Whilst visiting the Tajikistan city Dushanbe, formerly Stalinabad, we stayed for two nights at the Taj Palace Hotel.
Our reasonably-sized room, 301 on the third floor, had two queen-size beds with crisp white bedding and pillows, a central bedside table and reading lights. There was a wardrobe with safe, TV, unplugged empty fridge, desk with chair and tea and coffee making facilities. The WiFi and AC were both good and whilst it was all fairly standard, there was a brilliant bay window, big enough for two comfortable chairs and a coffee table. It was a great place for drinks and watching the world go by below.
The slightly poky bathroom had a walk-in shower with hot, powerful water and there was just about enough room for all our toiletries.
Our guide had recommended nearby places to eat, so it wasn’t until breakfast that we discovered the huge ground-floor bar and restaurant, as on checking in there had been no introduction to the hotel facilities. Whilst the blue velvet sofas were fine if you were just having drinks, they were a little low for eating at the tables. Breakfast was served from 7am to 10am, but on arriving shortly after opening, we found the food still being put out. For such a large, city centre hotel it was a disappointing affair in that whilst all the components were there, for some reason, it didn’t look appealing. The buffet contained watermelon and apricots, yoghurt, cereals, a plate of pink cold meat and one of cheese, small plates of salad, fried eggs, pink sausages, two porridges, something similar to spring rolls, and pancakes. Omelettes and scrambled eggs could be cooked to order but because of the slight delay on arrival, and the fact we were on a tight schedule, we didn’t bother. The best feature was the coffee machine which although it took a long time to filter, made a change from the green tea we’d been drinking everywhere.
The hotel was well situated with a bank opposite to change money, a supermarket a five-minute walk away for in-room drinks, and plenty of restaurants around.
Under normal circumstances, this would have been a fairly standard hotel, but after a night in a simple room above a supermarket, followed by one in an ex-Soviet holiday camp, it felt rather luxurious.
