Heartland Hostel Samarkand

It’s a no-shoes hostel, which makes it even more so clean and cozy. I just loved the hostel’s layout: the kitchen, the common room, everything is conveniently placed and well-thought through, there’s plenty of room for any activity, the kitchen has everything you need, there are lots of places where you can sit and work, so it’s very digital nomad friendly. It was never noisy in the hostel, if you want to chat during the quiet hours, the kitchen is ‘soundproof’ enough, so you can socialise there. I also very much enjoyed my room (6 bed — female). I liked how the bunks are placed along one wall, so there’s a lot of space to walk or store your luggage without disturbing anyone. Also 4 out of 6 beds have huge (as for a hostel) lockers, it’s 3 shelves! Never in my travels did I have such a nice locker where I could put all my stuff just there. Bathrooms are in each room, and I very much enjoyed the layout there as well: there’s enough space, toilet and shower are separate, and there’s a buffer zone with sinks and mirrors. There’s a hairdryer there, and enough hooks to hang your clothes and towels. Also, huge thanks for having a female-only room. It is the main reason I picked you. In general, staying there felt like living in a dorm with my girlfriends. I enjoyed it very much :)

It’s a smaller thing, but the bunk ladder was not very convenient to use, I almost slipped from it multiple times.

Very close to the centre and friendly staff.

Spacious bunks. Nice mattress. Free coffee and tea. Kitchen is spacious and equipped for cooking. Good location.

Ensuite bathroom 1 of the 2 sinks didn't work and smelled like sewage.

The facilities were OK, it had a kitchen and my room had enough space although the bed was a bit hard. The bathroom was OK, had a decent amount of space, though it could have done with a bit of an update. The host did arrange some group meals and get togethers although not really through the advertised WhatsApp group. It was a good place to meet people.

I got a bit annoyed by the fact that the front door to the hostel got stuck and the host acted like it was somehow my fault instead of being apologetic. While she did have my registration slip ready, I didn't see where she'd left it straight away and she got annoyed at me for knocking on the office window, like she told me to do the night before. That left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. She did help me with my suitcase though once we did get the taxi driver to help unlock the door. Beds were hard, free tea and coffee but no free water. The property does accept card but she strongly discourages card payment which makes it a bit more awkward to pay. Also got bitten by what I suspect was bed bugs while I was there. EDIT: The time I left was actually closer to 6am - not that it matters anyway. The point was that regardless of the time, having a door that was stuck and an abrupt host was incredibly unhelpful.