Wyndham Tashkent

Rooms and decor

Open the door into the lobby at Wyndham Tashkent and you can tell they did their homework — high open ceilings, marble floors catching the light off big geometric chandeliers inspired by Uzbek suzani textile patterns, warm cream and brown set against dark wood. It reads modern but keeps a faint Central Asian accent. The building sits in the central Chilonzor district, and there are 206 rooms and suites starting at around 32 sqm — fairly generous for a 4-star in Central Asia. Inside you get a king bed with crisp white linens on the soft Wyndham Hospitality mattresses, a long desk by the window with room for a laptop and papers, a small sofa for tea, a minibar with a coffee machine, and a white-and-grey marble bathroom with a rain shower — details you'd more often find in a 5-star. Many rooms look out over the tree-ringed outdoor pool, while the Bunyodkor road side gives you traffic and city lights at night. Plenty of reviews mention sleeping especially well; some say they arrived overnight from Dubai or Istanbul, dropped onto the bed and slept straight through to morning.

Food and amenities

The heart of a stay here is the two pools — what sets this place apart from the other 4-stars in town. The first is a long semi-Olympic indoor pool under a high glass roof, lit from above, with more of a European resort-spa feel than a city pool, and it's open all year even when it's below freezing outside. The second is the outdoor pool, ringed by trees and white loungers, open in summer from May to September — exactly what you want when Tashkent hits 35°C. Reviewers praise the clear water and the staff who keep wiping down loungers and bringing fresh towels. Next door is the Blue Harmony Spa with several treatment rooms, a Finnish sauna and a traditional Turkish steam room (hammam) with warm marble and a Central Asian scrub ritual. Treatments start around $14–23, friendlier than the big-name 5-star spas. On the food side, the main restaurant lays out an international breakfast buffet that reviews describe as endlessly refilled and always hot — a full Western spread with eggs to order, bacon, sausage, fresh pastries and a fruit corner, plus the local Uzbek section many people wait for, with plov, somsa and fresh tandoor naan. Evenings shift to à la carte mixing international and local plates, and you can close the night at the Lobby Bar over cocktails and a decent wine list. There's also a 24-hour fitness centre and meeting rooms for business travellers.

Location and getting there

The location lands better than you'd expect, because Chilonzor puts you close to Tashkent's main landmarks. A few minutes from the lobby is Independence Square (Mustaqillik Maydoni), the central plaza with its gold independence monument, and the Museum of Amir Timur, the blue-domed museum tracking the story of the legendary Central Asian conqueror Tamerlane. About a 5-minute walk gets you to Abdullah Qodiriy Metro on the Chilonzor line — one of the city's older lines, decorated so beautifully inside that people call it an underground museum — so you can ride the metro across town instead of taxiing everywhere. Chorsu Bazaar in the old town, the giant turquoise-domed market full of spices, dried fruit and fresh naan, is about 10 minutes by car; a Yandex Go ride runs roughly $0.70–1. Nearby is the Khast Imam Complex, the old Islamic centre that holds the 1,300-year-old original Quran of Caliph Uthman, and for the TV Tower or the newly opened Magic City Park you can call a Yandex in minutes. From Tashkent airport (TAS), it's about a 25-minute drive in — handy if you land late on a Middle Eastern carrier or Uzbekistan Airways.

Things to know before booking

Straight talk to help you decide. The first thing reviews flag is the Wi-Fi — on some high floors at the far end of the building it drops in and out, though the central and public areas are fine. If you're working online for real, doing Zoom calls or uploading big files, pick up a Beeline or Ucell SIM at the airport as a backup; Uzbek mobile data is cheap and fairly steady, with a 10GB package around $2. Second, the outdoor pool fills up on summer evenings (June–August), especially on weekends when locals come in on day passes, so grab a good lounger in the early afternoon or swim in the much quieter indoor pool. Third, lower-floor rooms facing Bunyodkor road can catch traffic noise around 7am and again at the 6pm rush — if you sleep lightly, ask for a high floor at booking or the silent pool-facing side. Last, on getting around at night, Chilonzor is very safe even late, but Yandex Go can be slow to match after 11pm when there are fewer drivers, so if you're heading back late from the old town, book ahead or have the concierge call a car.

Our take

Having read through all 1,841 real reviews, Wyndham Tashkent is the best-value international 4-star in this city, no hesitation — central in Chilonzor near Independence Square and the Museum of Amir Timur, a 5-minute walk to the metro, two pools that are rare at this price, the Blue Harmony Spa with its traditional Turkish steam room, an international breakfast that folds in real Uzbek food, and staff warmer than the price suggests. It's the right fit for couples, families with kids, and travellers who want to sleep well in central Tashkent without paying a premium, from around $94 a night — less than half the 5-stars in the Diplomatic Quarter, in exchange for Wi-Fi that isn't 100% solid everywhere and a scramble for poolside loungers in summer. If you're after a Hyatt Grand Bed or 5-star butler service, the Hyatt Regency or JW Marriott may suit you better. But if the heart of your trip is full facilities, good sleep and budget left over for spices, suzani and silk at Chorsu, this nails it. Overall we give it 8.5/10.