Carlton Hotel Damascus, Syria

...stayed one night at the Carlton Hotel, Damascus recently on a whistlestop (independent, rather than organised) tour of Syria. Hotel reservations for the trip had been made on our behalf by a Syrian travel agency, who assured us that accommodation had been booked but did not actually advise the names of the specific hotels, so we had been unable to do any "checking up" in advance.

Having spent the previous night in a beautiful ...
...stay was so short, the Carlton was adequate for our needs but if we were to return to Damascus, I would certainly investigate hotel options and probably choose somewhere else; somewhere more interesting or suitable for independent tourists rather than businessmen or package tourists. The blurb on the website claims that the hotel is one of the best in the city - I find that hard to believe. If it is true, then parhaps Damascus is a place to visit, ... more

We stayed one night at the Carlton Hotel, Damascus recently on a whistlestop (independent, rather than organised) tour of Syria. Hotel reservations for the trip had been made on our behalf by a Syrian travel agency, who assured us that accommodation had been booked but did not actually advise the names of the specific hotels, so we had been unable to do any "checking up" in advance.

Having spent the previous night in a beautiful hotel in the centre of old Aleppo (the Dar Maria, located in sympathetically restored old houses with lovely courtyards, fountains etc), I was very disappointed with both the run-of-the-mill appearance and the location of the Damascus Carlton: set slightly back off a busy main road, in a commercial/residential area some distance from the interesting parts of the city. Unless you like pounding city pavements alongside main roads, there was nowhere to go for a stroll after dinner and there no restaurants within walking distance apart from various fast food outlets in the food court of the nearby shopping mall (a 10 - 15 minute walk, easy but involving the crossing of two busy road junctions).

Our arrival was processed efficiently and we had the key to our room very quickly. The room itself was spotlessly clean, reasonably comfortable and well appointed but was very gloomy, principally due to the depressingly dull shade of old gold paint in which the entire room had been decorated. Being August, it was very hot so we were grateful that the air-conditioner worked efficiently. I found it rather noisy but it did not bother my husband. The bathroom was fine but the door stuck and needed a certain amount of force to open and close it, meaning there was no such thing as a quiet trip to the loo! The complimentary toileteries were basic but adequate (soap, shampoo, shower gel and a shower cap).

We only spent one night in the hotel, arriving about 7.30pm and leaving very early the next morning, so did not have the opportunity to make use of facilities such as the swimming pool. I saw signs to the pool but not the pool itself and so cannot comment on it. We only wanted something light to eat in the evening, so opted for the ground floor coffee shop, rather than the smart-looking Roberto's restaurant. Curiously, I have since checked out the Carlton's website and it lists six different places to eat within the hotel, none of them called Roberto's. Nevertheless, the coffee shop menu offered a reasonable choice of dishes at prices not out of the way for a 4-star hotel (about 400 Syrian pounds for a kebab, as opposed to 350 in a reasonable restaurant). The Greek salad I ordered came with lots of fresh flatbreads and was amply large enough to share. With lots of tomato, cucumber, white cheese and pitted olives, liberally scattered with mint and oregano, and dressed with oil and lemon, it was very good indeed. The menu price was S£200 and two local beers (33cl) at (a rather expensive) S£200 each brought the bill to S£600. I had fully expected the standard 10% government to be added (as it is everywhere) but was shocked when we got the bill to see that there was a further 15% on top for "hotel charges", boosting the total to S£754 (under $10 sterling/US$17 but that's not the point). The menu had merely said "plus taxes" without quantifying how much but there was nothing I could do about it. Nevertheless, be warned that your bill might be 25% more than the advertised price.

Our 4am wake-up call came on time, with a follow-up 10 minutes later just in case we had dozed off again (we hadn't). Both callers were very polite, bright and cheery and the service was impressive, particularly the second call, which was unexpected but thoughtful.

We paid US$160 for a double room for the night (compared with $95 in Aleppo, for a much better hotel). Breakfast would have been extra but leaving so early, that was not an issue.

Because our stay was so short, the Carlton was adequate for our needs but if we were to return to Damascus, I would certainly investigate hotel options and probably choose somewhere else; somewhere more interesting or suitable for independent tourists rather than businessmen or package tourists. The blurb on the website claims that the hotel is one of the best in the city - I find that hard to believe. If it is true, then parhaps Damascus is a place to visit, not stay overnight. 

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