Syria Hotels

The Carlton - not quite as good as it sounds, for us anyway

Advantages: Very clean; has an ATM in the lobby; polite and helpful English-speaking reception staff
Disadvantages: No restaurants within easy reach; 25% charged on top of advertised food and drink prices

...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 ...
...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, ...

roundthekitchentable 21.08.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Carlton Hotel Damascus, Syria

Ageing but not past it yet

Advantages: Spacious room, friendly, nice pub downstairs
Disadvantages: Dated, really needs a facelift

Just outside the Sheraton in Damascus is the world's biggest pot-hole. It is so big, it is a roundabout which is being turned into an underpass. It has taken a long time, as they have to keep pumping the water out. "That's because it is public," I was told. "Down the road is a one being done by a private company and it is finished already". As we passed the policeman directing the traffic, making chaos out of a mess, and we turned into the driveway ...
...looked rather dated. The discreet Sheraton sign looked like it was designed, and indeed made, in the seventies if not earlier. The driveway needed resurfacing; it was not pot-holed, but strips had been resurfaced over the years. Arriving at the building, it too looked in need of repair. The “O” in Sheraton was crooked. LOBBY When you enter the hotel, the lobby stretches off ahead and to the left, it is like walking into the bottom of an "L". Ahead ...

Vodkaboy 07.08.2004 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Sheraton Hotel (Damascus)