Residential Centers

Like other countries, Iran has many types of hotels which are rated by stars based on their quality of hospitality, features and services. But there are also other types of residential centers like traditional houses, Hotel apartments, Caravansaries, Hostels and guest houses that offering service in different cities.

Hotels & Traditional Houses

All over the world. hotels are rated by stars (maximum of 5) which is based on their quality and quantity of services and features; Iran does not use this international rating system and Iran tourism organization determines the number of stars for hotels which is not usually accurate. Meaning that sometimes you can find a 2-star hotel with services better than a 3-star hotel and you find two 5-star hotels in a city with different qualities; but it doesn’t mean that all of them follow this manner, and we just wanted to inform you should choose your hotel based on reviews and not only star ratings. Traditional Houses also are considered hotels and use star system with no difference.

Hotel Apartments

There are limited number of hotel apartments in some cities in Iran which are the best and cheapest choice for people who are coming in large numbers, most of these hotel apartments offer satisfactory quality. They also use the star ratings but the maximum number is 3.

Caravansaries

Shah Abbas the great was one of the most famous kings of Iran who ruled the country 400 years ago, he ordered the construction of 1000 caravansaries in Iran to help the economy; nowadays many of these caravansaries are still intact and some of them have become Hotels in which you can experience real traditional Iranian lifestyle. In some of the more secluded and out-of-city ones like Zeinodin in Yazd, astronomy equipment is available, since the desert provides a great night sky for star gazers. Caravansaries are unique in their type for example most of them do not offer Internet connection or private bathrooms, and you have to take shower in partitioned public bathrooms. Some use mattresses on the floor and not beds. So before choosing caravansaries for your accommodation, gather information about their limitations, choosing a caravansary for a night can be an enjoyable experience.

Guest house

Guest houses are not a good choice in Iran, they are cheap but of very low quality, of course there are some guest houses which are better than others but most of them do not have good conditions and some of them are even in questionable sanitary conditions, so we do not recommend using them in your trip but we try to introduce some guest houses which are at least decently clean for you in each city.

Hostels

Right now there is no real hostel in Iran, hostels mostly are used for people who are studying abroad or workers who are working in a city other than their own and they cannot rent a flat in the city. So using them is not easy and comfortable since most of them rent their beds monthly. They are also divided by gender and it means you cannot go to a hostel with your spouse.

Reservation

Because of sanctions, Iranian banks cannot connect to international banks; it means money transfers and international debit cards (Visa, Master...) and payments (PayPal, Moneybookers…) do not work and are useless in Iran, so you cannot book hotels via the common means. There are some other ways for hotel reservation in Iran which we try to explain to you so you can choose one.

Book hotels online using Iranian debit cards which is the cheapest way for reservations because you can use online booking discounts.
Calling the hotel by phone and asking for reservation, in many cases they ask you to send money to their account to finalize your reservation.
Emailing hotels is not advised since except for major one, other hotels are still not regular email users.
Some Tourism agencies have online reservation services using international payment options like debit cards or payment services like PayPal, but you usually have to pay an added cost for their service.
Asking from Iranian touristic companies book hotels for you, they will give you an online bank account with transfer details and you should transfer money that account, problem is that you have to pay money transfer wages to your bank; also many of these touristic companies will reserve hotel for you without wanting the money in advance and you will receive your reservation documents when you pay them in person after arriving in Iran.

For your Information

You have to give your passport or a copy of it to the hotel reception staff.
Check-in time is 2 PM and checkout is 12 PM.
Do not forget to take hotel business card! In case of getting lost or confused you can just show it to the police and they will help you.
Mostly minibars have low quality and expensive products; try to buy everything you want from shops outside of the hotel.
Many hotels have few power outlets; it is a good idea to bring a power strip with you.
Exchanging in hotel is not a good idea due to the unreasonable added cost, try to exchange money in exchange shops throughout the cities.
Tipping is not common in hotels with a rating of lower than 4-star.
Women should wear hijab in hotel lobbies or public areas.