Iran - Andrew Burke [109]
Tak Setareh ( 223 1861; Sardar Camii Lane; s/tw IR85,000/125,000, with TV s/tw IR100,000/150,000, with toilet tr IR175,000) Quiet, relatively well-kept mosaferkhaneh where you can play nard (a local form of backgammon) in the little lobby area.
Reza Hotel ( 222 6580; Besat St; s/tw/tr IR120,000/170,000/220,000; ) Large and outwardly somewhat dowdy, the Reza is nonetheless a pretty good deal and Karim, the gregarious owner, speaks great English. Neat if sometimes noisy rooms have Western loo and good hot showers with soap and towels. Recommended traveller favourite.
Ark Hotel ( 235 6051; off Montazeri St; s/tw US$15/30) The vivid yellow and brown colour scheme clashes with pink towels in newly renovated rooms with bathrooms. Many cheaper mosaferkhanehs nearby refuse foreigners.
Khorram Hotel ( 222 5444; Sardar Camii Lane; s/tw IR150,000/200,000) A vaguely cosy reception area decked with plastic foliage leads to somewhat small but neatly tiled rooms with shower and toilet. Peaceful yet central.
Ana Hotel ( /fax 345 3314; 77 Kashani St; s/d/tw IR180,000/280,000/380,000) Rooms are fair value if somewhat less attractive than you’d expect from the rather upmarket entrance. Curiously Iranians pay 20% more than foreign tourists.
Darya Hotel ( 222 9562; fax 222 3451; Tarzi [Chamran] St; s/d US$30/40) Pleasant, central and quiet, the nearly smart rooms have minibar, plastic-wooden wall-cladding and only limited wear and tear. There’s birdsong and a banana palm in the welcoming foyer.
Flamingo-Chichest ( 436 2012; tr/apt IR300,000/450,000; ) Acceptable if somewhat lacklustre accommodation in a holiday-camp-style setting, 500m back from the sand-flats of Bandar-e Golmankhaneh, 17km from town. Front-facing rooms look towards Lake Orumiyeh. Parking costs IR10,000.
Urumia Tourist Inn (Orumiyeh Grand Inn, Mehmansara Jahangardi; 222 3080; fax 222 3202; Kashani St; s/d US$55/80; ) The Tourist Inn successfully emulates a typical midrange European chain-hotel in facilities, price and anodyne could-be-anywhere atmosphere. Comes complete with annoying Muzak in the irreproachably clean, utterly bland coffee shop.
A new five-star Laleh Hotel is currently under construction.
Eating
Flamingo ( 346 1177; Kashani St; meals IR40,000-75,000; noon-3pm & 7-10pm) Justifiably considered the best city-centre restaurant, the kababs here are succulent and the salad bar is well stocked if a little pricey (IR10,000 per plateful). Décor is restrained, with solid wooden benches, lanterns and flower arrangements. Head downstairs two doors away from excellent, co-owned Pizza 69, which has a sign in English.
Shemaran Restaurant ( 345 9956; Parhizkar St; 8am-11pm) Predominantly for tea and qalyan (water pipe; IR10,000), this gently atmospheric sonati-style traditional restaurant is immensely popular for great lunchtime dizi (see boxed text) and also serves limited dinners (8pm). Next door is a slightly more upmarket equivalent (Heydarbaba) and a pizzeria.
Noghl, West Azarbayjan’s speciality confectionery, is made by laboriously coating nuts or fruits in layers of icing sugar using a vessel looking like a copper cement mixer. Buy it from Noghl Torabi (Imam Ave; 8am-10pm),which also sells fabulous carrot-and-walnut halva.
Baked potatoes (IR2000) are sold from carts around the bazaar’s northeast entrance. Cake, sandwich and juice shops are dotted along Imam Ave.
Shopping
Pasargad Antiques ( 223 1860; 8am-2pm & 4-8pm Sat-Thu) This shop is the most intriguing of three curio shops along Imam Ave.
Getting There & Away
AIR
Iran Air ( 3440520; Daneshkadeh St) flies four times daily to Tehran (IR351,000) and twice weekly to Mashhad (IR690,000). Espoota Travel ( 345 5555; espoota@espootatravel.com; Daneshkadeh St; 8am-8pm Sat-Thu, 9am-noon Fri) sells air and train tickets ex-Tabriz.
BUS, MINIBUS & SAVARI
All long-distance buses leave from the terminal (Haft-e