Iran - Andrew Burke [303]
The Orwellian-sounding Ministry of Culture & Islamic Guidance categorises most hotels and decides what they can charge.
Up until recently, in midrange and top-end establishments foreign guests have had to pay more than Iranians for the same room. However, this officially mandated practice of dual-pricing looked like it was coming to an end as this book went to press, which means the prices in this book might serve mainly as a guide, see the boxed text for details.
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PRACTICALITIES
Electrical current is 220V AC, 50Hz. Wall sockets are the European, two round-pin type.
All English-language daily newspapers in Iran are government-run and available only in Tehran and some other large cities. They include the Iran Daily and Iran News, both of which offer good international coverage; Kayhan International, which gives new meaning to ‘hardline’; and the Tehran Times, which cleaves to the government line.
All Iranian broadcasters are controlled by the state. However, many Iranians have access to satellite TV, including many stations broadcasting in Farsi from North America.
On Iranian TV, channels 1 to 4 are national, 5 and 6 province-based. Channel 4 has 10 minutes of news in English at midnight. Most hotels have the 24-hour IRINN news channel, which has a news-ticker in English.
Good frequencies for the BBC World Service (www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/schedules) include 11760Hz, 15575Hz and 1413kHz; and for VOA (www.voanews.com) 11740Hz and 15195kHz.
Iran uses the metric system. A conversion chart is on the inside front cover.
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Dual-pricing or not, it’s possible to engage in a bit of friendly negotiation, especially during the low season between mid-October and early March. Having said that, we found that in most of Iran getting anything more than a nominal discount on an otagh (room) seemed as difficult as negotiating an end to the nuclear crisis. If dual-pricing is still happening, you could try asking for a discount for longer stays, or learn the Farsi numbers so you can point out the difference between local and foreign prices (most hotels have Iranian and foreign prices displayed in reception). Though this tactic was usually met with a look of ‘so?’ when we tried it.
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THE SEASONAL SWING
There are two clear seasons in Iran, with a couple of other spikes. Low season starts in October and continues through winter until shortly before No Ruz (Iranian New Year, on 21 March) and the beginning of spring. From a few days before No Ruz, hotels in popular holiday destinations, such as Kish Island, Esfahan, the Caspian Sea coast and Yazd, are packed, and prices are at their highest. No Ruz also marks the annual government-approved price increase, and after all the madness of the 13-day holiday period is over you’ll find prices rise by about 20% from the winter (low season) rate, and stay that way until October. There are a few exceptions. In summer prices along the Caspian Sea coast can skyrocket, while in hot places like Yazd and Bam prices fall with demand. We quote high-season prices (not No Ruz prices) throughout this book.
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The reluctance to bargain is partly because most cities don’t have enough hotels to create effective competition. Bandar Abbas, Esfahan and Kashan are among the worst, while notable exceptions include Yazd, Mashhad and Shiraz. The ‘hundreds’ of new hotels the government has promised will take time to materialise, and will mostly be in the midrange and top-end brackets.
For foreigners, midrange and top-end places often quote their prices in US dollars, and increasingly in euros, though they will accept (and sometimes require to be paid in) rials. The currencies listed in this book are what the hotels were listing when we visited, though the falling US dollar seems to be pushing many back to rial or euros. In the cheapest budget accommodation sheets and mattresses can sometimes be semi-clean and/or stained. Using a light sleeping mat and sheet or sleeping bag can reduce your chances