Your Rights in an Uzbek Hotel: What Resolution 433 Says
Check-out hours, no-show charges, free services, valuables and the marriage-certificate rule: what Uzbekistan's hotel regulation says, clause by clause.
Noon. That's the default settlement hour for every hotel, hostel, guesthouse and yurt camp in Uzbekistan, and it isn't a house custom: it sits in clause 24 of a government regulation, Annex 4 to Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 433 of 10 July 2020. The same 37-clause document caps how long a hotel can make you wait for a room, limits what a no-show can cost, and lists services you can ask for without paying.
This guide walks through the clauses that matter to a traveller, using the Uzbek text on the national legal database, lex.uz, in the version current after the last amendment to this annex in March 2026 (last checked: October 2026). The translations are ours. It isn't legal advice, and anyone hoping for a ready-made refund formula will be disappointed: the regulation leaves most money questions to the hotel.
Who the rules cover
Clause 2 defines an "accommodation facility" broadly: hotels, rest homes, campsites, motels, hostels, family guesthouses, yurt and tent camps, sanatoriums, even land vehicles converted for overnight stays. A family guesthouse in Khiva falls under the same text as a five-star tower in Tashkent.
Clause 3 leaves service quality to agreement between hotel and guest, unless another law says otherwise, and clause 4 lets the hotel set prices freely. Clause 6 requires each property to write house rules that don't contradict the regulation; some clauses push detail into them, such as the cancellation procedure in clause 17.
Check-in, check-out and the clock
The noon default, and who can change it
Clause 24 says arrival and departure are calculated against a settlement hour of 12:00 local time. The next sentence lets the hotel change that hour to suit local conditions and its type of business, so an 11:00 check-out is legal if it's the published rule.
The three-hour turnaround cap
The second paragraph of clause 24 is the one worth remembering. The gap between the settlement hour and the time the next guest can move in, which exists to prepare the room, must not exceed three hours. The paragraph then lets the hotel set the check-in time, so read the two together: with a noon check-out, the room should be ready by 15:00, and a 16:00 check-in looks like more than the rule allows.
Late check-out and hourly rates
There's no statutory half-day formula. Clause 29 says that if you leave after the settlement hour, the hotel decides what to charge for the extra time. Clause 25 allows daily rates, hourly rates, or both. Our take: agree any late check-out price at the desk the evening before, and ask for it on paper.
Clause 23 obliges the hotel to serve guests around the clock, which is the clause to point to if nobody answers at night. Still, tell a small guesthouse your landing time if you're arriving off a night flight.
Bookings, no-shows and leaving early
Clause 15 defines two booking types. A guaranteed booking holds the room until you arrive. If you don't cancel in time, arrive late or don't turn up, the hotel can charge you for the empty room, but no more than one day's worth. If you're more than a day late, the guaranteed booking is cancelled. A non-guaranteed booking holds the room only until a set hour, after which it lapses.
Under clause 17 you may cancel a booking at your own discretion, though the procedure and form of cancellation are set by the house rules. Clause 30 goes further: you can stop using the hotel's services at any point, on condition that you pay the costs the hotel has actually incurred. On its face, leaving mid-stay is lawful, and what you owe is the hotel's real costs, not automatically the whole booking. What counts as an actual cost isn't defined, and that's where disputes start. Booking platforms add their own terms on top.
Clause 26 bans the hotel from providing paid services that aren't in the room price without your consent. A paid extra that turns up on your bill without anyone asking you first falls under this clause. Clause 35 lets either side end the contract if the other breaches it, which cuts both ways.
What the hotel must tell you, and give you free
The 13 things on the board
Clause 11 lists 13 items a hotel must post at reception and on its website, if it has one; clause 13 requires the information in Uzbek, plus English and Russian. Grouped:
- name, address, phone and email; parent organisation and official category, if any;
- a copy of its certificate of conformity, or an extract from the unified register of family guesthouses and hostels;
- room prices and what they include; payment methods; other paid services and their prices;
- the form, terms and procedure for booking and cancelling;
- discounts and who qualifies; third-party paid services on site;
- check-in and check-out times, and the rules of use.
Clause 12 adds that each room must carry information on the rules of stay. Clause 22 says the hotel must sign a contract with you on request, on paper or electronically, naming the room, its price and your dates.
Free on request
Clause 27 lists services the hotel must provide free when you ask: calling an ambulance or other emergency services; use of a first-aid kit; delivering post addressed to you; a wake-up call at a set time; and boiled water, needles and thread, and one set of crockery and cutlery. A sixth line leaves room for any other free services the hotel chooses to add.
Your room, your valuables, your ID
Clause 7 applies the laws on the inviolability of the home to your room from check-in to check-out: legally, it's your dwelling for that period.
Clause 31 makes the hotel liable for items handed in for safekeeping under article 899 of the Civil Code, and obliges it to give you a document confirming it has taken them. Article 899 is wider than many guests expect: a hotel answers for things guests bring in even without a separate agreement, unless the loss came from force majeure, the nature of the item, or the fault of the guest or their visitors. Money, currency, securities and other valuables are the exception; the hotel is liable for those only if it accepted them under a separate safekeeping contract. You must report a loss promptly, or the hotel is released. A "not responsible for belongings" sign doesn't release it. The full text is in Part Two of the Civil Code. Our advice is short: hand passports and cash to the safe with a receipt, or keep them on you.
Clause 19 says services are provided once you show a passport or an equivalent document. Clause 20 covers children under 16, who are registered using their birth certificate or passport and the ID of the parent or accompanying adult, plus a document proving that adult's authority.
Marriage certificates and residence
Clause 5 states that hotel services must be provided regardless of permanent residence, citizenship, family or marital relationships, or any other factor that would restrict a guest's private life. In February 2023 the state Certification Center for Tourist Services issued a public reminder of clause 5, stressing that a marriage certificate isn't required, which Kun.uz reported on 23 February 2023; UzDaily and Tashkent Times carried the same notice. The rule doesn't change any other law; for wider questions of public conduct, see our page on LGBT travel in Uzbekistan.
Registration happens at the desk
Clause 21 requires every guest to be recorded through the state's online system for registering people in accommodation. This is the same check-in that satisfies the foreign-visitor registration rule, so a licensed hotel registers you as part of checking you in. The slips, the e-mehmon system and the gaps created by night trains and private flats are covered in our explainer on the three-day registration rule. If you're choosing between a certified guesthouse and a private room, read our notes on village homestays, since not every family stay can register you.
Clause 36 gives oversight to the state tourism committee and other authorised bodies, and clause 37 says those who break the rules are liable under the law. The regulation doesn't set out a complaint form or a fine schedule, so we won't invent one. Where to take a dispute in practice is covered in our guide to tourist complaint lines. For picking a base before any of this applies, our city-by-city accommodation overview is the place to start.
How these rules changed
Annex 4 wasn't the first version. A model regulation on hotel services, registered as No. 3160 on 20 May 2019, already contained the marital-status and booking rules. A resolution of the State Committee for Tourism Development, registered on 4 December 2020 as No. 3160-1, declared it void, leaving Resolution 433 as the binding text. Resolution 433 originally had a fifth annex on organising hostels; Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 622 of 27 November 2023 repealed it. Annex 4 itself was revised in April 2022 (Resolution No. 153) and on 16 March 2026 (Resolution No. 105). Re-check the lex.uz text before quoting a clause in a dispute.
Frequently Asked Questions
What time is check-out in Uzbekistan hotels?
The legal default is 12:00 local time, under clause 24 of Annex 4 to Resolution No. 433. Hotels may set a different hour but must post it with their other information (clause 11). The next guest's room must be ready within three hours, so by 15:00 with a noon check-out.
Can an Uzbek hotel charge me if I don't show up?
On a guaranteed booking, yes, but clause 15 caps the charge at one day's cost for the room. If you're more than a day late, the guaranteed booking is cancelled. A non-guaranteed booking simply lapses at the hour the hotel set, with no charge set by the regulation.
Do unmarried couples need a marriage certificate to share a room?
No. Clause 5 says hotel services must be provided regardless of marital or family relationships, residence or citizenship. The state certification centre repeated this publicly in February 2023.
Is the hotel responsible if something is stolen from my room?
Usually yes, under Civil Code article 899, unless the loss was your own fault or caused by force majeure. Cash, currency and valuables are covered only if handed in under a separate safekeeping arrangement, and the hotel must give you a receipt. Report any loss straight away.
Can I leave a hotel early in Uzbekistan?
Yes. Clause 30 lets you stop using the hotel's services at any time, provided you pay the costs the hotel has actually incurred. The regulation doesn't define those costs, so agree the figure at the desk and get a receipt for what you pay.