Glass elevators are all the rage these days in Ulaanbaatar and the Bishrelt contributes to this trend by sticking one in its interior atrium. Other than that, it's a fairly standard hotel, with a drapery-heavy dining room, quiet pub, and a billiards table. It overlooks the...

The Chinggis Khaan is a big, brash hotel lying close to downtown. It was built soon after the fall of communism in the early 1990s and designed as a place of refuge for visiting diplomats and heads of state. It has all the facilities you could dream of, plus well-appointed...

This rather incongruous hotel looks like a cross between the White House and a Greek temple. Behind the Corinthian and Doric capitals it offers 37 spacious and simply furnished rooms. Views to the Bogd Khan mountain are excellent. Facilities include a small fitness centre that...

With its slender tower and minimalist, black-on-black design, the Corporate looks like a slice of Tokyo lost in the tangle of Ulaanbaatar's ungainly Soviet architecture. It has a restaurant, sauna, bath, fitness room and a spectacular 11th-floor roof-top bar.

Close to the embassy district, the Edelweiss has a quiet, reasonably secure location. Its 23 rooms are built around an atrium that has a skylight, allowing plenty of natural light inside. Despite its small size, the hotel maintains three restaurants offering Russian, Mongolian...

With its striking green facade, high-quality rooms and delightful service, the Evergreen is worth considering, especially for the reasonable rates. The reason for the low prices is the unsightly location close to the railway station. A short walk or taxi ride gets you into the...

Once one of Ulaanbaatar's better hotels, the Flower is starting to show its age. It's a rambling place with a variety of rooms that are clean and relatively spacious. Note that the standard rooms have a toilet but no shower or bath (you have to use the Japanese-style bathhouse...

Ulaanbaatar's original 'ger & breakfast' is still chugging along. Located near Gandan Monastery, owner Gana offers accommodation in gers (yurts) or in a newer concrete block. Despite the rustic setting, it has modern toilet and shower facilities, plus rooms with private bath.

Genex is a straight-laced hotel with bland rooms overlooking a quiet street close to Gandan Monastery and Peace Ave. Some attempt has been made to create a European atmosphere, including frilly drapes and tacky Greek statues in the hall. The lux rooms are a little odd-looking,...

Host Enkhee keeps things simple here with two dorm rooms. It's a pretty basic set up and a little cramped but the trade off is a sociable atmosphere and great location. Enkhee is from south Gobi and specialises in tours to this area.

With its colourful walls, funky decor and friendly vibe, this has become one Ulaanbaatar's pre-eminent backpacker joints. The setup is more spacious than other apartment guesthouses; it offers two TV lounges and five separate rooms. A young, friendly and totally laid-back...

One of the few consistently reliable hotels in the city centre that offers decent rooms at low rates. Bathrooms are spacious and the hotel workers do a great job with keeping the place clean. It has a billiards hall and breakfast buffet.

This place has the makings of a great boutique hotel; it's compact, overlooks a park and is right around the corner from Sükhbaatar Sq. Sadly, it remains a neglected dinosaur from the Soviet-era, complete with worn-out carpets, torn furniture and dodgy plumbing. Still, the...

Amiable host Idre runs this single-floor guesthouse with several dorms and private rooms that have a total of 42 beds. There is a central lounge and a small kitchen, plus Internet facilities (for an hourly fee). It's located in a dusty corner of town near the old long-distance...

At a dusty junction in the east end of town, the Khan Palace aims to be the best hotel in the city. Rooms are plush, with a tasteful design and little extras like slippers, a robe, hair dryer and humidifier. The hotel contains three restaurants, including the exceptional...

The Kharaa is one of the few hotels in this range to have been tastefully renovated. Hallways are decorated with Mongolian-art themes while the rooms have beige hues and wood furnishings. Each of the 29 rooms contains a fridge, TV and desk.

Reliable, friendly and central, Khongor is a great place to start your Mongolian adventure. Carved out of an apartment block are several dorm and private rooms with kitchen facilities. What sets this place apart is its extraordinarily helpful management - owners Toroo and Degi...

With 12 rooms, this is one of the largest guesthouses in the city. It has dorms and private rooms with attached bathrooms, a common area, kitchen where you can cook your own meals and a restaurant on the ground floor. Bathrooms are clean and have hot water boilers - crucial in...

The Soviet-era Mandukhai has seen some renovations of late, including new bathrooms, drapes and carpeting in the rooms. However, none of these improvements have reached the hallways so it still appears very run-down. While it's unlikely to feature highly on your wish list of...

Michelle offers clean, no-nonsense rooms and a central location, close to embassies and university buildings. The building itself has obvious design flaws (ie. oddly-placed support columns in the middle of the rooms), but its an otherwise reasonable midrange choice. Facilities...

In a quiet area surrounded by embassies, the Mika is a retreat from the downtown hustle and bustle. It's small, containing just 22 rooms, but offers a business centre and sauna. Rooms come equipped with TV and a modern bath, which is fine, although the furnishings are jumbled...

One of Ulaanbaatar's newest landmark hotels, the German-built Narantuul occupies a 12-storey block at the eastern end of town. Eye-pleasing rooms have modern but subtle decor, with a few nice touches such as flat-panel TVs. The hotel is also decked out with two restaurants, a...

In the heart of the city, Nassan offers accommodation in one of six apartments spread over one building. Dorm or private rooms are available, all with shared bathrooms. Each apartment also contains its own kitchen. Try to get a room on the quieter courtyard side of the building.

This professionally run guesthouse, owned by a German and Austrian couple, offers beautiful and spacious accommodation in dorms, gers and private rooms. The brightly-painted cafe, specializing in down-home Austrian meals and pastries, is another attraction. The catch is the...

This 31-room hotel just off the Square is a popular choice with visiting journalists and diplomats wanting to be close to the action. Overall the service is good and there is an excellent Indian restaurant in the lobby.

A Japanese-oriented place located southwest of Merkuri market, in the midst of apartment blocks and patches of wasteland. Rooms are large and there have been some improvements (like new carpeting in the hallways), but overall maintenance could be better. It has a restaurant,...

The Seoul is a little saucy. You're first indication of this is a message at reception which offers free coffee and condoms. Added to this is a hard-core striptease bar on the second floor. These x-rated eccentricities aside, it's a clean hotel with rooms that feature modern...

The latest contender in the race to build the best hotel in UB is this stunning edifice on the eastern edge of Ulaanbaatar. The Korean investment shows with the hotel's efficient service and attention to every detail. Besides the elegant rooms, the Sunjin contains a Korean...

Up the street from the railway station, this hidden guesthouse delights with clean, spacious rooms and a large dining area that doubles as a lounge. It's a smartly run Dutch and Mongolian venture that operates tours to the countryside, and has the usual amenities, including...

This hulking concrete pile doesn't look like much from the outside, except perhaps, some Soviet-era government fortress. Yet whatever this may have been in the past, it is now one of Ulaanbaatar's top-end hotels, offering 24 rooms of varying size and style. If you like staying...