We stayed at City Hotel in Samarkand in March 2008. The room was OK. No hairdryer (their website indicates there should be one), the phone didn't work, so calling the front desk was impossible.
If you have to stay there, make sure you've got very good earplugs (it's noisy) and be prepared to be overcharged (they don't use the official exchange rate, but their own, 'bazar' rate).
One good thing I can think of- the front desk staff were very nice. more