The Glen-Eden Private Hotel and Conference center has just extended its facilities. They say it was client-driven: conferences and groups just kept asking for more rooms. So what makes The Glen-Eden tick? Why do people think of it as being so different? We decided to ask a member of the team...

Q: First, the big question what on earth gave you the idea of starting a hotel?
A: I traveled! Simple as that! My colleagues and I had spent a lot of time traveling on business in this part of the world, and throughout the former CIS, And the more hotels we stayed in the more we had a growing desire to find a place where we could feel like we were not just "the man in room number so and so..."

Q: But surely you can't be saying that no hotel in the world gave you good service!
A: No, I am not saying that. In five star hotels I was given good service, but I was one of hundreds of people staying there. When I returned next time no one would remember me unless I had broken a chandelier or something! If I walked through the lobby of any major hotel in which I had stayed in any capital city no one would say "Hi James", I am anonymous until I pay the bill. So we decided to see if we could create something genuinely different.

Q: I think you once spoke of the Glen-Eden Hotel as a boutique hotel, what do you mean by that? Is it just a matter of size?
A: Well size is certainly part of it. The Glen-Eden is small and that is deliberate. It is a fast of life that if you are in a building with three hundred rooms, or even fifty rooms, no matter how good the service is it cannot be anything but anonymous and therefore becomes somewhat sterile. But is not just about size, ours is a hotel/conference center for people who want true hospitality! This is called the hospitality industry service alone is not hospitality.

Q: I am interested that you make a distinction between service and hospitality, can you explain that a little more?
A: Sure! People make a serious mistake about this... service is not hospitality. Service is a function, an action, doing things well when they are required. All hotels must give service. But hospitality does not begin with an action it begins wits an attitude; it is about relationships, openhearted generosity, If you stay at a friend's house they serve you but it is not just mechanical actions, there is o relationship. Your stay with them is not remembered for the size of the room or chandelier in their foyer, you remember your time because of the people you were staying with. Can I give you an illustration?

Q: Sure.
A: A week or so ago we had a gentleman come and stay with us for the very first time. He was here for just two nights. On the second afternoon he was walking through our garden looking dejected. We asked him what was wrong, He replied that he had tried to book a room for his return in a few weeks time and we were full. He said, "I just don't want to stay anywhere else. I only want to stay here at the Glen-Eden". In all my travels I can never remember getting so emotionally attached to a hotel in just one night! Even with conferences, we are of a size that conferences groups can book the whole hotel, and the Glen-Eden becomes their place, their home for the week. Many groups come back again and again.

Q: So why Uzbekistan?
A: Firstly, Uzbekistan is my home. My family is here, my children ore growing up here; we love the people and so much about the country. And from a tourism point of view, I think the region is absolutely fascinating. For so many people in the world Uzbekistan is like an ancient mystery still waiting to be discovered.