You Can’t Use Local Currency To Pay For Hotels In Uzbekistan?!

You should try this in Venezuela too, see how that goes.

Seems I'm late to comment. Often time controlled currencies like this one are very difficult and very expensive to change back if you brought the currency back to the US. There's also a change you'd get stopped on your exit if you carry too much out of the country. With this said, it is not uncommon, especially in some African countries and Asian countries. We need to also remember that not too long ago, it was pretty similar in China, only they had a 'foreigners' currency that the locals couldn't use. It is generally common in countries where the dollars are much needed. In fact because my business travels often take me to obscure places, I face this all the time.

I was several times in Tashkent last year - 2016 - and always paid my hotel bill in local currency. I was staying at the Wyndham. You should have tried it a day before leaving with a smaller amount - I always paid in two or three different days to pay lower amounts and to avoid being stuck with a lot of local currency at the end of my stay.

to be fare, the old Chinese FEC is different. It basically recognized the gap between official rate vs. black market rate and gave people who exchanged local currency benefit and discount in lots of places. It actually reduced the need of black market exchange for foreign visitors.

"It’s the same in the Maldives." Maybe at resorts but not always on local islands. We paid in ruffiya last year for accommodation on the island of Villingili. Loved that island and the people. And just a short ferry ride from the capital. Ben I am old enough to have paid in FEC in China for a bus and a hotel back in the day when they still used those Foreign Exchange Certificates!