Best Western Hotel Turist
by the TopOfHotel team
Hotel Turist is the best-value pick in Centar — central enough to walk everywhere, with friendly staff and a midscale rate backed by the Best Western name.
Hotel Turist is the best-value pick in Centar — central enough to walk everywhere, with friendly staff and a midscale rate backed by the Best Western name.
In-Depth Review
Rooms and decor
Picture a compact 3-star, 74-room hotel sitting right in the middle of Skopje's busiest walking district — that's the appeal of Best Western Hotel Turist. It's a renovated Central European building that joined the Best Western chain to lift its service standard. Rooms are kept simple and easy to use, in neutral browns, cream and white, with fresh chain-standard bedding that's comfortable and soft. You walk in to a small work desk, a wardrobe, and A/C and heating as standard, plus free Wi-Fi throughout. The Central-European sizing suits a couple or a solo traveller well — not grand, but not cramped — and some rooms have a small balcony you can step onto to look over the shopping street below. Most front-desk staff speak fluent English, and a lot of reviews agree they're genuinely friendly and helpful, especially with arranging airport transfers and handing out tips for getting around. The overall feel is a simple but warm midscale hotel for anyone who wants a clean, comfortable bed in a walk-everywhere spot without paying more than they need to.
Food and amenities
The heart of the place is the breakfast buffet, a Central European spread served each morning in the ground-floor dining room. The basics are all there — scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, fresh bread, local Macedonian cheese and charcuterie, fresh fruit, yogurt, coffee and tea. It isn't the lavish range of a 5-star, but it fills you up and gets you out the door early, though guests staying several nights may find it repeats itself. Common areas include a small lobby bar for an evening drink and a front desk open 24 hours. Other amenities cover free Wi-Fi throughout with a fairly stable signal, A/C and heating in the rooms (important, since Skopje runs hot in summer and cold in winter), a small meeting room for business guests, laundry, and a front-desk-arranged transfer to SKP airport. There's no pool or spa as you'd get at a higher tier — understandable for a 3-star at this price, and the trade-off for that central-city value.
Location and getting there
If Hotel Turist has one trump card, it's location. The hotel sits on Macedonia Street, Skopje's main pedestrian shopping street, and it's just 260 metres — about 4 minutes — from Macedonia Square downtown, home to the giant Warrior on a Horse statue and an evening musical fountain. About a minute on from the square you reach the Stone Bridge, the Ottoman-era stone span that crosses the Vardar river to the Old Bazaar on the far side, packed with mosques, silver stalls, restaurants and Turkish-flavoured cafes, roughly 10 minutes on foot. Another key sight nearby is the Mother Teresa Memorial House, where she was born, just a 3-minute walk. Skopje International (SKP) sits about 17 km out, a 25–30 minute drive, and the hotel can arrange a budget transfer. Skopje has no metro, but from here you barely need any transport at all — every main sight in town is comfortably within a 15-minute radius.
Things to know before booking
To help you decide, here's the honest side. The most common point in reviews is room design: some guests feel it's plain and standard to the Best Western chain worldwide, without the distinctive character of a local boutique, so anyone after a stylish, one-off look may find it flat. The second is noise — rooms facing Macedonia Street catch traffic and the buzz of the shopping district morning and evening, especially on busy weekends, so if you sleep lightly it's better to ask for a room at the back at check-in. Third is breakfast: filling and complete on the basics, but a few reviews say the menu repeats over consecutive nights, with little genuinely Macedonian and more standard Central European. Last is amenities — no pool, only a small fitness area, and no spa, which is understandable for a 3-star at this price. Anyone wanting a resort-style stay should look elsewhere, but if your focus is walking the city, these limits barely register.
Our take
After reading through plenty of real guest reviews, Best Western Hotel Turist delivers exactly what it sells — a central location at a midscale rate that's the best value in Centar. If the trip in your head is waking up to walk Skopje all day, crossing the Stone Bridge to the Old Bazaar, eating burek at the old market, shopping back along Macedonia Street and watching the musical fountain at Macedonia Square in the evening, all without losing time to taxis or buses, this fits perfectly. Staff are friendly, rooms are clean with good bedding, and rates start from about $43 a night. It suits solo travellers, budget-minded couples, and business guests on a short Skopje trip best. But if you're after a stylish boutique feel, a pool, a spa or resort-style amenities, a higher tier in the same district will serve you better. Overall we give it 7.6/10 — the best-value choice for city walkers who value location and ease of getting around over plush rooms.
Score Breakdown
Assessed by our editorial team from data and real guest reviews
The Honest Verdict — pros & what to know
- Excellent central location — it sits on Macedonia Street, the city's main pedestrian shopping street, and Macedonia Square, Skopje's central landmark, is just 260 metres or about a 4-minute walk away.
- The key tourist landmarks are an easy stroll: the Ottoman-era Stone Bridge is 5 minutes, the Mother Teresa Memorial House is 3 minutes, and the Old Bazaar across the Vardar river is about 10 minutes.
- Staff are friendly and genuinely helpful. A lot of reviews agree they make arranging a transfer to SKP airport easy and hand out city tips enthusiastically.
- Rooms are clean with fresh bedding — 74 in total in a renovated building, sized to the Central European standard, and some come with a small balcony over the street.
- Rates start from about $43 a night for a 3-star Best Western-branded hotel in the city centre, which makes it the best value in Centar against comparable hotels at the same level.
- Room design and interiors are plain and standard to Best Western worldwide, without the distinctive character of a local boutique hotel. Anyone hoping for a one-of-a-kind look may find it underwhelming.
- Rooms facing Macedonia Street pick up some traffic and the buzz of the shopping district, especially mornings and evenings and busier on weekends. Light sleepers should ask for a room at the back.
- The breakfast buffet is a basic Central European spread rather than the variety of a higher-end hotel, and a few reviews note the menu repeats itself over a multi-night stay, with little genuinely local Macedonian on offer.
Who It’s For
Match Score by travel style
Amenities
Location & Nearby Spots
Things to do near Skopje
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Insider Tips
- Ask for a room at the back of the building (not the Macedonia Street side) if you sleep lightly — the street out front stays a busy shopping area all day.
- Tell the front desk ahead of time to arrange the SKP airport transfer; it costs less than a taxi out front and runs about 25–30 minutes.
- Walk across the Stone Bridge to the Old Bazaar on the far side of the Vardar in the evening — the old Ottoman-style market looks its best around sunset.