Absolutely! Garak was a cool character with the extra benefit of being "insertable". And by that I mean each episode had two possible storylines, with Garak or without. I'll betcha many writer's sessions went back and worth - "Garak yes vs. Garak no"!
It's no secret that DS9 has suffered a lot of criticism for not being "Trek-like". Personally by the time DS9 premiered I was glad to get away from spaceship and get deep into character development enhanced by a specific location. Like an orbiting hotel, DS9 was well suited to showcase different visitors in harmony with it's old school episodic production standards.
That's what made old school television so much fun, seeing favorite guest stars make an appearance - exclusively on one episode.
Take William Windom as Commodore Decker on "The Doomsday Machine" from the Original Series. William Windom was a very familiar television presence throughout the last half of the 20th century. From Bonanza to the Mod Squad - from Columbo to The Waltons; William Windom could do it all.
But as Commodore Decker, Mr. Windom gave a performance that
brought the house down!