Hotel Almaz

The interior is welcoming, which is why I’m giving the hotel 2 out of 5. Otherwise, it would be a straight 1. It’s clean and has everything, but the staff seem stuck in the 1990s. Drunk people come in, and even a polite greeting to the guard at the entrance gets met with complaints. There’s a Presidential Decree "On Polite and Attentive Treatment of Citizens," but you won’t find that kind of treatment here on the outskirts of Minsk. It seems the administration forgot to tell its employees to be polite and attentive. To me, that’s the most important measure of how an organization is run. I’d like guests to Minsk to be treated courteously, instead of facing a scene at the hotel entrance.

The Almaz Hotel is far out, with only a couple of buses serving the area. Parking costs money, and the closest grocery store is 1.5 kilometers away. Service was practically absent: reception was unattended, so we had to deal with the security guard. A towel wasn’t brought, and they blamed us for it. The walls are so thin you can hear everything. There were always Azerbaijani citizens on the premises, occupying the whole first floor and disturbing guests, and management did nothing about it. In our 10 days, the floor was washed only once. We first saw a maid at the end of a week. The TV showed only static, the water was cold, and the beds creaked. The repairs were minimal, and the wallpaper was dirty both on the wall and near the beds. The glass windows wouldn’t open. There was just one handle for opening and closing the balcony and all the windows, while the others had no handles. The balcony had an old carpet and a hole in the floor, and there were wires hanging in the room. The management office was inconveniently located, and we had to try to find it.

I was at the "complain table" in one of the cafes for the first time. The food was tasty, the drinks were cool, and the cranberry juice was delicious. I’d definitely recommend it. I was also grateful for the free internet, which let me join an important online event. My only complaint is that the complex doesn’t digitalize its visitors to encourage return visits. That means lost revenue 🙂💰💸

It’s a quiet, pleasant hotel, and the hints of Soviet era architecture bring back some nostalgia. There’s paid parking behind the fence, and it isn’t expensive. You can buy Wi-Fi, though it barely worked for us even with lots of guests around. The dining room isn’t fancy, but it’s fine for grabbing a bite.