Almaty Hotel

The room we got wasn’t like the one we booked or the pictures on Agoda, and the staff couldn’t sort it out. They said a senior staff member would contact me around 9 the next morning, but no one got in touch during either of our two nights there. I was really disappointed. The room and lobby were old, and the room wasn’t soundproof at all. The shower water kept switching between hot and cold, and the bathroom was very dark with hardly any lights. They only left one roll of tissue in the room. It wasn’t comfortable, and I wouldn’t recommend this hotel if you’re thinking of staying in Almaty.

The hotel and its service were good for the price, and I liked staying here for the Fide World Cadet. But there are no 3-pin plugs in the rooms, so I couldn’t charge my iPhone, Mac, or other phone without borrowing someone else’s multiplug. I hated that part. Otherwise, everything was good.

I was in town for an international meeting at Kazakh-British Technical University. The balcony had a great mountain view, and I really enjoyed the breakfast with its many choices. There’s also a souvenir shop on the ground level outside the hotel, handy if you haven’t found one yet.

On the last day, all our room keys stopped working before checkout time, so we had to go downstairs to get them reactivated. There was also an issue with the balcony next door. Someone in the adjacent room had left clothes out to dry, but the front office accused us of putting them there without checking the room number. Even after we said they weren’t ours, they insisted we go check. They later apologized after the mix-up was clarified. Those clothes were still there on checkout day, though, so apparently the hotel wasn’t concerned about them after the incident. The property has a great location and good amenities, but the front office staff need to be more professional. They seem very particular about the hotel's image and could use more refinement.