Hotel Tranzit

There's free hot water in a thermos at reception, and you can buy tea, coffee, and snacks there too. A very nice girl poured me some tea for free when I didn't even have enough money to buy it. The balcony overlooks the train station and allows smoking. There's a TV with 16 channels in the lobby, and a currency exchange downstairs that's open until 8:00 PM. If you're bringing money other than tenge, that's handy. The cheapest 12-hour bed is 1,700 tenge, the equivalent of 280 rubles or $4.38 USD. My daily bed cost 2,166 tenge, or 357 rubles, or $5.58 USD. I only stayed one night. There was no duvet cover with the bedding, and the shower was far from the best if you book a hostel bed rather than a private room. Getting a shower to work is a lucky break. The soundproofing is poor, so at night you hear everything outside the door. The rooms have lovely panoramic windows at first glance, but the lights outside by the train station make it hard to fall asleep. It's also extremely chilly inside, with no radiators or convector heaters and drafts coming through the windows. The beds have no outlets, so you have to leave your phone charging unattended, and the hostel rules say they're not responsible for lost items. Curtains are badly needed, and the mattresses could be thicker. There's Wi-Fi, password: 25695502k. I think the hostel is very good, but it is cold and noisy.