International Hotel Astana Hotel

The highlight for me was Kairat Almaty stadium, right across from my room. I still enjoyed the stay, and the service was pretty good, though the breakfast had only a few choices and repeated the same ones. There was porridge-rice-beef, sausage or patty, three kinds of eggs, bread, butter, three cheeses, olive oil, cereal, fruit, hot drinks and five juices. Apple was the best juice, IMO. The room cleaning was limited: they made the bed and replaced the dirty towel, but left my used tea cup. There was no tea, coffee or sugar provided in the room, and the TV was still analog. The power outlets were type C. The elevator was very narrow, and only one was working during my stay.

Even with whatever efforts the hotel makes, the nearby car wash makes it impossible to sleep peacefully. Look at the nighttime view from the hotel balcony.

The low prices seem to be the bait, but please avoid this place. The hotel is pathetic, as if it dates back to the 1900s, and the staff are rude and clueless. Breakfast is so poor you might as well skip it. I wish negative stars were an option.

It’s okay if you’re on a budget, but there’s nothing “international” about it, and it doesn’t feel like a four-star hotel. The room was below average. Breakfast was okay, though they started turning off the lights exactly at 10 AM, which was weird. The staff weren’t rude, just indifferent, with not a single smile. We had a toddler and still had to carry our own bags to and from the room. They reminded us five times that checkout was at 12, even though we left at 11:30.