Kazakhstan Express

The breakfast spread was easily the best I’ve had at any hotel in Almaty, though they wouldn’t let me take coffee to go. Service was great, and there are at least a dozen restaurants within walking distance. I stayed here for the first time because the other “brand names” were full. The hotel has some charm, up to a point, but the rooms feel a bit old. The oddest part was having to iron my shirts in the hallway because that’s where the iron and ironing board are kept. I’ve never had that experience in a hotel before.

The renovation made it hard to rest. Electricity and water were cut at random, with no warning, and the air conditioning would stop without notice, especially at night. Drilling and hammering started around 9:00 to 9:30 AM. Midway through our stay, another family in the elevator told us they’d been without electricity and water from 2 AM and hadn’t slept at all, so this didn’t seem to be just our experience. Rooms vary a lot by floor, since some have been renovated and others haven’t. Our first room was very small, with outdated AC, a poorly maintained bathroom and no sound isolation. We paid extra to move to a decent room. If you still book here, inspect the room before accepting it. The front desk was unhelpful and sometimes rude. During our first two nights, they quietly upgraded us without saying it was a favor or an exception. Based on that room, we made the mistake of booking another eight nights. After a three-day side trip to Saty, we came back to a room that was nothing like the first one. When we said we’d extended our stay because of the room quality, staff sarcastically asked why we hadn’t checked the photos ourselves and called the earlier upgrade a “hotel mistake.” They kept sending us to look at other rooms, but those also had poor sound insulation and old AC. One staff member said, “Oh please, I have other things to do.” His name starts with E. The staff need hospitality training. That sarcastic, arrogant attitude isn’t acceptable for a 4 stars hotel. A second staff member eventually got involved and had the same sarcastic attitude. Once we agreed to pay for a premium room upgrade, the tone changed, but it shouldn’t have taken that. This was one of the worst hotel stays we’ve had, and the staff really ruined our holiday. Save yourself the frustration and book elsewhere. It’s only a so called 4 stars hotel, and there are better options in the city at the same price or lower.

We stayed four nights altogether, three when we first arrived in Almaty and another after our self-drive trip to Saty and Altyn-Emel National Park. The hotel let us leave our extra luggage there between the two stays, which was kind of them. If we return to Almaty, we’ll absolutely choose this hotel first. The location worked really well, with most main attractions within walking distance. For places farther away, staff were always happy to call us a taxi. They were consistently polite, helpful and professional. Special thanks to Farman at the front desk for his patience, and Yermek for helping with our heavy luggage. Our room was clean, comfortable and well maintained. We tried both the Superior Double and Premium Double. The Premium was noticeably bigger, on a higher floor, and had a much better city view. Breakfast had plenty of choices to start the day. We booked through Expedia and contacted the hotel several times before arrival. They answered every message helpfully, sometimes with a gentle follow-up. Our biggest mistake was declining the airport transfer. After taxi touts hounded us and we struggled with the Yandex app without a local number, we realized the hotel’s offered price was much cheaper than the airport's official taxi and would have made things easier. Highly recommended.

The view over the city and Tien Shan is great, and the rooftop Barfly is on the 26e floor. You can also change €/$/ Rubel inside the hotel at a good rate. It’s a nice hotel, not expensive, and the staff are friendly. The breakfast is huge with lots of choices. The location is handy too, about a 5-minute walk to kok Tobe (cable car) and 10 minutes to the Metrostation. The floors are all in different shape and design, with renovation still going on floor by floor, but I couldn’t hear any work noise. Some floors have an old Sovjet - Nostalgie style. Earlier check-in isn’t always possible because of the nieuw internal reglement of hotel sinds 1\2026, which is very strikt.