Hotel Ramada By Wyndham Shymkent

Don’t expect Wyndham standards. The hotel seems to have had a lot of effort put into its construction, but management has disappeared. It costs more than other local hotels while the service is much the same. The rooms don’t block noise well, and the staff quality is poor; they don’t seem to care about service. I ordered food to my room and waited an hour, only to be told I’d cancelled it. The order never arrived.

The city view is nice, and as a tourist I found the rooms clean. The receptionists are very friendly. What mattered most to me was being able to communicate in English, and I could easily talk with everyone.

The rooms were clean, but the furniture is due for renovation and the place needs some work. My room looked out onto a backyard with construction going on, despite being described as a land view, and I could smell smoke even on the non-smoking floor. This RAMADA didn’t feel like a typical chain hotel, more like Turkish Suleyman gold. At this price, I think you can find a better hotel. If you haven’t stayed at other Ramadas, though, it may be fine.

The hotel has a grand, almost royal feel, and the design brought the Disney movie Anastasia to mind. We were on the 6th floor, with a nice view of the hotel from the glass elevator. There was live piano and violin music in the lobby each night. We had a king room, and it seemed the amenities were set up for one person by default. The extra towels, robe, slippers, and toiletries were in a plastic bag on the table. We asked for extra water bottles since two aren't enough for us, and housekeeping brought them quickly, always with a smile. We arrived late and ordered salads and draft beer through room service. The food took over 30 minutes, and although I was going to cancel, it arrived anyway. I really liked the duck salad, and the beer was refreshing. Breakfast was a buffet at Nomad restaurant. We usually went before 8am, when there weren't many guests around. We'd also like to thank Zhasulan, who kindly helped us find transport from Shymkent to the Chernayevka border crossing into Uzbekistan.