My Hostel Almaty — Attraction in Almaty

The location is excellent, the rooms are good enough too - as good as they get for a hostel, without windows but that’s ok. BUT, the hospitality is absolutely pathetic! Let me explain…

We had a booking for 3 nights. Assume 3rd - 6th for argument sake. We had the Kolsai, Kandy tour (absolutely wonderful places) from 2nd to 3rd. On 2nd, we arrived to Almaty at 3am, hoping we could get a couple of hours of sleep before our tour began at 7am. We decided to stay at this hostel itself to make it easy for us; but since we arrived on the 2nd (flight was delayed), we couldn’t book a room or beds online (cause we would need to book 1st check in and 2nd check out) - so we decided to go to the hostel directly and pay them there (especially since online showed that beds were available).

When we reached there, all tired, in a new city, not understanding the language, hoping to rest for only 3hrs before our tour began and willing to pay an entire night’s rate, we asked the gentleman behind to desk if he could help us - all he said is NO. I tried to reason with him that we have a booking from the next day, and if he could just help us out for a couple of hours - even if it’s just a chair to sit on, he said that it’s not his problem. Following which I tried to ask him if he could direct us to some place where we could sit since we are new to the city - he simply shrugged his shoulders and asked us to leave.

Ideally, after such a bad experience, we would have cancelled our booking but this was non-refundable. When we went back, he told us that he was going to Kerala for a vacation - I truly hope he finds out the difference in hospitality in my country.

All in all, stay here only if you have prior booking - if not, you will not be entertained. Not even if you simply want to exchange some cash.

Oh, and even though your private twin room says it comes with AC - there isn’t any. You have to ask reception to turn it on. And, the gas stove isn’t on - or at least it was never on the 3 days that...

Poor Facilities and Maintenance The bed and general areas felt quite dirty. Cleanliness does not seem to be a priority here

You’re given bed linen at check-in and have to make your own bed. At checkout, you’re expected to return the line/bedding. This might be minor to some, but it adds to the feeling of poor service.The air conditioner in the kitchen/common area wasn’t working. When I asked about it, the response was simply "no", with no further explanation. It feels like nothing here is properly maintained.

Poor Wi-Fi Connection The Wi-Fi connection was extremely unreliable. Most of the time it didn’t work at all, which was frustrating

Unfriendly and Unhelpful Staff The staff were generally unfriendly and did not even greet guests. When I asked for recommendations on things to do in Almaty, they didn’t seem to have any knowledge of local attractions or activities

One staff member asked me to make a promotional video for the hostels Instagram within 2 mins of speaking to him. I replied with "maybe later" to be polite, but it was obvious and quite clear I wasn’t interested. Despite that, he asked me again a few hours later, which made me feel uncomfortable and pressured

Storage Fee After Checkout Most hostels and hotels offer luggage storage after checkout free of charge, at least for a few hours. Here, I was charged 100 tenge per hour to store my bag for just 6 hours. It’s not about the price, but rather that it’s not standard practice and felt a bit petty

Overall Impression Between the lack of basic amenities, poor staff attitude, cleanliness issues and social vibe, I did not enjoy my stay. I highly recommend looking for other accommodation options. I ended up cancelling my last stay and...

What is good in this hostel: location and good kitchen, that’s it. I made a reservation a few days in advance and arrived 10 minutes before the standard check-in time. The man at the reception immediately told me: oh, but we have a group is coming, what to do. What is up to the group for me, I made a reservation in advance. Then he told me that the standard check-in time is 10 minutes, the bed is ready, but we will check-in you in 10 minutes. Seriously? Then he said that the locker is not free, you need to pay to use it. I said I'll think about it. I ended up being checked in 5 minutes before the standard check in time, what a bounty. The room is terribly hot and there is nothing to breathe at all. Then they told me that I was lucky that the room had a window. Later I went down to|the reception to ask about the locker, housekeeping ladies were there and said that I should just leave a deposit for the locker and the money would be returned to me later. So payment or deposit? In the evening I returned to the hostel, this guy was again and I asked him this question, he thought about it and said with a grin that need to make the payment. Well, apparently he runs his own business on lockers. I came into the room, things were lying on my bed and another man was standing with dirty feet, shifting things from my bed to his own. I told him that this is like my bed, to what he said: so what? Here is my...