Kolsay Lakes Town — Hotel in Almaty Region

We had a two bedroom cabin. Location is great. By the lake, but no direct view of the lake. Restaurant has the lake view.

Rooms were clean. Fairly small, but they had a living room where we could keep our suite cases. So, 4 of us were able to manage without difficulty.

Breakfast wasn't a buffet. Served porridge, eggs, and bread. Filling and tasty but not a wide spread.

Rooms had radiators for heating. It took us some getting used to to set them at the right temp. Also, they didn't show it to us until we asked. There is no phone in the room, so if you don't get all your answers before the office closes at 10PM you are on your own.

The only thing we didn't like was the heater in the bathroom. It's a small heater. In winter you run out of hot water while you are in the shower unless you turn up the temp, wait for it to fully heat up, and then use minimum water. I wish they set the temp at max by default, or at least told us about it.

All said, it's a very relaxing place to stay. I would recommend it to...

Found the absolute best restaurant near the lake. First, the views are incredible. Then, the food is delicious. Had the best beef stroganoff ever. Learned about Kazakh Boursak - similar to beignets but so much lighter and no sugar. Tried Shakshuka for the first time. Most importantly, the people made the experience special. The main guy, not sure if he is a manager or owner, but he definitely seemed like he had some authority. He made our experience so special. Little things like moving us to a window table even though there were only two of us. Reserving that same table for breakfast the next morning. Being overly generous in giving us little tastes of Kazakh foods that we didn’t order. This became our little hub for meals. Finally, the atmosphere of the restaurant was amazing. People were singing traditional Kazakh songs. We struck up a conversation with the table next to us, who tried to encourage us to take shots of Russian vodka with them. What a...

Everything advertised is misleading. And unfortunately I was one of the people who fell for the advertisment trap.

The place is not located anywhere near the lake. There is no privacy. The cottage was dirty. Wanted to brew some water and the kettle was freakin dirty.. like from Genkhis Khan ages..

You couldnt breath inside if you did not open the windows.. and if you open the windows all the bugs and insects are waiting to come in and join you.

They dont even have fans to create air circulation in the room. Believe me I tried with everyone to get a fan.. but they had ONLY ONE which was used in the reception for the staff!!

Anyway, I did not stay. I left the room before dawn.. a tiring 5 hour trip back to Almaty.

I recommend not to stay here at all. This...