Alma - Ata — Hotel in Almaty

Had an absolutely terrible experience here. There was a bed bug in my bedding so I showed it to the woman who accused me of lying. I showed her the time and date the photo was taken (5 minutes before) and then she told me it was a beetle not a bed bug. Then she tried telling me it wasn't from this hostel. Well I can tell you that yes, it was from that hostel, and no, I am not a liar. We left within minutes, highly unimpressed. Other bad things included: we were waiting for 15 minutes outside when we arrived, rang the bell a lot, if it wasn't for a guest letting us in who knows how long we'd have been waiting. Secondly, it feels like a military operation - so many strict rules. Thirdly, they make it very clear there is 'no luggage store!!', this was particularly unhelpful for us as we were flying late evening the next day so needed to store our luggage. This is a hostel and it doesn't offer luggage storage? Bizarre

Steer clear of this hostel, I'd recommend Golden Square or Hostel 64 - much nicer establishments with lovely staff (I could post a photo of the bedbug but i'll spare them...

Stayed total 7 night out of my 10 days backpacking trip to Kazakhstan. Rules are quite strict here, one needs to keep quiet which i honestly did not mind.

If you are in search of a hippie place where you can play loud music and drink then kindly avoid.

Superb location, shared kitchen which is big enough for everyone.

Only recommendation I have is to atleast keep some fans in rooms, at night , felt burning hot suffocation.

Also consider have storage facility for some charge, it will only help the business.

I personally did not have any issues with the main owner or other staff. All were...

No curtains for the dorm beds nor plugs (Extension plugs are around but you have to fight with the other people for them) kitchen is small, and while the bathroom (and singular shower per gender) is fine and wifi, my main complaint is that the woman in charge was not REMOTELY interested in being useful or friendly to the tourists to her country. She wasn't available, made ZERO effort in translating/ understanding foreigners, begrudgingly answered basic questions and tried to divert them to her assistant (who wasn't around a lot) whenever she could before...