Kazakhstan Hotel — Hotel in Almaty

There are both wonderful and less encouraging aspects of Kazakhstan Hotel, but the positives outweigh the negatives, and I would be glad to stay again if improvements are made.

There was chaos at check-in, which was firstly well understaffed for the volume of arrivals, when a group of Kazakhs decided to create a second check-in line out of thin air. While I'm used to Kazakhs being mannerless and rude, this line-cutting was particularly offensive. When guests confronted the Kazakhs, the Kazakhs feigned ignorance and ignored calls to return to the back of what used to be the only line. What was even more appalling was that the front desk attendants actually honored the line-cutting! This must be remedied immediately by an attendant policing the check-in queue, as first impressions matter deeply.

On the night of August 5th at 12:45 AM, there was an incredibly smug and unhelpful front desk worker named "Askhat" (he was working alone, and it seems he was always the late night attendant). I asked if he could help me identify 2 exemplary evening shift front desk attendants from the previous night who were incredibly patient and helpful. I wanted to specifically mention their names to give them much-deserved credit. Less than one second after I asked my question, he immediately replied that he had no idea. I asked if there was an employee log he could reference to figure it out, and he also said no. Really? You're going to pretend that you can't find this information or even determine their names based on my description, especially when the workers I'm asking about are afternoon shift regulars? Lazy, arrogant, and unprofessional.

The room was small but very cozy with an incredibly comfortable bed, excellent air conditioning, a beautiful view of Almaty from the windows, a mini-fridge that I am incredibly thankful for, and a variety of TV channels (including local Kazakh channels). The desk area was quite dark even when all lights in the room were illuminated, so it should have its own lamp. The bathroom was quite miniscule, and six footers will struggle to use it. Housekeeping, however, was wonderful and checked the room everyday.

The hotel's elegant exterior architecture at nighttime is honestly more captivating than the Eiffel Tower. The elevator music of piano renditions of pop songs was repetitive and needs new tracks. While there was a security gate, it was only for show and not enforced, which is unsettling and embarrassing. The included breakfast buffet was surprisingly unappealing, due in part to guests' unhygienic practices at the buffet line. The hotel's snack store and Kazakh souvenir store were very claustrophobic and overly packed with merchandise. The currency exchange woman was quite surly and overly bureaucratic, but frequent visitors know that that is honestly typical of every Kazakh desk...

My stay at this historic hotel was extremely unpleasant. The room I booked and the room I was given were different. I booked a room with a desk for work and a bathtub. Those two things were crucial for me. But when I arrived, the room I received didn't have either of those. It was a small room with no desk and no bathtub. It was pretty much downhill from there. The next morning, when I went to breakfast, there was a pamphlet in the room saying that breakfast was served at the second-floor restaurant. I got in the elevator, pressed the second-floor button, and when I arrived, the elevator was stuck and unresponsive to any buttons. Finally, someone called the elevator up, and it started moving. The family who entered the elevator was going to the second floor, and I urged them not to press the 2nd floor button, so we all went to the first floor instead. When we approached the receptionist, he said that the entire second floor was under renovation and there was no access. I mean, how are we supposed to know that as guests? There was no briefing or update at check-in about this. The stuck elevator was a frightening experience! After jumping through hoops, I was finally able to move to a room with a desk and a bathtub. Huge thanks to Farhad, the hotel supervisor, who helped me move and truly cared about my well-being. Thanks to Vali, and many thanks to Karakoz (I hope I'm spelling her name correctly) in room service for making my sick day more pleasant by ensuring my soup was hot. I also got sick during my stay and needed to stay an extra day, but as soon as they heard the rate on Booking, they gouged the price on Booking and made my room more expensive and unavailable. The one star because of Farhad, Karakoz, and Vali. Otherwise, the hotel deserves no stars and does not meet the standards of a 4-star hotel.|The breakfast hall was a mess. I lost my table several times when I got up for a cup of coffee because there were too many people for the available tables in the hall. The breakfast staff quickly cleans the table and allows others in line to sit there. When I came back to my table, I was shocked to find that my breakfast was gone and there were other people sitting there. There is no order, no rules,...

Location is great. Nearby restaurants and some tourist spots.

The hotel is old since it’s a Soviet Hotel so we must know what to expect. Not well maintained. Carpet seems tones of bacteria.

Breakfast is great especially if you’re into bread, cheese, pastries, yogurt, fruits in the morning. But if you are into meat/protein, very few selection. Only 1 menu for chicken and eggs. Other meat are processed that is not good for the health. By the way staff in the breakfast especially the boys smile often and more accommodating. They deserve to be in the front desk/reception instead.

Room size is standard, clean though due to its age it doesn’t feel clean. TV is very small.

DISAPPOINTED to the following matters

We are welcome with frowned faces of the two receptionist. I understand that it’s tiring but they should have tried to smile a bit since first impression is unto them. I don’t feel any hospitality especially to the guy in the frontline. You must undergo RE-TRAINING!

Housekeeping ARE SO NOISY while they are cleaning the rooms next to us. 12nn is checkout HOWEVER, 15 minutes before checkout they knock on your door and force you to check out even you technically still have 15 minutes to rest before standard checkout. Staff just come in and start cleaning and checking of rooms for checkout. TERRIBLE. INVADING PRIVACY.

Weak WiFi. Though this is understandable since it’s a big hotel and this is also a common problem of other big hotels.

PS. No pool unlike in photos The Noodle restaurant and Cafe next to the reception are great. You can never feel exclusivity in the area since it’s very public and I read that it’s kinda tourist spot

The guy in the photo is one of the receptionists when we arrived who IS NEVER ACCOMMODATING AND CONSISTENT FROWNING FACE🤬

We supposed to extend our stay due to its location but because of the NOT SO WELCOMING STAFFS we decided to check BETTER...