Rixos Borovoe — Hotel in Shchuchinsk

Firstly, when I made the booking with a member discount, I received an email confirmation from Reservation Christina asking for my Staff ID. I ensured the reservation was paid via a successful transfer with Kaspi by 00:51 on the 16th of June, and received a WhatsApp message at 9:36 am the same morning saying, "Payment has been received." However, on that same morning, I received an email stating the booking was not confirmed and the payment was declined. My card was charged at 10:19 am even though your property had already received the funds, resulting in a decline fee of 24,400 KZT ($55). When I called to inquire about this, the person on the phone simply replied, "Oops." As a result, I lost $55 due to your mistake. Upon arrival at 10:20 am, understanding check-in time was 15:00 pm, I noticed 6 to 7 rooms receiving keys before me, despite my earlier arrival. It is unlikely all 6 rooms were paid for the previous night or were no-shows. I received my first key at 14:40 and called from the room for the second key at 15:00. Reception informed me the room wasn't ready and they would let me know. After waiting an additional 25 minutes, I went to reception, and the room still wasn't ready. The reception seemed disorganized, and although I spoke with "Aigerim," who claimed to be the Duty Manager, it didn't seem to help. After 20 minutes, I was finally given a room with a late checkout till 15:00 for one room. However, I never received a call when the second room was ready. The F&B staff at L'olivo were very friendly. I have no complaints except that some drinking glasses were dirty, which I informed the waitress, Aidana, about. She promptly checked the rest of the glasses herself and apologized, providing efficient service. On our third day, we went to the Summer Cafe, where there seemed to be a business meeting next to us. It appeared that all the attention was on them, possibly the GM of the hotel was sitting with them. We waited 27 minutes to place the order, but no one approached or greeted us. I waved for the waiter/waitress, but they didn't notice us. My wife stood up to call someone to take our order, but the girl who came couldn't speak English, so we left after waiting 33 minutes without ordering anything. I understand the importance of a business meeting with VIP guests of the GM, but please note their food/drinks will be rebated and deducted from the staff service charge, while regular guests like us pay for services. Know who to prioritize. On the 17th, the lady at the SPA reception was somewhat rude to my wife. My wife couldn't open the changing room locker with her key, and the lady seemed annoyed when my wife asked for help. Eventually, another staff member assisted my wife and provided the necessary bracelets. Thankfully, we didn't encounter further issues with the rest of the gym staff. The sunset terrace was amazing with good food, and the staff were friendly and attentive when we visited on June 20th. I apologize for not catching the name of the young Kazakh girl with brown eyes who served us. Her English was good, and she informed us about a discount for paying with a Visa card, which we appreciated. Regarding the Kids Club, my wife and daughter were initially denied entry while we waited for our shuttle bus, even though we had just checked out. They had to wait outside for 15 minutes, causing my daughter to cry. I had to pay 2,000 KZT ($4) to gain entry, which was an unnecessary inconvenience given the amount we had already spent on our stay. Lastly, I asked if the hotel offered a shuttle bus to the train station and was informed that they do arrange it. I booked and confirmed the timing four times. However, at 18:00, instead of a shuttle, a regular small taxi was provided, which could not accommodate our luggage. This was disappointing and stressful. Overall, this was a stressful vacation, not a relaxing one. I paid for 5-star services but received 4-star...

This was my second long (9 days) stay at Rixos Borovoe. I was happy to see that the hotel and the grounds are (still) maintained impeccably, with some great improvements. It’s a beautiful place overall; the grounds, the lakeside promenade, the little lake beach, are all perfect. I really enjoyed the gorgeous yet still natural garden feel. All of the restaurants are beautiful, and the spa is the best I have seen. I loved the Hammam and the relaxation areas with the delicious tea service. My 4 year old loved the playground and the kids club. Absolutely everything is child friendly and wheelchair friendly. The service is outstanding.it really could be the perfect family vacation spot. But for a couple of things.

The first one is the food. The breakfast has great variety and is good because of that. Not great, but good. The lunch and dinner food at the restaurants was, unfortunately, much worse. Literally nothing (either traditional or international items) I tried in 3 different restaurants plus room service tasted good. It was ok, not completely unpalatable, but it just wasn’t good. Even some staples like Ceasar salad. That would be a 3 star experience in my book. I could probably deal with the food for a long weekend, given the restaurants themselves are beautifully designed and the service was top notch. But after 8 days of eating substandard restaurant food.. it becomes really frustrating. So I took 2 stars off for the food.

The remaining star is due to my early arrival experience, which was, frankly, infuriating, and possibly worth a LOT more than one star deduction. I needed to check in early in the morning (around 6 am) and was initially told it would cost 50% of my first night and will be subject to availability. Fair enough. But no. When I followed up a couple of days before arrival, it turned out that the charge would actually be 50% of whatever the “dynamic” rate for my room happened to be. And the availability of the early check in could not be confirmed at ANY time before my actual physical arrival at the hotel at 6 am. I had a 3 hour ride from Astana airport, which I booked through the hotel, but I could not find out if I’d have a room available to me at Rixos if I called during my ride. I had to actually get there and then be told the availability. So, I was strongly advised to book a room for the full daily rate, which at that point was more than 2 times of what my actual booking price was. And even 50% this rate (which would make my early check in cost more than a full day of my actual booking) could not be “guaranteed” to me if a room were to be actually available for early check in. The hotel management wanted their “right” to apply some other “market” rate to calculate how much they’d charge me for this early check in. Anyway, I booked a room at a different hotel, and there are plenty available in the area. It worked out fine for me, but the approach taken by Rixos left the most horrible aftertaste. Yes, I get that if you have people wanting to pay you the full market rate for the room, it doesn’t make sense to keep that room available for my early check in. But at 3/6 am the following morning, if you still have rooms available, I highly doubt there would be a line of customers wanting to book your rooms for the remainder of the day at full price. Why not give those rooms to your actual existing, repeat customers, for the rate that economically makes sense? And my guess is if my booking made sense to them to begin with, surely paying 50% of the same rate for 9 out of 24 hours wouldn’t be economically ruinous. But no. They prefer to keep you guessing so you pay whatever they ask when you get there, because they know YOU have no other choice. As much as I loved all of my other interactions with the hotel staff, this is really BAD...

Overall, everything was good but there were a few issues.

Positives: Stable and well-functioning Wi-Fi — I was able to watch movies and work without any issues. Tasty food at the main restaurant — the selection isn’t very large and is rather modest, but there was always enough for a complete and healthy meal. All the food was very fresh and delicious. Friendly staff at the main restaurant — I really liked all the chefs, and especially the manager Kirill. A large, well-maintained area to walk around and enjoy. Good massage therapists and helpful reception staff at the spa. The hotel is rather quiet and there were no loud music at the evenings. We really enjoyed the crimean baths, it was the highlight of our stay.

Negatives (of 1-4 I informed the guest relations when they asked me if I have any feedback during my stay):

The most important point for me was the lack of proper sun protection on the beach and the terrace by the pool. A solid canopy without holes (the current one provides no protection) or a proper umbrella is necessary so guests can stay on the beach without the risk of getting sunburned. I mentioned it a few times to guest relations and at the last day of my stay the problem was solved partially (they provided umbrellas upon demand on the beach). I am happy that the problem was solved for future guests but felt very unhappy with my inability to stay at the beach because there were no sun protection. The hallway light in the room turns on automatically, which is very inconvenient at night. For example, if one person goes to the bathroom, the other is woken up by the light. Having a separate switch to disable this function at night would be very helpful. There is no place in the room to hang swimsuits or wet clothes. Considering the hotel has a beach and spa, I’m surprised there isn’t at least some accommodation for drying wet swimwear. Some guests also wash clothes during their stay. There are a few towel racks, but if they are used for clothes, there’s nowhere to hang towels. I’m aware of the drying rack in the spa, but I prefer not to use it, as I find it unhygienic — many people leave their swimsuits there, and they’re not always clean. Sometimes the room cleaning was done very late — sometimes even at 4 or 5 PM, despite the “please clean” light being on all day. The main reception staff was not very friendly and welcoming. When asked questions they almost always referred to the hotel's website instead of simply answering the question which was a bit annoying. The entertainment program was very modest and it sometimes mentioned activities that required additional payment (without mentioning that activity is not free) which was annoying. Sometimes we showed up at the time and place mentioned in the program and there were no activities despite being mentioned at the website (for example, live music). The overall organization of the entertainment is very lacking. In general there is nothing to do at the hotel other than going to spa and walking around the hotel. There are lots of kids at the hotel since it is family friendly and sometimes they were too loud and overwhelming. May be having some adult only areas for relaxation...