Almaty trip report - Part 3 - The Ritz-Carlton Almaty hotel, and a pro-tip
Work took me to Amlaty in Kazakhstan a couple of weeks back. Here's the trip report index (that will be tentative and changeable until the final part is published!)
I had a car arranged by my client, to pick me up at the Almaty airport. The drive through the city and on to the relatively newer part of it (where the Ritz-Carlton is located) was scenic all the way through. How could it be otherwise, when one side of your route is always lined with mountains?
A twenty minute ride got us to the Ritz-Carlton hotel, which is located at Esentai Tower, a mixed-use building.
The hotel's entrance is to the East, while the office premises open up from the West side of the building.
Aleksandr, the doorman, offered a very warm and helpful welcome to the hotel, which set my expectation bar quite high.
The hotel's layout itself is a bit strange, and if you'll permit me to say so, slightly annoying. The concierge is on the ground floor (or first floor, as they call it), but the hotel's reception is on the 30th floor of the building, which you can get to via a special elevator. Then you'll have to take another elevator down to the rooms that are located on floors 21-29. Anyways...
The hotel lobby itself was splendid...
and the views it offered, stunning!
A small bowl of apple tea with honey was offered as a welcome drink, which I was initially skeptical about. It turned out to be so good, I ended up having a second one!
There was also a nice little area for kids to wait, while the parents checked in. And while I wasn't travelling with the family on this occasion, I couldn't say no to the chocolate crispies and brownies that were on offer!!!
I checked in, and had them update my Marriott Rewards account preferences on the booking. There was a slight issue with the booking itself (they had a reservation for one night only, whereas my booking confirmation was for 6 nights), which they managed to correct on the spot. and I was off to my room on the 21st floor, with Aleksandr and the bags in tow.
The long-ish narrow vestibule led off to the bath area to the right, and had a series of shallow shelves to the left. You'll understand what I mean when you see the pictures below - there was hardly a depth of more than 12 inches. But the number of storage draws and racks that were there helped a little bit. One of these shelves also included a combination safe that was practically useless - it could just about accommodate my passport!
The bathroom was, on the contrary, fairly large and spacious. In fact, I personally felt it to be a waste of good space.
The room itself came up short relative to expectations. The large king sized bed took up virtually all the space in the room. And having two couches by the window plus a work desk meant that the entire room, plush as it seemed, was quite cramped. And this is without bags - mind you, there is no other place for storing baggage, and it will have to be within the living area of the room.
The minibar was stocked more thinly than usual, but to be honest, I couldn't find the minibar until day 2 of my stay!
And consistent with the Ritz-Carlton offering, bath supplies were products of Aspreys of London.
The hotel offers complimentary wireless internet to all guests. I was initially skeptical of this, because complimentary internet in general means bad speeds. It was a terrific surprise when it turned out to be a really high speed internet connection.
There's LT Grill, a stakehouse, located on the 28th floor, which I didn't visit during my stay, as virtually all meals (except breakfast one morning) were outside. However, I did visit the Vista restaurant for breakfast on the first morning. In keeping with its name, the restaurant offered some beautiful views!
I had to rush out to work so I couldn't manage any pictures of the buffet on offer, but I did manage these:
If you're wondering why my serviette is black and the other one on the table is white, that's because the service staff noticed I was wearing a dark suit and immediately replaced the original white serviette with a black one!
There's a spa on the 20th floor, which again I couldn't use because of the rather tight work schedule that I had.
Overall impressions
Be sure to also try out the Kefir and Kumis - fermented milk varieties that come with a buttery flavour (almost like buttermilk or lassi that you can get in India).
Soon, my 6 days were up, and I had to head back to airport on a clear Saturday morning. Because of its relatively high latitude, sunrise in Almaty can be quite early in summer. Here's the 5 am view on a clear summer day, just before I left for the airport.
I had a car arranged by my client, to pick me up at the Almaty airport. The drive through the city and on to the relatively newer part of it (where the Ritz-Carlton is located) was scenic all the way through. How could it be otherwise, when one side of your route is always lined with mountains?
A twenty minute ride got us to the Ritz-Carlton hotel, which is located at Esentai Tower, a mixed-use building.
The hotel's entrance is to the East, while the office premises open up from the West side of the building.
Aleksandr, the doorman, offered a very warm and helpful welcome to the hotel, which set my expectation bar quite high.
The hotel's layout itself is a bit strange, and if you'll permit me to say so, slightly annoying. The concierge is on the ground floor (or first floor, as they call it), but the hotel's reception is on the 30th floor of the building, which you can get to via a special elevator. Then you'll have to take another elevator down to the rooms that are located on floors 21-29. Anyways...
The hotel lobby itself was splendid...
and the views it offered, stunning!
A small bowl of apple tea with honey was offered as a welcome drink, which I was initially skeptical about. It turned out to be so good, I ended up having a second one!
There was also a nice little area for kids to wait, while the parents checked in. And while I wasn't travelling with the family on this occasion, I couldn't say no to the chocolate crispies and brownies that were on offer!!!
I checked in, and had them update my Marriott Rewards account preferences on the booking. There was a slight issue with the booking itself (they had a reservation for one night only, whereas my booking confirmation was for 6 nights), which they managed to correct on the spot. and I was off to my room on the 21st floor, with Aleksandr and the bags in tow.
The room
I'm a Marriott Rewards Silver member, which means I do not get room upgrades. However, I did manage a smoking room on an (relatively) high floor. The room itself was fairly standard, though I think my expectation was based on my past (and only) experience with Ritz-Carlton Bangalore, which was an extravagance in room size. I suppose you can't have it all!The long-ish narrow vestibule led off to the bath area to the right, and had a series of shallow shelves to the left. You'll understand what I mean when you see the pictures below - there was hardly a depth of more than 12 inches. But the number of storage draws and racks that were there helped a little bit. One of these shelves also included a combination safe that was practically useless - it could just about accommodate my passport!
The room itself came up short relative to expectations. The large king sized bed took up virtually all the space in the room. And having two couches by the window plus a work desk meant that the entire room, plush as it seemed, was quite cramped. And this is without bags - mind you, there is no other place for storing baggage, and it will have to be within the living area of the room.
The in-room amenities
A standard feature across all business hotels is the coffee machine, and it was no different here. Except that where there's normally an electric kettle to boil water, here was the espresso machine. I don't mind confessing that I'm still learning to use it, and as of date, would much rather prefer the kettle!The minibar was stocked more thinly than usual, but to be honest, I couldn't find the minibar until day 2 of my stay!
And consistent with the Ritz-Carlton offering, bath supplies were products of Aspreys of London.
The hotel offers complimentary wireless internet to all guests. I was initially skeptical of this, because complimentary internet in general means bad speeds. It was a terrific surprise when it turned out to be a really high speed internet connection.
Views
The overall views from my room were the best part. The hotel is located west/south-west of the main city of Almaty, and so the windows looked out East, and into the main city. Pretty much all of one side is mountains, so that added to the views (and weather) too!Hotel facilities
After I'd settled into my room, it was time to explore the hotel a bit. So I went down (up?) to the lobby level where the whisky bar is located.There's LT Grill, a stakehouse, located on the 28th floor, which I didn't visit during my stay, as virtually all meals (except breakfast one morning) were outside. However, I did visit the Vista restaurant for breakfast on the first morning. In keeping with its name, the restaurant offered some beautiful views!
I had to rush out to work so I couldn't manage any pictures of the buffet on offer, but I did manage these:
If you're wondering why my serviette is black and the other one on the table is white, that's because the service staff noticed I was wearing a dark suit and immediately replaced the original white serviette with a black one!
There's a spa on the 20th floor, which again I couldn't use because of the rather tight work schedule that I had.
Overall impressions
- What's good: location, exterior views, very helpful staff, internet speeds
- What could be better: room sizes for standard rooms
Be sure to also try out the Kefir and Kumis - fermented milk varieties that come with a buttery flavour (almost like buttermilk or lassi that you can get in India).
Soon, my 6 days were up, and I had to head back to airport on a clear Saturday morning. Because of its relatively high latitude, sunrise in Almaty can be quite early in summer. Here's the 5 am view on a clear summer day, just before I left for the airport.
Comments
Post a Comment