I have stayed at numerous hotels in Almaty, all of which have been around half the price of this one, but I decided to treat myself. I was extremely disappointed.

Whilst the room was clean, it was of a lesser standard than the hotels that were actually cheaper. The hotel is greatly overpriced for what they offer. A taxi costs 5000 tenge to the airport as opposed to the usual 2000 standard fair and I was charged twice, once by the hotel and once by the taxi driver, so a total of 10000 tenge for a 2000 tenge journey.

To add insult to injury, my credit card has been cloned and there have been numerous transactions since my stay there. It is the only place I have used my card here so I am pretty sure that this is where it occured.

The rooms are very basic and desperately need updating and renovating. The rate of $180 per night (for a single bed that left both my legs and arms falling out either side of the bed) is extremely high. They offer 1 hour free internt in the business centre, which still does not justify the price, as cleaner / higher specification hotels are available at around $90 per night.

In short, there are far better hotels to stay at in Almaty at a better prices, where you can be sure of your credit cards integrity!

Otrar hotel has a really good location – in a very central zone in front of a beautiful park, near the central shops and everything. It is positioned as a 4 star, but as it happens sometimes in post soviet countries it will not meet your usual expectations of a 4 star level. However if you are not a very sophisticated customer, you will feel pretty comfortable with the accommodation. I agree with a reviewer below saying that the outside of the building is not at all impressive, but the rooms are all right. The standard of cleanness is pretty high (and that’s the number one thing that matters for me), the furniture is a bit outdated, but of a good quality, the bathroom could have been more modern, but the accessorizes such as toothbrush, toiletries, slippers and bathrobe make you forget about little outdated details.

I had a business room with a gorgeous view of the park and mountains. Actually the view – is the best thing about the hotel, of course if you’re staying on the right side of the building (as someone already said, the other side is a mess). The breakfast was included; the choice of food was all right. Be prepared for the strange tea taste, that’s the peculiarity of tea they use in Kazakhstan. The breakfast room is the room for the dinner as well (I tried it, since it was raining heavily that day and there were no chance to go out), wouldn’t recommend having dinner in the hotel. Buffet style, all wrapped in pellicle, so little, that if the other person wanted to have dinner we both would stay hungry. Soup, two variants of hot dishes and side meals. No dessert. If you are staying in a business room, you have a right for one hour of internet use for day (not wifi though) and two dress cleanings.

All and all, my experience was all right. In my own raiting I’d put Otrar hotel 3 and a half. The hotel was clean; the bed was comfortable, the breakfast kept me going for the day. However if you are looking for a European type of a 4 star hotel, this is definitely not you choice

Stayed for over a week as most hotels fully booked. Lovely view from top floor across park to mountains. Rooms very basic, but clean and adequate room for business traveller. Food options are limited, but fortunately several restaurants in walking distance. Limited direct internet access without purchasing expensive wireless card. Minibar never restocked without asking, especially just for water.

The outside of this hotel is exceedingly drab and ugly. The reception area is spacious, marble covered but souless.

The bedroom creates an altogether better impression, recently painted in white with good condition, heavily lacquered dark wood furniture. This was the only hotel we found of eight in Central Asia where the curtains fully drew across the windows. The bedroom was well equipped with minibar, hairdrier, phone and satellite tv albeit mostly Russian stations but with BBC World. The beds were comfortable and the airconditioning quiet and good. The pleasant view from our miniscule 'balcony' was of the park and the mountains. The advertised rack rate was £80 for a standard double.

The breakfast buffet had a wide choice of food you probably wouldn't want to eat. The least appetising items included stewed tea, cold tinned peas, oily reheated fried eggs and meatballs presumably from the previous evening's buffet. We didn't try supper!

Finally, the hotel room information pack contains extensive instructions about earthquakes. Listen out for 'dogs howling one week before, and whimpering 4-6 hours prior to, the quake'. Be warned!