We stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel Almaty in Kazakhstan. It was one of the best hotels in town and rooms there certainly did not come cheap. It wasn’t as luxurious as the China World Shangri-La we stayed in Beijing but it was still a pretty good room. The duvet was deliciously soft and the bed a pleasure to fall asleep in every night. They even had the option of orthopedic pillows for a small charge if you wished.

Their staff were all very polite and most importantly, spoke good English. I particularly liked how helpful and informative the Concierge was in helping me out with directions and sorting out our return ticket. They had a pretty good buffet breakfast and lunch in a nice sun-light cafe which was really good in summer but I bet it becomes really cold in winter! And because it was summer, they were running BBQ buffet dinners right on the lawn near their tennis courts which made dining there very pleasant.

I do like the small touches they provided in the hotel such as the fully kitted amenities box they replaced everyday and bottles of mineral water. They also had little packs of complimentary biscuits which saved me many a time when we were too busy to eat lunch or dinner! What I liked best, though, was the tiny little box of 2 dried apricots they put by the bedside every night during turn-down service! :)

It was a rather pleasant stay!