When it comes to five-star hotels, the Intercontinental hotels are among the top addresses in many cities. This is also the case in the Kazakh metropolis of Almaty, where a franchisee operates a particularly large “Intercontinental”.
Intercontinental is a five-star brand of the IHG Hotels Group, whose headquarters are near London. The company operates many hotels itself, but definitely not all of them, as many locations are managed by franchisees on their own account. This is also the reason why there have been repeated brand changes in some cases, although the hotel company remains the same.
The Intercontinental Almaty is operated by a local licensee with a Turkish background. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, it was the first "western" hotel to specialize in seminars and conferences. This has not really changed to this day, as the hotel is still the city's top address when it comes to such events. There are a variety of rooms available for this purpose, and the hotel's own restaurants take care of your physical well-being.
Spacious rooms with many little extras
Like all Intercontinental hotels, they offer various room categories from standard to luxurious suites, which then have their own price per night. The "normal" rooms are spacious and boast numerous amenities and extras for guests. For example, the operators provide several free bottles of water, coffee powder, tea, a kettle, a coffee machine, shoe polishing equipment, razors, toothbrushes, sewing kits, bathrobes, slippers and much more. Interestingly - and unfortunately no longer common even in five-star hotels - everything is replenished or refilled daily.
It quickly becomes clear that business travelers are the core target group. The room has a large desk with an LED reading lamp and a LAN cable in case the free and fast WiFi is not to be used for whatever reason. A large flat screen TV with international TV programs should be a good way to pass the time. The bathrooms were attractively designed and impeccably clean.
Those who prefer sport can use the swimming pool and fitness center. Relaxation can be sought in the wellness area. Various massages and other treatments can be booked for an additional charge. It is definitely possible: you can linger outside when the weather is nice, as the hotel is built in a kind of mini-park. In the immediate vicinity of the rear entrance, which drivers have to use because this is where the entrance and exit to the underground car park are located, there is a local supermarket that has long opening hours, so that bargain hunters can avoid the Intercontinental's extremely high food and drink prices by Kazakh standards.
Extensive breakfast – also suitable for allergy sufferers and vegans
The breakfast scores points with its extremely extensive selection, which should suit just about everyone. The numerous fresh juices are worth mentioning, but also the option of having your desired meal freshly prepared at a station. People who cannot tolerate certain foods have also been thought of. For example, the Interconti Almaty offers many wheat-free alternatives.
Vegans are also taken into account, as there are even meat-free sausages, which taste even better than the "meaty original". An interesting feature: iced coffee can be taken from a glass drinks dispenser and anyone who wants can also take a few ice cubes right next to it. There is definitely nothing missing at breakfast. The hotel's own restaurants were only inspected, but not tested due to time constraints. In any case, they make a good impression.
Conclusion: You collect plus points with little things
The Intercontinental Almaty meets all the expectations you could have of a brand or a five-star hotel. This hotel scores with a few small details that have long since been eliminated elsewhere for cost reasons. It is precisely these small details that simply surprise the guest in a positive way, because they are no longer used to them.
Another positive aspect is the cleanliness that can be found in all areas of the Interconti Almaty. The lobby is impressively designed, and the atrium offers a pleasant view. Even fish lovers will get their money's worth, as there is a kind of pond in the lobby in which various fish swim around.
There is a running joke: when you enter the Interconti Almaty you have to go through a metal detector, which is familiar from airports. In countries of the former Soviet Union, but also in Israel, this is not the exception, but rather the norm. Well, pretty much everyone beeps in the Interconti Almaty, but there are no further checks by the security staff. They don't care. That actually makes the "check" superfluous, doesn't it?
Five-star hotels have their price. The Intercontinental Almaty is definitely not cheap. To illustrate this in terms of drinks: a 0,25-liter glass of Pepsi Cola costs the equivalent of around 3,70 euros at a bar in this hotel. In the supermarket behind the Intercontinental, which is only a minute's walk away, a two-liter bottle of this brand only costs around 0,12 euros. There should be no language barriers in hypermodern supermarkets anyway, because the cashier swipes the product over the scanner, the display shows an amount that you then pay either in cash or by card. Incidentally, payments with credit and debit cards are accepted almost everywhere in Kazakhstan, including with modern NFC technology.
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