Fantastic Accomodation Almaty

Just thought we would write to say how fantastic it was staying at the Saulet in Almaty.
It was only 1200 tenge each for my girlfiend and i. It was in the heart of the city and very close to all the necessary embassies.
It only cost 4 US dollars for a taxi from the station to the saulet. valentinas, wanted a staggering 17 dollars US ( i still do not know how they think they can get
away with charging thet much) . When you finally get on the ground and talk to people and find out what you should be paying
you soon realise you are getting ripped off.
We have been here now one month and absolutely loved Almaty. Make sure you do plenty of day trecks!
Happy travels

----Original Message-----
From: Sean Foley [mailto:sdfoley@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2007 1:36 PM
To: ili@mail.ru
Subject: Accomodation

Hello,
My friend and i are arriving in Almaty monday morning 28th of May from the train .
We are inquiring if you have accomodation available for that evening.
Yours Sincerely,
Sean Foley

-----Original Message-----
From: Valentina [mailto:ili@mail.ru]
Sent: Friday, May 25, 2007 5:43 PM
To: 'Sean Foley'
Subject: RE: Accomodation

Hello Sean,

Yes we have twin room available on 28 of May.

Do you need r/w station Almaty-2 pick-up and transfer to the guesthouse? It would cost 2000 KZT (about 16 USD).

You are welcome.

With best regards,
Valentina.

-----Original Message-----
From: Valentina [mailto:ili@mail.ru]
Sent: Friday, May 25, 2007 9:24 PM
To: 'Sean Foley'
Subject: RE: Accomodation

Hello Sean,

Twin room accommodation B&B costs 25 usd per person x 2 persons = 50 USD

Meeting on arrival and transfer r/w station Almaty-2 – Guesthouse = 17 USD

Please, reconfirm that you need meeting on arrival and transfer.

After leaving your train car just look for a person bearing a sign Mr. SEAN FOLEY

Please advice me your train car number (it is mentioned in your tickets).

With best regards,
Valentina.
____________________________

Almaty, Ak-Zhar, Zhabayev Str. 62-A
Phone/fax: (007-327) 2958620
Mobile: +7-701-3610629


-----Original Message-----
From: Sean Foley [mailto:sdfoley@gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, May 25, 2007 10:12 PM
To: Valentina
Subject: Re: Accomodation

I do not have the carriage number, but it would be great if you met us at the train station on monday,
Regards,
Sean Foley

-----Original Message-----
From: Valentina [mailto:ili@mail.ru]
Sent: Friday, May 25, 2007 10:55 PM
To: 'Sean Foley'
Subject: RE: Accomodation

OK, Sean

See you on Monday.

Good luck,
Valentina.

-----Original Message-----
From: Sean Foley [mailto:sdfoley@gmail.com]
Sent: Sunday, May 27, 2007 1:19 PM
To: Valentina
Subject: Re: Accomodation

Dear Valentina,

I hope you get this message . My friend and i went to catch the train last night from Urumqi. We were told we were leaving on this train . When we boarded the train the guard informed us that our tickets were for the 28th not the 26th. So we are stuck now here in Urumqi and will leave on Monday the 28th, and will arrive on wednesday morning.
I hope this does not cause you any problems. Do you have accomodations for wednesday? Could you please reply when you get this.
Yours Sincerely,
Sean Foley

-----Original Message-----
From: Valentina [mailto:ili@mail.ru]
Sent: Sunday, May 27, 2007 2:14 PM
To: 'Sean Foley'
Subject: RE: Accomodation

Hello Sean,

Things happen…. OK. Let’s move the meeting and accommodation on 30th of May – Wednesday.

So new calculation would be looking like:

Double room B&B accommodation at the GH on night 30/31 May – 50 USD
R/w station pick-up – 17 USD

Accommodation and r/w station pick-up on 28 of May cancellation and new booking fees – 13 USD.
_____________________________________________________

Total: 80 USD

Please confirm receiving this message and advice one more time the exact day and time of your arrival in Almaty by train from Uumqi.

Thank you and best regards,
Valentina.

-----Original Message-----
From: Sean Foley [mailto:sdfoley@gmail.com]
Sent: Sunday, May 27, 2007 2:38 PM
To: Valentina
Subject: Re: Accomodation

Sorry Valentina,
We will find alternative accomodations. We have lost too much money already in this fiasco, to be slugged with a $13 fee.We are already down $200 staying here those extra nights. It seems everyone wants money, money , money.
Good Luck.

-----Original Message-----
From: Valentina [mailto:ili@mail.ru]
Sent: Sunday, May 27, 2007 3:55 PM
To: 'Sean Foley'
Subject: RE: Accomodation

Hello, Sean.

Thank you very much for keeping me informed.

To say the truth money is not so important, just there is no time to waste and everyone feels it even in Red China.

YOUR OWN mistake concerning time of your arrival in Almaty is not cheap at all for me too, considering how much time I lost for useless correspondence and useless preparations. I’m not to figure this in any exact numerals as you did, but if you lost at least 200 USD after this event, you can imagine that I really lost some small money (about 13 USD) too.



Good luck!

With best regards,
Valentina.

-----Original Message-----
From: Sean Foley [mailto:sdfoley@gmail.com]
Sent: Sunday, May 27, 2007 4:11 PM
To: Valentina
Subject: Re: Accomodation

Considering the two of us have to stay for 8 days in Almaty and probably longer.
You have lost a lot more than $13 .
We are just suprised given that we place faith in people and a mistake was made by the travel agent here!
We will no doubt inform our two friends who are meeting us in 4 days of another place to stay in Almaty.
For slugging us this miserable $17. You haver lost out . I will inform everyone in my country about your tactics!

-----Original Message-----
From: Valentina [mailto:ili@mail.ru]
Sent: Sunday, May 27, 2007 8:13 PM
To: 'Sean Foley'
Subject: RE: Accomodation

Hi Sean,

I sincerely wished you Good Luck therefore I was really surprised with you aggression. Why you decided to turn all your angry attention on my person instead of turning it on yourself (that guy who didn’t check the tickets) or on that Chinese guy who issued for you the wrong tickets??? Hope you finally can understand that I’m here the last person to be guilty in fact that you are stuck in Urumqi and lost 200 USD and didn’t arrive in Almaty in time and as a result must look for accommodation in Almaty again.

To say the truth your message looks like a simple black mailing written by a really evil guy. Just read it one more time. Sean, please calm down. I’m not such bad as you wrote. And from my experience I know that it is wide spread among human beings do not blame themselves for their own bad mistakes. And in such bad cases even really good guys ( as I hope you are) are making sometimes very strange issues.

There is no any evil tactics really on my side. If you think over it properly you would be able to understand that I’ve already lost 67 USD since your cancellation for 28 May, done less than 24 hours before check-in time. But it is 100% my problem since I was dealing with you without advanced payment.

Meeting on arrival and double room accommodation at the guesthouse on 30 May would cost for you 13 USD more just because it is the 30 of May. Unfortunately, our driver is busy on this day and I was going to hire another more expensive car with ESDriver who charges more than 17USD for the meeting on arrival and transfer.

I have already one more visitor who is already booked for the last free room on the 30th of May and in order to create a vacancy for you I had to move that person to neighboring more or less cheap hotel paying the difference in price and transfer from my pocket. That’s how those evil 13 USD appeared. Since I didn’t want to write you such long letters I mentioned this money as cancellation fees with real hope that you feel also some kind of Personal Responsibility since YOU ARE THAT PERSON WHO DIDN’T ARRIVE IN TIME and cancelled not prepaid services less than 24 hours before expected arrival.

I feel now that 13 is a really evil number and from it’s very beginning I should write you the truth: Sean, unfortunately our driver is busy on 30 of May and I have nobody to substitute him between 5 and 7 AM for the same salary. Besides it we haven’t free rooms for 30 of May until 7 PM. In order to accommodate your couple in the morning I’d be forced to move my booked and prepaid client to another place. And unfortunately I’m not reach enough to pay for it from my wallet.

In stead of thinking in a negative way how to create more troubles and money loss for me (I had them both quite enough already corresponding and dealing with you) I’d like to advice you to think in a more positive way about where to stay in Almaty on 30 of May.

What I can say afterwards?

I realize that you can’t pay in advance ( it is simply too late etc) I can’t help with hotel reservation and apartment rental. Both variants are demanding me to make 100% payment in advance in order to be really booked.

If you calm done, and rethink your last dreadful message may be we can discuss an option for you:

Forget about meeting on arrival. And spend 17 USD for lunch in Almaty.

Just leave your stuff at the store-house room of Almaty-2 R/w station.

Enjoy Almaty site-seeing tour on your own (from Almaty-2 it is walking distance to the main interesting sites of Almaty) till 6 PM.

Pick-up your stuff from Almaty-2.

Take trolleybus #5 or #6 (costs 40 KZT per person) and get to “Central Stadium” bus stop.

Take there bus #544. It’s final stop for this bus and it wouldn’t be any problem for you to take the bus.

Proceed till the last stop – Ak-Zhar.

Walk 300 m to the guesthouse.

Get there double room with breakfast.

What do you think?

In any case, Good Luck again!

With best regards,
Valentina.

Re Saulet:

Address: Furmanov Str. 187- 6 (russian "B")

Reception: 2671175 (Russian or Kazakh only)
Fax: 2671969

it is a really good place if you are lucky to catch free rooms there without making any booking in advance.

double room with WC and washing stand + public shower on the floor costs 2800 KZT (121 KZT = 1 USD today, 6 June)

in summer time this centrally located cheap place is almost always no vacancy.

Booking is available in case of 100% prepayment in advance.

In accordance with my conversation with the manager of the hotel at 01:42 PM on 6 June 2007

there are no any free rooms available beginning from 6 June until Sunday 10 June.

But on another hand they are plenty of rooms at least on Monday 11 June! Every one - to Saulet!

The exact location of the hotel:

If you face the mountains it is on the S-W side/corner of the intersection Abai Ave. and Furmanov Str. A little bit above that 1:10 copy of Eiffel Tower and below the arch leading into the yard. You wouldn't find there any visible scripture looking like THE SAULET HOTEL.

I remember that above their entrance is written Carpet Shop in Russian or something like this.

-------------------------
Marat

2 leichhardt005:

Hi Sean. It is just my curiosity.

Why you and Sarah mention in your posts dated with 4 June that you "have been here now one month " in Almaty? What is the point of this little secrecy?

I know that you arrived on 30 May, since I was that driver who was to meet you on arrival at the r/w station on 30 May. I still have the meeting table with your name SEAN FOLEY therefore I finally could understand that "leichhardt005" = Sean Foley, who fell in love with Almaty (just in 4 days only) but didn't fall in love with Valentina's GH as I can see from your correspondence with Valentina...

Things happen.

Sean, sorry, but I don't think that Saulet is really Fantastic. I'd never stay there with my girl-friend if I want to impress her somehow even slightly, just a little bit. The best hotel of Almaty to impress girl-friends - 5 Hayat Regency, try to guess why I know it.

You know, Sean, a few years ago I was witnessing how one of my clients from Britain, pretending on being a gude books writer (he really had something edited with his name on the cover in his hands), through 100% clean balck mailing the manager of the hotel (in front of my face) got free of charge double suite in the Hayat Regency *** (300 USD / night) for one week. He just said that he wouldn't mention the hotel in his new guide book if they do not accommodate him for free... 300 USD x 7 = 2100 USD!

Sean, that was the best and the most reasonable black mailing I have ever seen in my life. In your case I feel like you was just black mailing Valentina's in order to save your own "miserable" (S.Foley) 13 USD in spite of they had already lost 67 USD (a serious amount for Almaty inhabitants) due to your mistake with the r/w tickets. And now I feel like you are trying to take your "little revenge" by sending "little revenge posts".

Why you are still so angry, Sean? One week past already after the last messages' exchange. Think over it.

Perhaps you just haven't had breakfast? I remember that they do not serve breakfasts at Saulet.

Move to better hotel ( at least), have good lunch, drink a glass of good vine, smoke Cuban cigar, relax and enjoy proceeding falling in love with Almaty.



With best regards.

Oh my god. Is this what people in Almaty are like? Maybe I should re-think that position I have been offered...