Orbita Boutique Hotel

We spent one night at Orbita in Shymkent during our trip through Kazakhstan. We had driven from Almaty to the area of Aksu-Zhabagly, and then to Turkistan, from where we made our way back to Almaty in stages, stopping one night in Shymkent before going to Taraz. ||This hotel is quiet and has charming character and unusual, interesting decor. Supposedly it was built by Japanese POWs during WWII. It has some older elements but each room is different and nicely updated with excellent bathroom facilities. The location is quiet and peaceful. It is outside of the city centre, which make it inconvenient to walk around but makes it much easier to get to the hotel and drive out of the city when you're driving your own car, since you can largely avoid the more intense traffic. At the same time, we learned here how to use Yandex Go to get cars to drive us to and from the city centre, which was easy. Breakfast was very nice and plentiful.

This is a wonderful hotel that shows how much love the owner has poured into it. Our group stayed in two rooms that were of a different character but equally well curated and comfortable. The owner is a great guy who was full of tips. Breakfast was prepared at a time of our choosing and was a nice spread. If you’re looking for a cute and comfortable spot to stay in Shymkent, look no further!

Stayed here for 6 nights because it was so comfortable! Delicious breakfast with several food options. There is filtered water on site. The hosts were friendly and welcoming. The Wifi was a bit spotty, but it worked most of the time.

Such a cool Japanese building built after WW2. The owners are incredibly kind, and the design inside is really modern; could be a europe hotel room. Breakfast was awesome, great food nearby, we extended our stay because it was so great! This will be one of the better hotels you stay at on your trip.

Extremely helpful staff! 24 hours before departure, I received a call from the hotel asking for my itinerary if I wanted a free pickup from the airport. Check-in time is when you arrive. Breakfast and dinner included in room rate. Food uniformly good. Thai-style meat, Korean beef soup, and excellent salmon steak (this costs €9) are on offer. Clean and hygienic room, done in Uzbek style, I had €5 per night upgrade to a suite with a recline-against-pillows dining cove. Room decor and lighting are tasteful. Bathroom with all amenities. Bar has Czech beer on tap, cold, and never too much froth. Most of all, people are most friendly, and willing to engage and accommodate, even arrange taxi trips for me to change currency. Strongly recommended folks!

We stayed 3 nights in this hotel in August and everything was as we expected or better. First the hotel picked us up (for a fee) at the airport, which was nice given that we were arriving after dark and we did not know the town. The room was quite big and very clean with a good shower and air conditioning. The hotel staff ask you the night before what you want for breakfast. There is a choice of different menus but the funny thing is that we asked for the French breakfast 3 times and never really got what was listed on the menu and it was never the same. It was not really a problem as what we had was good and fresh every time. You can eat on premises (that's what we did) at the restaurant. They do not always have all that's on the menu available but that probably means they cook daily with fresh ingredients.||The hotel room was quiet although the hotel is on a large avenue. It is not central but there are plenty of buses going downtown and we never waited more than 5 minutes to get one.||The staff was helpful and friendly. Overall a very good stay.

This hotel very well run, a welcoming gem. The staff is attentive and eager to help. Nikita helped arrange day trips and made sure our room was comfortable. We had plenty of space in the standard double, a firm bed with new bedding, and a stylish bathroom. We had dinner preordered in the restaurant most nights, plov one night, tasty Korean food another. Aziza helped us choose good dishes to try. It’s not in the center, but there’s a wonderful urban park nearby, and it’s cheap and easy to get cabs with Yandex or with the staff’s help.

This hotel is a hidden gem in Kazakhstan's third largest city. The staff are ver welcoming and very helpful. They managed to get in touch with Air Astana for me when the latter cancelled their flight. The room is very cosy and splendidly furnished. The internet is extremely fast. The staff organised taxis for me and took the trouble of explaining to the non-english speaking taxi drivers where I wanted to go. In all, a delightful night's stay. The owner Vadim is also very friendly and helpful. The restaurant serves Korean food which is a real bonus.