Rixos Borovoe 5성

We stayed three nights at the Rixos Borovoe. It is actually on Lake Shchuchinsk, which is next to Lake Borovoe and the Borovoe or Burabay National Park, in northern Kazakhstan. This is a major resort area north of Astana. Apparently, especially in warm weather, this area can get very crowed, and especially on weekends. However, we opted to visit during the middle of the week. Also, this resort is more expensive than most places in the area, so it which seems more quiet and away from the major crowds, which really seem to gather more around lake and town of Borovoe/Burabay, the main centre of activity. Overall, the Rixos resort is nice, stylish, modern, and clean. The rooms were very nice. We had rooms with a view of the lake. Bathrooms in the rooms were excellent, with nice showers and nice Turkish-style toilets (the kind with built-in bidet/water sprayer). The hotel public areas are very nice and attractive. There are nice restaurants and a nice bar/lounge. We ate twice at the Silk Way, a nice restaurant with a Silk Road them and a Russian and Central Asian focus in cuisine, and had excellent food and service. The bar is very nice and we had pretty good cocktails. There is also a nice upstairs terrace restaurant with outdoor seating facing the lake, another eatery right on the water, and a couple other places to eat. The rooms included breakfast buffet, which was overall very good. The dining area is nice, but this was where we saw the most crowds, as lots of people flood it for breakfast, so it could get very crowded. However, we eat early, so the crowds only gathered as we were finishing, and we also ate on the nice, quiet, outdoor patio facing the grounds and lake. The food was somewhat uneven, but most was great and there was a huge variety. There is also a nice indoor swimming pool, plus saunas, and more. The pool was the other area which often got crowded, especially with families who had children. For both breakfast and the pool, the hotel posts signs indicating how busy each generally gets at certain times, and this is helpful. The location was excellent. There are nice grounds and the hotel has its own swimming beaches on the lake, with bar, showers, etc., as well as an area to rent paddle boards and more. Unlike the pool, the beaches and lake facilities were generally very quiet and had very few people. The same is true of the restaurants and bar, other than the breakfast area.

After my first night, there was a violent thunderstorm that resulted in my room being partially flooded, so I had to change rooms as repairs were going to last half a day. The room switch and subsequent communication between reception and their manager was below standards for a hotel of this standing. I had to go to reception to find out what was going to happen and when. The issue was eventually solved, but I wasted 40-60 minutes of my vacation time just waiting around for someone to communicate with me. My new room was identical to the first minus the view of the gorgeous sunset I had in the first room. As compensation for all the waiting, I was granted a free dinner in a location of my choice, but only after I mentioned that it would be good customer service practice for the hotel to make a gesture for the inconvenience encountered, and only after I declined the free dinner at the buffet (this hotel has an all inclusive rate which consists in having all meals at the buffet. If I had wanted to have meals at the buffet, I would have opted for this, but this is just not what I wanted to do.) The hotel is comfortable, clean, and my room was quiet. I had awesome food at 3 locations: the Summer cafe (where I must commend Umida's impeccable service and great English skills), the Chalet, and the Sunset Terrace. Here, I must also commend the staff in all locations including the spa and the beach. The weather cooperated and the beach was delightful. Overall I left refreshed and stocked up with enough vitamin D to last me half the harsh winter in Astana! The way the room change was handled was terrible. Staff needs more training to communicate updates to guests promptly. Service is at times not 5 star quality, undoubtedly due to some language barriers (it is difficult to find staff members fluent enough in English and I don't speak fluent Russian and Kazakh), but also due to lack of proper training on how to handle difficult and unpredictable situations appropriately (e.g., offering some sort of compensation to the guest). However, I would like to take the opportunity to thank the hotel GM, Jesper Francl, who seems to be everywhere on the property at all times! He personally made sure everything was okay with my new room and came to check on me several times without ever being intrusive.

The rixos borovoe is on bank of lake schu.location amazing. Service superb. Staff so friendly though they do not understand your language. Food for vegetarians is sone problem.the guy at reception was so friendly. The roons are well maintained and well equipped

The staff is awesome, super helpful and very pleasant. I would like to specially acknowledge Vladislas (at the Chalet), Temirlan and Balnur (at the Summer cafe), and Yerlan and Alexei at the front desk for their efforts in making my stay more pleasant. It is very much appreciated! The location of the hotel is optimal, with a sandy beach by Lake Shchuchie. It also has a nice spa, and some delicious food! I specifically requested a quiet room (if possible) and upon check-in was told I was given a very quiet room. That room ended up being above the terrace bar where there is live music from 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM some nights and the closest to the elevators which meant that I had all the "elevator traffic" walking by multiple times a day and night. That room also has the disadvantage of the cooking smells from the Olivio restaurant, especially in the mornings. For the record that is room 502 (I would avoid...) The 2nd night I was moved to another room that ended up being just on the other side of the terrace bar... Also because it was very windy, the cables that tether the canopy above the bar creaked all night (not the hotel's fault but very annoying.) I was told it is best to avoid upper floors on that side of the lake when it is windy as the cables are much closer to the room windows. Duly noted!

I know very well that the best hotel in Burabay is RIXOS only❤️Everything is perfect here: the location, parking area, so stylish room numbers, fabulous design of hotel, so huge and comfortable, outside area full of greens, exactly next to the river with amazing view from every restaurant, good quality food, very attentive and nice stuff, a lot of entertainment for kids as well, it’s just WOW, I’m so happy to spend my time with my family here in RIXOS Borovoe! Thank you so much my lovely RIXOS you’re PERFECT and I’ll back for sure so see you soon my favorite hotel in Burabay❤️