Huge and varied menu at the restaurant. Sadly 80% of what we asked for was not available. Settled on a chicken dish which was fine. Two thumbs up for cold beer.
The hotel is strategically located 5 minutes walk from the mausoleum. The double room we got for the night has a balcony that overlooks the dance floor and has a view of the mausoleum. The bed was relatively comfortable, the bathroom decent and the air con (whose remote control is kept at reception but you can obviously borrow it and adjust the temperature) kept the room in a lovely cool temperature when it was 30 degrees C outside. I generally do not like air con on during the night but in this case we kept it at a desired temperature and it was very good. |The hotel has a restaurant that gets busy in the evening and a dance floor which gets also busy after 9. However, the music stops completely at 11 pm and it is not loud, dance music throughout but there are only two dance spells provided, each lasts about 15-20 minutes. That was on a Tuesdaynight. Perhaps that differs on a weekend.|We were happy to have dinner thrte, the food is decent and a few drinks till the music stopped. Then, after that, due to the windows being double glazed there was not much noise from the people downstairs. Especially if you wear earplugs like we did it is totally fine, you hear nothing.|Breakfast is included in the price of the double room which is only 5500 KZT but it only consists of porridge and black tea if you are after variety then that might not be for you. All in all we thought it was wonderful for the price, where it is and what it offers. |
The airco works, so rooms are pleasant even when it's very hot outside. Staff are very friendly.|The room itself was quite small. Beds were bad: you could feel springs or something like that and the frame in one the mattresses was bent. Bathroom was okay, but small and not the cleanest. ||We had a room in the more quiet part of the hotel, which was okay. Be sure to book a room that is away from the restaurant/bar/dancing part.|The price for the rooms was reasonable.
I have been to this place a lot back in college, and I gotta say, even if it's a little bit pricey for me, this place is pretty great. Overall, the prices are pretty average and stable for a working individual. The place has its own hotel, hookah bar, inside restaurant and outside restaurant, also a balcony. When the weather is fine and warm, people usually sit outside, and even if it gets chilly later, they provide with blankets. There is an inside and an outside dancing area. Majority of the foods are pretty tasty. The reason I am giving it four stars is because one time me and my groupmates went there and ordered "burger royale", first of all, they had is waiting for almost an hour, then they brought the burgers and some desert as an apology. However, coincidentally all the people who ate the burger that day got sick the next day. So, that was pretty messed up for us. So, even if my other experiences were pretty pleasant, I shall never forget that one incident
The place is just ok. Rooms sort of beat up. They don't provide bottled water which most similar places do. Bed and shower barely ok. Internet poor. Restaurant good as is breakfast. The place can be noisy at night because of restaurant if you have the restaurant facing room. But if you want to see the Mausoleum (which you should) it's the only place. Just don't expect much.
One of the best places we have been on our trip by Vespa from Europe to Goa in India. Absolutely relaxing, cold beer from the tap, nicely served. And fine food, too. Why only four points? Becuase of the disco-noise at nighttime which makes it impossible to sleep when your room faces the court.
Warned by reviews on Tripadvisor and comments about the hotel in the Lonely Planet, we arrived at the Edem hotel on a Tuesday afternoon on one of the first days of October. Our guide, who often visited Turkestan with individual travelers, also knew the disco reputation of the hotel. When the lady at the reception gave us the keys of room 21 - a twin room on the first floor at the street side of the hotel - our guide assured us we had one of the best rooms of the hotel. The room was o.k.. It was clean and the beds were better than we expected. The bathroom was basic, clean, but without a curtain around the shower! Free Wifi was available, but only near the reception. Although our room was booked by our travel organization, we saw the rooms were about 5000 Tenge.||In the evening we had diner in the restaurant of the hotel, a good place to eat with good food and nicely decorated. At about 20.00 unfortunately the disco on the inner court started. All windows of the restaurant were closed. A Spanish couple we met before, left their table outside and fled inside with their plates and drinks because the terrible noise. ||When we had finished our meals and went to our room we discovered our guide was right. We indeed had a good room because we hardly heard anything of the music. That evening also the other guests had luck, because at 23.00 the music stopped. On a hot evening in a weekend in summer we think that the party would just begin at that time....||Advise: the Edem hotel (and the restaurant of this hotel) is - until a new hotel near the mausoleum will open - probably the best choice in Turkestan. We had a good night sleep. But, if you stay, be sure you have a room with an odd number! Only the rooms with an odd number, starting with 21, are at the back/street side of the hotel.
It is 12 am and i am going to cry here in my room. The disco music is playing as loud as like it in my room the whole orchestre. I went to reception to ask what time the bar closes she told 11 30 pm but the inner yard is full (absolutely full) of people drinking beer etc and seems they are not planning to leave. The bed is full of antz((( I am trying to sleep with no luck. I would better sleep in a car but i needed a bed and shower. The absolute disaster is a shower, the water does not flow out. It all stays there plus there were no shower curtains. The bar of soap was used. I am not going to stay here and i dont recommend. Please see attched photos. I hope there is no snake under the bed(((
Hotel Edem was described as the best hotel in Turkestan by the local tourist advice centre near the mausoleum. While not reaching western standards of comfort, the hotel does its best with what it has. I had been in contact via email with Dilshad before I arrived and he was an invaluable source of local information and this made my stay in Turkestan so much more enjoyable as I was able to get more out of the experience than I otherwise would. The restaurant is great. :)
Nice place to visit. Very welcoming staff. Food is ok, I think there is some space for improvement. Very cosy and cool (I mean temperature - it is important here, especially during the summer).
