Here comes another hostel in my collection with a lot of good reviews from other fellow travelers. While this hostel is such a homey one, it wasn't bad at all. Unfortunately, I just had a very interesting experience during my stay in Wanderlust Hostel while I was in Almaty. Shall we continue below?
Hostel Location in Almaty
Located at Tole Bi Street, Wanderlust Hostel is centrally located in Almaty. There are a lot of landmarks that are just a walking distance from the hostel. These landmarks are the Ascension Cathedral, Green Bazaar, LOTTE Rakhat Candy Factory, Almaty Central Mosque, and Arasan Wellness & Spa.
Tucked quietly along Valikhanov Street, it's easy to overlook where the door of the hostel is. It is beside a small grocery store and if you need a fast food meal, McDonald's is just on the next block.
Wanderlust Hostel's Rooms & Facility
With a Female Dorm, a Male Dorm, a Mixed Dorm, and a Standard Double Room, Wanderlust Hostel has an option for all. I booked the 6-bed Female Dorms and I find it spacious but quite basic and out of date especially the bedding.
The housekeeping could also be improved. While I don't have any complaints about the cleanliness of our room, there was just an incident when another lady left her trash behind. And the trash stayed inside the room for a few nights until I threw it away downstairs.
The common areas look neat and decent though with its shared lounge used as a co-working space by guests. The kitchen and pantry were also equipped with essential appliances. There is a fridge, microwave, kettle, and stove as well as utensils and cookware.
There's also a patio on the second floor and a bathroom on both floors. However, there were not enough bathrooms in the hostel. There is only ONE shared bathroom on each floor. A total of TWO.
Under the stairs is where the washing machines are and that area was quite a mess too. However, it's still a big help that there are washing machines available for use.
Hostel Cost
Booked through Booking.com, this is the cost of my stay in Wanderlust Hostel in Almaty. Okay, this is a little more chaotic than ever because I booked so many nights separately and even extended my stay and paid directly to the hostel.
To make it simpler, a night's stay in the female dorms was 6,500 KZT/50 AED/13.7 USD per night. The amount is the same as booked on the platform and when I paid directly to the hostel.
Overall Experience in Wanderlust Hostel:
I liked the hostel and its facilities. I found everything I needed so I extended my stay for a couple more nights and paid directly to the hostel. However, I had an interesting experience and of course, I am not sure if it's connected to the hostel at all.
Every single morning, I find insect bites on my body. I inspected the bedding and found nothing on the first few nights and thought that I probably got them in the mountains. However, it didn't stop at all even if I was just in the city. There's always a new one the moment I wake up.
Not only in my legs but also in my arms, my back, legs, etc. I had an ointment with me which is supposed to help relieve the itch but to no avail either. Spending time in the banya helped a bit but it goes crazy during midday and in the middle of the night. I was at the point of considering going to a nearby clinic and pharmacy when I thought, what if I change into another hostel?
And so I did, I moved to My Hostel Almaty. And I stopped getting new ones. I don't know what happened there, and I'm not saying that it was the hostel's fault. It could be from a lot of external factors, mosquitoes at night (maybe), my skin's sensitivity to insect bites, etc.
But because of this experience, my memory of my stay at Wanderlust Hostel was a little bit distorted. Add the fact that the hostel itself could use a little bit of improvement especially since the competition out there is fierce. Oh, and I find 6,500 KZT per night is a bit expensive compared to other better hostels.
If you ever want to book this hostel, you can click HERE!
