The Ak Altyn Hotel in Ashgabat is a second home to us. In fact, at times it’s our first home. Turkmenistan doesn’t have the same types of hotel options as most countries do, but we think the Ak Altyn is the best option, balancing price, standard, service and staff, location, and facilities.
Location
It’s fun to explore the new part of the city, where all the white marble monuments and skyscrapers are, but it’s a bit of a pain to actually stay there. Most of the more expensive hotels are in the new part of the city, but it’s very inconvenient to actually get anywhere. We love the location of the Ak Altyn in the old part of the city, with several options of cafes, restaurants, bars, convenience stores, alcohol shops, markets, bookshops, etc. within a few minutes walk.
Shops and cafes
If you need a chocolate bar, a soft drink or a tube of toothpaste, visit Tumar Supermarket . Walk out to the front of the hotel, turn right and immediate right again, and it’s about 100m away. It sounds further than it is because you need to walk around the fence of the hotel grounds itself.
However, they don’t have alcohol in this shop, so if you want to buy anything alcoholic, you’ll need to go to the state run supermarket . Go out to the front of the hotel and walk straight ahead towards the circus, then it’s on the right-hand side just across the road from the circus.
For a coffeeshop, the closest option is Uzum , which is two shopfronts closer than the Tumar Supermarket. They do takeaway, or you can sit in. 30 Manat for a takeaway latte, and if you want to sit in then add 10% service charge (this is pretty much universal at all restaurants in Turkmenistan).
There are several other coffeeshops as well within a 10-minute walk, but this is the closest one.
Restaurants
Tumar
Currently under reconstruction, Tumar has been through a few incarnations, and though we’re not sure what the next version is going to be, it’s right next to Uzum, which is as close to the hotel as you can possibly get, so it’s a very convenient place to get a bite to eat when they do reopen.
Uzum
As well as having good, proper, espresso coffee, this is also a restaurant. They have a pretty big menu including some local dishes, western style dishes, salads, meat, soups, desserts, and an array of drink options. You can sit either inside or outside, and there is quite a nice vibe.
Iceberg
Located just behind the circus (when coming from the Ak Altyn hotel), it’s another good close option, however the outdoor garden seating tends to invite a lot of mosquitos, and the music is always much louder than we want it to be. However, the food itself is pretty good – nice simple local offerings, including shashlik, grilled vegetables and soups.
Berk Beer Garden
This one is a bit further, it takes about 20 minutes to walk there, but it’s an excellent dinner option. A really popular spot for locals, especially on weekends and holidays, you need to make a booking if you’re more than just a couple of people. There’s a lovely outdoor seating area and a great vibe. The service is usually excellent, and the food is rarely disappointing.
Other nearby activities/sites/things to do
Circus
Directly in front of the hotel, you can’t possibly miss it. Getting information on when there will be a show on is a bit hit and miss, however it rarely sells out, and you can easily see when there’s something on because you’ll see people around the circus. Tickets are usually between 10 and 50 Manat.
Teke Bazaar
A couple of km walk from the Ak Altyn, this is a normal Turkmen bazaar – there is lots of cheap made in China nonsense, but there are also large sections of dried fruits and nuts, meat, dairy, textiles, and little convenience stores selling packaged goods.
Post Office
There are several post offices around the city, but there is one just a 5 minute walk from the Ak Altyn. You can buy post cards there, though you’ll have more options at the Russian bazaar or in book shops or souvenir shops. You can send a post card overseas for 33 Manat. They also have some souvenir stamps for sale.
Bookshops
There are two bookshops very close to the hotel. One is a state run bookshop where you can find all the books written by the current and previous presidents, along with other things like Turkmen children’s books, stationary, posters and calendars. The other is a privately owned shop where they also have most of these things, but they have more “normal” books and other bookshop things as well.
Turkmenistan tracksuits (and other clothes)
Ak Altyn clothes shop is very close to the Ak Altyn hotel and is one of the state run clothing shops where you can find the iconic Turkmenistan tracksuits. They also have other normal clothes as well, in case you just need a t-shirt or something because you didn’t pack enough. And as a sidenote, no, the shop and the hotel are in no way related – it’s just that both the words “Ak” and “Altyn”, meaning “white” and “gold” are used very commonly in Turkmenistan.
Take a walk
It’s a great area just to walk around, you can explore the residential areas of old Ashgabat. Walk through some side streets , and just see where you end up. Other places you might find yourself passing would be Tashkent Park, Kopet Dag Stadium, the Alley of Inspiration or the Russian Bazaar . You also might stumble across a soviet mural or mosaic in the side streets.
Take a public bus
Another cool thing you can do if you don’t have a super specific destination and just want a bit of adventure is to hop on a public bus. It’s quite difficult to work out where the buses go, but it only costs 0.5 Manat per ride , so if you’ve got the time it can be a fun adventure. Places that are nearby but not necessarily walking distance include Ashgabat Mall , the Alabay (dog) monument , the row of apartment blocks next to the Alabay monument which have really cool mosaics on the side of them, Perviy (First) Park , and of course you could catch a public bus pretty much anywhere in the city.
Facilities inside the hotel
Coffee shop
In the lobby you’ll find a small coffee shop. This is great in theory, however they’re actually pretty slow, and the coffee is not as good and a bit more expensive than at Uzum, so most of the time crossing the road to visit Uzum still seems like the better option. They open earlier and stay open later though, so it’s great if you arrive late at night or early in the morning, and they do also have some small pre-packaged snacks if you’re desperate for something.
Souvenir shop
There is also a souvenir shop, which for the most part sells the same kinds of things as you’ll get other places for cheaper, but the prices are still reasonable, and sometimes they will have the exact one you want. This is also a great place to buy a carpet, if you’re in the market for a good Turkmen carpet. The most important thing is that they will organise the export certificate for you, which you need in order to take a Turkmen carpet outside of Turkmenistan. They will also organise postage if you need it, though this is not cheap and sometimes ends up being the same cost as the carpet itself.
Cactus Bar
Situated right outside the back door of the hotel, this is a great place for a nightcap after dinner. 10 Manat beers, either bar or table service, with chairs and tables laid out over a grass lawn. On weekends it’s heaving with locals, as a really popular place for middle class Ashgabatians. Sometimes there is karaoke or live music and they also on occasion do things like a raffle. The only deterring factor as far as we’re concerned is that they play the music way too loud for what the rest of the vibe would suggest, but unfortunately this is just one of these really common things in this part of the world. They close at 11pm, though you can usually hang around until about 11:30pm, and then you can buy a 1.5 litre bottle of draft beer to “take away”, but you can just move to the seats that are 5m away and part of the hotel instead of the bar.
Pool Bar
Only open during summer months, usually from around the end of April or some time in May, until some time in September, this is exactly what it sounds like – it’s a bar next to the pool. They also have 10 Manat draft beers, and it’s a very nice chill place to hang out in the afternoons or evenings.
Swimming Pool
As well as there being a bar there, there is the swimming pool itself. It’s a pretty nice pool, free to use if you’re a guest in the hotel. There isn’t any shade over the pool during the day, but there is lots of seating, some of which is shaded at different points during the day. There are basic change facilities and bathrooms there too.
Continental Restaurant
This is the main hotel restaurant. They serve breakfast 8-10am, then stay open for lunch/dinner until 11pm theoretically, although sometimes they close a bit before that. They also provide 24/7 room service. We don’t really utilise this as a restaurant outside of breakfast included in the room rate, but it sometimes is convenient just to be able to get something inside the hotel, and the food is perfectly fine.
Gym
In the basement of the hotel, it’s very basic, but there is a gym. If you want a more serious gym there are a couple of other nearby options though. There’s one underneath the circus – coming from the hotel go around to the left-hand side of the circus and there is a door on the side to a sort of basement level. Another option is the gym at the Kopet Dag stadium.
Wifi
There is free wifi. You will need to get a code from reception – you need one code per device, and each code lasts 24 hours. You can get unlimited codes though. The signal is strongest in the lobby, but it does work in the rooms. It’s pretty slow and weak in general though, and especially struggles when several people are trying to use it at once. It’s also important to note that the internet is very restricted, with a lot of sites and apps being blocked, including most messaging apps such as whatsapp and facebook, many international news sites (especially in English), banking apps, some email providers, youtube, Netflix, and lots of other things.
Massage
There is a massage service who works out of the hotel. You’ll see fliers for it in rooms and in the lobby. You can ask one of the reception staff to call them to ask for price and availability.
Laundry
The hotel also has a laundry service. It’s not super cheap, but most people who look into it do decide that it’s a fine price. They also usually turn it around very quickly, like in a few hours.
Luggage storage
You can store luggage behind reception if you arrive before check in time, or you are leaving the city for a night or two and don’t want to take everything with you. Just ask the staff at reception and they’ll help you.
If you want to have this exciting hotel experience for yourself, join us on a Turkmenistan tour .
