Turkestan
- Stayed at Karavan Sarei Hotel: We payed 75€ on Agoda for two people, which I think is a good deal for this hotel. Location of the hotel is perfect, very close to all the sights. The hotel itself is definitely not 5 stars on a western scale in terms of both the rooms and the service and even though it's so new, some things were already broken in our room (shower head, bedside lamp, etc., nothing major). But it's a solid hotel anyways with large rooms, comfortable beds, free toiletries and tea/coffee, free spa (although no pool), etc. Breakfast buffet is solid, but nothing special and a lot of the food was very dry, probably because the hotel was very empty. Coffee options are also very limited. Felt like a modern 3-4 star hotel in Europe for us. The location in the theme park around it is nothing we'd enjoy normally, but it is funny to stay there for a short period of time and the design of the buildings is actually quite nice. About half of the shop space is empty, so don't count on shopping there or on a lot of dinner options. We went for some supermarket food for dinner and went to a local eatery near the Mausoleum for lunch. The supermarket offers surprisingly tasty sandwiches (good for train rides, too)!
Aralsk
- Stayed at "Gostnitsa Shyrdak": Good location, room was okay, but could have been cleaner, no kitchen (some review stated there was one). Paid 9000 Tenge for two people and could check in at 9am already. The owner seemed annoyed that we don't speak Russian, but in his defence I have to say that we woke him up, when we arrived at 9am. He offered to organise a tour to the Aral sea.
- The small "fisherman's museum" is very modern and also has English texts and subtitles for short films they show. Probably the best thing to see in Aralsk.
- The only remaining shipwreck will probably be gone in a few years, but is good for some pictures for now.
- There is a good supermarket in town (Sayda) to stock up on food and water for the train rides. They have sandwiches, salads, etc. and instant noodles for long train rides. Of course they also offer most other things you'd need.
- Also there is a good and surprisingly stylish restaurant close to the supermarket. It's called "Damges" or "Damdes", but marked as "Zhasim" on Google Maps. We had good Pelmeni and Shorpa and great tea with milk for a reasonable price. They are extremely welcoming and the daughter is great at using Google Translate for the menu
They seem to offer around 10 dishes including fresh shashlik, classic Kazakh dishes, but also pizza and chicken nuggets. Looked like they even have some kind of electric pizza oven. Probably the best place to get food in Aralsk!Aktau
- Stayed at Mango Hostel: They now also offer two new "private" rooms with two beds each. They are in the basement (but with windows) and would be a great deal, if only the walls would go up all the way to the ceiling... Right now they don't and there also are vents to the other room. This makes the rooms feel more like a 4 bed dorm. The price was the same as for the dorm so the value for money is still good. We messaged them in advance and were able to check in at 5am (payed 8000 Tenge for this half of a night though). Leaving some luggage there for a few days was also no problem.
Beineu
- Stayed at Hotel Aknur: Room with shared bathroom (no shower) was 7000 Tenge for two people. Checked in at 9am. Leaving at 3am the next day was also possible, but it was good that we asked them the day before as the lady at the reception had to wake up to open the door for us. The room and also the shared bathroom were okay, but could have been cleaner. In our room the walls were covered with dead moskitos. Did not need the AC, but there was one (and a small fridge too).
- Hotel Arna was apparently fully booked
- A nice surprise was "Fast Food Like" restaurant. Stylish interior, good pizza (by Kazakh standards) and the rest of the menu also looked good.