To elaborate on the previous tweet regarding the Royal Betting Sports Bar (part of the Kings Hotel complex) in Astana, we were originally heading there to take our place at a reserved table, to watch the England versus Germany World Cup match. A friend of Dan’s had kindly contacted Royal Betting the day before, to check if we could make sure we would have seats to watch the match, and get a feel for the place. He was told on the phone that a table of around 20-40 people would need to spend at least 15,000 Tenge. This equates to around $90, which even allowing for the designated drivers in our group just drinking coke or juice was absolutely fine.
However, upon our arrival, we discovered just why Royal Betting was a bar to avoid in Astana (see half way down the page for some info in Russian and pictures). The manager met us at the door, and told us there was a non-refundable deposit of $35 per person! If each person did not spend that much by the time they left, the bar kept the difference! Although my friends and I have come across other examples of rip off joints in Astana before, this tended to be in night clubs that were desperate to exude an exclusive rich night clubber clientele image. Certainly not in bars that were absolutely empty, and were aware that a few dozen ex-pats were about to watch a football match, spend a fair amount (when this was a voluntary option!) and most likely praise/condemn the venue to friends!
Anyway, the bar itself looked nice enough (the lobsters in the fish tank seemed to be mouldy/furry though!), and whilst the uncompromising/care free attitude of the manager was nothing unusual for customer service levels in Kazakhstan, the fact that when the original reservations were made, a completely different figure and set up was explained (by senior staff/the manager) compared to what we were confronted with on the day, meant I can’t recommend this place unless your company is footing the bill. Check the second link for some more shots from flickr of the venue to avoid in Astana, Kazakhstan.
We eventually went on to a German style pub/bar about a kilometre or two away, where the service was slow but friendly, there was no minimum spend, and the beers were cheaper. Obviously England lost (we were robbed of a goal, but not the match to be fair), and our German friends seemed more than happy with the result (“Justice – 44 years late” referring to yesterday’s vs. 1966’s infamous ball crossing/not crossing the goal line)!
[edit]
I just wanted to clarify one point – having to pay some sort of deposit for sitting at a table isn’t that uncommon over here. Being told one (reasonable) price only to find a more expensive charge being attempted at the very last minute (bait & switch) hasn’t happened to me before. Perhaps I’m just being naïve, or don’t sit down that often when drinking, but it just seemed like a con, or at the very least really short sighted business sense. The place was dead, a mere 30 minutes before kick off, and losing the good will of so many potential customers & positive word of mouth advertisers seemed ridiculous.
June 29th, 2010 1:39 am
What an attitude. They need to join the 21st Century. Noted – and will be avoided. I don’t expect they sold Guinness either.
As far as the football is concerned – it was inevitable. They didn’t even get into the final selection on their merits. Their performance has been piss poor, and they should not be paid for it. Maybe that is the incentive they need. Glad I missed the game.
June 29th, 2010 9:06 am
We didn’t stay long enough to check the Guinness situation 🙂
I wasn’t really expecting you to be supporting England, especially in this silly game where they can’t use their hands, and all dive on the floor should a player from the opposing team displaces a hair on their heads 🙂
June 29th, 2010 11:05 am
That’s insane. Leaving a deposit to reserve a table is ok, especially in a land where no one has credit cards. Paying a cover charge and a drink minimum is ok. But paying a deposit and being told to spend it or lose it is ridiculous and the bait and switch is unethical. Probably thought more about squeezing the foreigners once than getting repeat customers. I’m sure the manager made up the new policy when he heard a lot of expats were coming.
On the game, Germany was good but who knows what would have happened to team morale on both sides if England had been allowed both goals and equalized so fast. And who do I root for now that the US, Mexico and England have all gone out? No one left I can remotely call my team.
July 3rd, 2010 9:58 am
re. the bar – I’m feeling a little better now that if you search Google for the name of the bar, this post is #1, and a few of the other searches you can see above – “Search Terms That Led To This Post”. It may well be just a temporary boost from the search engines as this post is still relatively new, however if just a couple of people check the Royal Betting Bar at the Kings Hotel in Astana online, and see this post, I’ll feel it was worth it.
re. matches – At this point I’m just hoping for interesting matches, without too many double pikes with triple twists.
June 29th, 2010 11:38 am
I cannot understand why do they use such policies. The annoying thing is that it does not upset/bother the locals that much, as far as I can tell.
July 3rd, 2010 9:52 am
Short term profit increase (if they ignore walkaways) wins over long term customer retention. I could see it working out if Astana was thriving tourist spot, where there would be enough fresh meat each month that it wouldn’t matter if locals knew about it, but that isn’t really the case in Astana. Maybe the locals are just more relaxed/tolerant? lmao.
July 3rd, 2010 10:08 am
I’m guessing that policy doesn’t necessarily exist for locals. That sounds like a special deal for foreigners. Or the locals who go to such a place don’t think $35 is a lot of money.
July 3rd, 2010 1:03 pm
I’d not be surprised if it did apply to locals, but it is probably seen as a badge of rich people only for a destination. Like having an automatic gearbox in your car, another strange prestige symbol over here.