We stayed in an A-frame cabin in a remote village in Kazakhstan

The rural village of Saty in Kazakhstan’s Tian Shan mountains has become increasingly popular with tourists thanks to its proximity to the beautiful lakes of Kolsai and Kaindy. That’s why we stopped by here for a couple of nights ourselves. But rather than staying in one of the village’s typical guest houses or homestays, a new phenomenon caught our eye: the chance to stay in a wooden A-frame cabin surrounded by mountain scenery. Wow!

We had never seen these quirky structures before venturing into the Kazakh countryside. But they have been springing up in many tourist villages and towns across Central Asia, like Saty. We saw more of them later in Kyrgyzstan.

If you are looking for accommodation on a trip to Kolsai Lakes or Kaindy Lake and you have a curiosity for something out of the ordinary, or unashamedly romantic, then read on… because a night in an A-frame is guaranteed to tempt you!

We’ve stayed in some curious places on our travels, from shipping containers in Brazil to garden sheds in Beijing. But none have been quite as cool or fun as our Kazakhstan A-frame experience. Honestly, aren’t these buildings just ridiculously cute?

After spending two nights in UYA A-Frame, here is our full, frank and honest review to help you decide if it’s for you.

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Saty village: a launchpad for Kazakhstan’s amazing lakes

Before getting onto the details about our A-frame experience, I will quickly explain more about why we were in the village of Saty. This wasn’t just a random visit!

Kolsai Lakes and Kaindy Lake are some of Kazakhstan’s most beautiful natural landmarks, but they’re about a five-hour drive from the nearest major city, Almaty. Conveniently, Saty sits about a 20-minute drive from the access points for both Kolsai Lakes and Kaindy Lake, so it’s the perfect overnight base for an adventure.

From the village it’s easy to arrange local transfers to the lakes if you don’t have your own vehicle. Our full itinerary for a 3-day road trip from Almaty to Charyn Canyon, Kaindy and Kolsai Lakes details how to visit the lakes from Saty.

Where to stay in Saty: why choose an A-frame?

Until recently, most of the accommodation in Saty has consisted of local family-run guest houses. These are charming places to stay that will give you a flavour of authentic Kazakh village hospitality. Our friend Tanya enjoyed her stay at Kolsai Terrassa, one of the more traditional local accommodations.

On our trip we also noticed foundations being laid for new hotels in and around Saty. So, it looks like the local accommodation options will be expanding even further soon. Hotel Kolsay Eki Agayindy is a very nice recently opened hotel in the nearby village of Kurmeti, or you can also stay in glam yurts at Kolsay Resort closer to Kolsai Lakes.

But for something completely different, a little bit wild, and seriously romantic, the new craze for A-frame cabins should catch your attention.

What exactly is an A-frame?

An A-frame is basically exactly what it sounds like; a wooden cabin built in the shape of the letter A.

They have recently become popular in Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries. With their broad bases and steeply sloping roofs, they look reassuringly sturdy, and ours certainly felt solid.

Because A-frames are a bit of a new trend, they are freshly built, well constructed and feel modern among their surroundings. Everywhere we’ve seen them in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, they’ve stood out like bougie tepees among the rustic older village buildings, but somehow never looked out of place.

A-frames are typically fully self-catering, so you can expect a kitchen and bathroom facilities (with good plumbing!) in addition to a sleeping space. Ours came with breakfast provided, brought to our door each morning.

How many people can stay in an A-frame?

The A-frame that we stayed in had two double bedrooms, so it could accommodate four people. They vary greatly in size around the world, but this was a common layout among the A-frames we saw in Saty.

Lisa and I had the whole two-bedroom A-Frame to ourselves, but it would have been fine to share with another couple. It wouldn’t be too cramped for a short trip.

How much does it cost to stay in an A-frame in Saty?

The nightly rates to stay in an A-frame in Saty are surprisingly reasonable compared to other accommodation options.

We paid 100,000 tenge for two nights, which worked out around $100 per night when we visited. That’s a bit more than you will pay for a local guest house if it’s just two of you, but with two couples sharing it could actually work out cheaper.

Prices may change of course, so still check it against the other options if you’re on a budget.

Our experience of staying in an A-frame in Saty

Arriving and first impressions

We booked at UYA A-Frame through booking.com and then paid in cash when we arrived. This is very often how they’re sold, as not many local hosts have their own websites or payment portals.

The hosts actually misspelled it when listing on booking.com, so you’ll find it listed there as “UYA A-Farme”. At first we thought this might be a play on words and we’d be staying on a farm… that wasn’t quite the case, although there was a friendly flock of sheep in the field behind us!

Communication with local accommodation hosts in Kazakhstan is typically done through WhatsApp. That’s been the case on our travels everywhere from city hotels in Almaty to rural village accommodation like this.

As the A-Frame structures are relatively new, ours wasn’t on map apps like Google Maps or Maps.me, but it was easy to find because the host sent us a map location link.

UYA A-Frame is built in the grounds of Tumar Guest House, which also helped with locating it. There are some other A-Frames on the premises next door, which confused us for a moment, but we soon cleared that up over WhatsApp. Our hosts soon opened the gate and showed us to the A-frame.

This involved driving our hire car along a rough little garden path, and at first I wondered whether we would be able to get it back out, but there were no problems in the end.

All of this means you will need mobile signal to communicate with the hosts and find the site. We used GigSky eSIMs throughout our Central Asia travels and found they worked really well, even in remote locations like Saty.

Inside our A-frame

For some reason, A-frames all seem to be built in pairs. Ours, like all others we saw, stood next door to another one. We saw couplets of them in random gardens and fields around the village.

The structure stands on a sort of raised platform, and you climb a few easy stairs to reach the door. There’s a cute little bench outside which we put to good use for drinks under the stars!

Inside the A-frame we just loved how well the space was optimised. They’re bigger than they look from outside and not an inch is wasted.

At the front section is an open-plan kitchenette, lounge and dining area, with a fridge, table, two chairs and a comfy little sofa. Steps lead up to a double bedroom on a mezzanine, and the second bedroom is downstairs to the rear.

Both bedrooms at UYA A-frame have windows with unbroken views out to the hills behind Saty. It really is a gorgeous sight to wake up to while hearing the sounds of nature, and at night you can gaze out at the starry sky.

The other downstairs room at the rear is a bathroom with a shower, modern and well fitted like everything else.

We fell in love with the place straight away. It’s just perfect for a cosy two nights in the countryside while adventuring to the lakes.

Breakfast to order!

An authentic local breakfast is included in a stay at UYA A-Frame. Each day we were asked what time we would like breakfast to be brought the next morning and given a choice of eggs or porridge. We went for eggs on the first morning and porridge on the second.

A woman from the host family brought a packed tray to our door on the first morning: eggs, meats, tomatoes, cucumber, dried fruit, biscuits, bread, some baursak (traditional Kazakh fried dough bites), and a fruit jam, which was amazing for dipping the baursak in.

Just the perfect amount of fuel for a morning lake trip.

Dinner in Saty

Both nights we went for dinner at Kolsay Shanyraq, an amazing BBQ restaurant about a ten-minute walk from our A-frame. Meat and fish are cooked over an open flame in the garden, and you can either sit outside or in the restaurant.

We tried BBQ lamb, chicken and fish, which was all delicious, probably the best BBQ food we had in Kazakhstan.

There are a couple of other restaurants in town, serving Indian and Central Asian cuisine. But the deliciousness of the freshly grilled foods at this place brought us back for more.

Other places to stay in Saty

If you’d like a few more options, here are some other lovely places to stay in Saty:

• Saty Guest House: one of the best value options in the village, with comfy beds, good water pressure, a nice breakfast, and dinner served on a terrace with mountain views.
• ALAU Villas: new lodges built and run by a local couple, a more bougie stay in peaceful surroundings, with a choice of individual chalets or rooms.
• Opensky Kolsay: cute two-storey houses away from the main road, surrounded by nature, and with beautiful views from a raised terrace.

Have you been to Saty in Kazakhstan before? Where did you stay? We’d love to hear about it in the comments below.

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