Friendship Hotel

I wouldn't recommend it. I stayed for a week because it was the official competition hotel, and I think there may actually be two or three hotels in the same building, depending on the floor. The wifi worked better than expected, and at least the room had a TV and fridge. But the "Dostuk" hotel was generally dirty and run down. The 5th floor was just old and somewhat passable, while the 9th floor was below standard, with big carpet stains and dirt throughout. In my room, wallpaper was peeling and cables stuck out of the walls; the sockets were loose too. The full-floor carpet was dirty, and room service came only twice during the week. The bathroom was average, but hot water took 5-10 minutes of running the tap to appear.

My main problem was the night staff. One male receptionist with a large scar on the right side of his head seemed unwilling to deal with non-Russian speakers. After I apparently asked too many questions about Kyrgyzstan, he stopped answering me and called a female staff member to help each time. A few others also seemed bothered and uninterested when helping me. There were plenty of good points. The location is wonderful, beside Victory Square and the Circus, and Ala-Too Square is walkable on a mild day. For places farther out, YandexGo is very cheap. I was kindly allowed to check in early, and reception held my luggage after checkout so I could keep sightseeing. For $50 a night, the "junior suite" was incredibly spacious for one person. The bed was comfortable, the air conditioning was great, and the TV had lots of international news and Central Asian music channels. Housekeeping were kind and diligent, and the electrician lent me a converter for my devices. The mini-fridge didn't work at all even though it was switched on, and there was only one outlet for charging.

How can this place have 5 stars? Much of the hotel feels like the USSR, and the rest is awful. There is a rather nice Ecoland Vegetarian Restaurant, a new Congress Hall, and one privately owned floor that's nice, but most of the hotel is in bad shape.

A cheap, decent option for budget travelers. The rooms are fine and the location is good. You can see the bathroom in the photos. Update: breakfast was terrible. The food seemed several days old, and nothing seemed very clean.