Lavitor Hotel

The outside of Lavitor Hotel looks a little dated, but the rooms inside are cozy and well kept. It’s spacious and comfortable for the price, with some old-fashioned charm alongside modern conveniences. The owner and staff speak English and were kind and attentive, which made things easy. The rooms have air conditioning, oral care items, and slippers. There’s no bidet in the bathroom, which could be a downside for some. The exterior didn’t make much of an impression at first, but the interior is worth seeing. It’s a comfortable place with friendly service and good value.

The people were really nice and helpful, and there were two 250 ml bottles of water in the room. The AC worked, but it was extremely noisy. The hotel itself is very basic, and the rooms are falling apart. When I went to close the curtains, the whole rail came down. The mattress had broken springs all over and was very uncomfortable. The shower taps were so loose in the wall that I worried they might break off.

Our stay at the hotel by itself would have earned five stars, as many other reviews have said. We liked the owners at first, which is why we’re sorry this is so harsh, but the tour we booked with the hotel owner’s son and his father was a real disappointment. We paid USD 275 for a two-day trip around lake Issekul after staying three nights at the hotel. We started 45 minutes late because of them. That didn’t bother us much, but then we lost about an hour driving around Bishkek while the father picked something up. We saw a nice tower and museum on the way and didn’t have lunch until 5 pm. By then it was getting dark, so at the national park we could barely see most of it. We did enjoy the hot springs and had a good dinner, and reached the hotel in Karakol around midnight. On the way, they told us the Karakol hotel would cost SOM 900 (USD 13) per person, even though we thought the tour was all-inclusive. We were tired and didn’t argue then. The next morning, the hotel owner told us the SOM 900 was per room, so we decided to pay for one room only. The guides weren’t there at that point. It felt like they’d doubled the price per person to cover their own room on top of the USD 270. It wasn’t mainly about the money, but the dishonesty really upset us. That same morning, nobody showed up for the tour. We called three times before they apologized and said they’d overslept because they hadn’t set an alarm. We finally left at 11 am, two hours late. We visited a few really nice places on the south side of the lake, but had to skip parts of the plan because of the lost time, then drove back to Bishkek. If disorganized guides, sleeping in, seeing a national park in the dark, and extra charges don’t bother you, this is your USD 270 tour. Otherwise, you might want to look at professional tour companies or rent a 4x4 yourself. That would be cheaper and probably better.

The staff were friendly and accommodating. When we arrived, they got us a taxi and let us wait in reception until they opened, and we were able to check in early. It’s quite far from the center, so expect to take taxis. YandexGo is handy if you need an app. It’s like Uber, and you can pay with cash or a card.