Karakol based Hostel — Hotel in Karakol City

Excellent base in Karakol!

We did a day trip from Bishkek to Karakol, and then from Karakol to Bishkek from the other side of the lake.

Rooms: We booked one double bedroom and one twin bedroom. Both were clean. There are few shelves (more than enough) and wardrobe. There is a heater in the room. If someone talks near the room, you’ll be hearing everything - good thing is that the hostel was very silent (while full of people) and they have rules about silent time. However, if you are sensitive on noise - bring earplugs, just in case. I sneaked-peaked to see the dormitory - also looked fine.

Bathroom: It is a shared bathroom. There are 3 showers and 3 toilets. It was clean. There was toilet paper, and soap for showering.

Staff: Friendly, very responsive, helpful.

Food: You can order a breakfast and through the day/night you can also ask them to order food from different restaurants - you’ll find various option on the reception desk. I asked them to order barbecue meat (at 10pm) from Altyn Kumara. The guy from the reception did it for me, and he even went to pick it up from the main door so that I don’t have to wear shoes/go out (I didn’t ask him, he just kindly did it). It was 600 SOM (like 6 euros) with delivery, and food was delicious!!

Parking: We parked in front of the hostel, was no problem.

Other things: You can wash your clothes, rent a towel… There are many travel tips for hiking (where to go, how to reach, how...

I really enjoyed the 3 nights I spent at KbH in Karakol. It has a friendly and social vibe, info about tourist destinations, and lots of friendly foreign travelers. It is a family run place, and they do speak a bit of English. The beds were really comfy and it actually has a pretty good kitchen for a hostel, along with a cozy living room and nice beds. The wifi also worked well and I was able to connect my VPN without any trouble. I booked a private room, but the dorm beds looked spacious (without curtains). The location is really good too, it's right in the center of Karakol, so you can walk 10-15 minutes to the downtown area. I'd recommend checking out Cafe Zarina down the street to try some local kyrgyz food, and trying the Ashlyanfu. The only annoying thing is that they are always running out of toilet paper and not replacing it. The water also went out for a day (which was a citywide problem) but they didn't have any water reserves for washing up, flushing toilets, etc. so that was a bit annoying. So bring your own TP and you'll be...

Really enjoyed KBH. A great place to base yourself for hiking in the area and meet other backpackers doing the same. It’s very central so close to restaurants, shops and gear rental places. They had a good kitchen + helpful information leaflets for popular trips Sometimes a little disorganised, meaning people stayed on sofas or camped in the garden outside; or that you’d be waiting around for information when nobody was at reception, but overall I had a good experience here. They did decide to close down the whole hostel for several days as I was leaving due to personal reasons, which may have caused difficulties for other guests. Wishing them all the best, and I hope someone makes use of the sleeping bag I donated here!! Matt |...