I last wrote about this hotel in June 2019, so I felt it was time for an update. Looking through recent TripAdvisor reviews, I see much of my work has been done for me. Just last month, Hashmat Singh did an excellent job of capturing many of the details I would otherwise have included. I will try to supplement his and the many other glowing reviews, rather than repeat them. The good news is that not much has changed over the years since my last (pre-Covid) visit. Solutel continues to provide excellent accommodations and top-notch service at very competitive prices. The hotel is located in a cul-de-sac, so you can sleep with the windows open to the fresh mountain air without worrying about late-night sirens or early morning traffic noise. Blackout curtains keep the early morning sun at bay until it is invited. The air conditioning is whisper quiet, not one of those noisy window units. The location allows easy walking access to much of the downtown area. But Bishkek has grown considerably over the years, and new restaurant offerings are continually popping up, some of the more interesting ones being found in the suburbs. Taxis can be ordered at the front desk, and are inexpensive by Western standards. A recent trip to a restaurant took about 25 minutes by taxi (due to traffic issues) and the fare was 200 som ($2.50). As others have said, rooms are well-appointed with luxuries such as “King” beds that are made of two standard mattresses, heated bathroom floors, bidets (which will spoil Americans once they get used to the feeling of being fresh and clean), reading lamps bedside, in-room safes, free in-room Wi-Fi, blackout curtains and modern windows that open, HDTVs, etc. On the downside, TV content at the moment is mainly Russian content in the Russian language. In anticipation of this, I brought my Roku streaming device, which works well when plugged into the same HDMI socket as the hotel uses for TV. However, all hotel outlets are 220 volt. To my surprise the Roku box is 115 volt, so I had to locally buy an 80-watt converter and an adapter to use it ($20 for all). The included breakfasts are great, as they can accommodate many individual tastes and time-zones. For those that arrived in the wee hours of the morning, they will be looking for dinner fare more so than breakfast fare. For those of us that have multi-week stays, we can gradually transition from dinner to breakfast fare each morning. The breakfast area is modern and bright, and there’s an outdoor patio for those that prefer alfresco meals aside garden views with snow capped mountain glimpses. Staff members are all eager to provide genuine Kyrgyz hospitality. Kudos to management for providing a pleasant team-oriented working environment and being supportive during the difficult Covid times. (Note that Bishkek, rightly or wrongly, is entirely mask-free now.) My wife and I were surprised how many familiar faces we encountered on this trip. Zamir was a sommelier three years ago
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