Kapriz Issyk KUL Resort in Basteri

Kapriz Issyk-Kul Resort has an amazing location by the lake, but unfortunately, that’s the only good thing about it. Everything else about our stay was disappointing and far below expectations for a place that calls itself a “luxury resort.”

The rooms are decent and fairly well-maintained, but the bedding setup is simply unacceptable. They provide only basic single beds, and for families, they just push two single beds together with one blanket and one bed sheet. If you’re traveling with a child and plan to sleep together, you’ll spend the whole night pushing the mattresses back into place instead of getting any rest. There’s no extra blanket provided, even upon request.

During our stay, there were frequent power cuts that affected electricity, water, and Wi-Fi — and shockingly, the resort doesn’t have a generator. At one point, my wife was in the middle of a shower when the power went out and the water stopped completely. I went to the reception in the dark, only to be told she could “wait for two hours until the power comes back” or “come out.” When I asked how she was supposed to do that with soap still on her head, their only solution was to hand me small drinking water bottles to rinse off with. That’s their idea of service at a “luxury” resort.

To make things worse, they don’t even provide basic amenities like bathrobes — something even smaller yurts in the region managed to offer us.

The resort feels completely disorganized. The front desk staff are untrained, uninterested, and lack any sense of hospitality. You have to follow up repeatedly for the simplest requests. The restaurant is overpriced, and if you ask for room service, they charge an additional 20% fee on your total bill. Even then, the service is painfully slow and unprofessional.

For the high rates they charge, the experience was nowhere near worth it. It’s honestly a shame because the natural surroundings are breathtaking, and the lake view is beautiful. But the poor management, lack of service, and careless attitude of the staff ruin what could have been an incredible stay.

Until the management takes guest comfort seriously and fixes these major issues, I would not recommend this resort — and I definitely wouldn’t return.

Would definitely not recommend coming here during the offseason, even at the end of May we were disappointed to find that the restaurant-bar on the beach and pool were unavailable for use which was never previously mentioned. The store onsite was also not operating so we could not buy water/snacks we needed. Also, the hotel offers no elevators which is pretty challenging if you have heavy luggage and are staying on a higher level. Overall, the hotel was okay but not worth what we paid and expected.

Overpriced, run down, stale hotel. Positive: spacious room, comfortable bed, balcony, nice park/garden, friendly staff. Negative: ugly bathroom with broken tiles, water in toilet permanently running, shower water does not run off, no proper device to fix shower handle. For the charged Western European prices, clients would also deserve Western European room standards.