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Cholpon Ata is a small town on the north coast of Lake Issyk Kul in Kyrgyzstan. It may be nothing
special but it has character and plainly benefits, to a degree, from thousands of tourists arriving in
the warmer months. Accommodation is plentiful, right from tiny rooms available in private houses
(tiny private houses) to luxury houses available for rent. Then there are the hotels, none being better
of course than the Castle Hotel, just a few minutes’ walk from the beach.
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| This British (or should I say Welsh?) owned hotel is a great place to get away from it all. It is nicely
located, not too far from the town and even closer to two or three beaches none of which seemed
particularly crowded in spite of many people plainly coming from miles away to lie on them. I
wouldn’t say though that the Castle really seems to attract the lazy holiday types, although plainly
some of its guests do enjoy the beaches too. There are shops and little restaurants round the corner.
No, no Italian or Indian, and probably very little for vegetarians, but cheap and representative of the
culture they are part of.
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| The interesting thing about the Castle Hotel is the diversity of its guests, Italian, English, Scottish and
Australian lads all made very welcome within a few days of each other en route to Mongolia as part
of the Mongol Rally 2012. This is not a race, which allowed at least one group of them to stay an
extra day in the hotel and take in the fresh air.
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| The staff are very welcoming and clearly used to dealing with people from a diversity of cultures,
their respect for each guest very easy to see. There are young children there whose relatives run the
hotel, those as young as three or four speak two or three languages fluently, having been the
beneficiaries of bilingual or trilingual families and a great upbringing. The food was excellent and the
room comfortable, with service in general of the highest quality. It is not a hotel with business travel
in mind, fairly obviously, but it serves its intended purpose admirably, hence a page dedicated to it
on the website.
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| In a sense, it did not feel like a hotel. There is no receptionist with a painted smile, no porter to
whom you’ve got no idea how much to give… it was like somebody’s home. By the same token, it did
not feel like there were strangers there, even the people that don’t speak to you in some ways have
the same relaxed air about them that makes it feel like you are at home.
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| If I have one criticism, it is that their evident love and understanding of western ways is just a little
too loud. This is a place we go to get away from it all, to sit under the stars in the peaceful evening
breeze, to meet people from all over the world and to share a quiet moment with them. The Castle
Hotel has the perfect opportunity to offer unparalleled tranquillity, yet it puts a stereo in the yard
and plays the most awful pop music, sometimes the same songs over and over again, at pretty high
volume, sometimes from early morning.
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| If they can lose the stereo, they will have the best hotel in the world, no exaggeration.
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| In any case, Castle Hotel, Cholpon Ata, Kyrgyzstan, highly recommended.
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