Velvet Residence

Major features for our Booking.com reservation include: the apartment’s location in the heart of the city where the building is new and the apartment is newly renovated; that the apartment is sunny and spacious, with a comfortable king-sized bed, two spacious bedrooms, and 1.5 bathrooms. There’s also a washer AND a dryer for clothes. Most are rare features in many Bishkek rental listings. There was even a surprise bonus in that most windows face south with wonderful (typically morning) views of the snow-capped mountains.

In June 2026, utilities wherever you stay in Bishkek are not overly reliable. On several occasions we lost electric power (which often means also water pressure) and Internet access. It was not the fault of the renter, but prepared to evacuate elsewhere from time to time. As for Bay Tash security, it is a bit of a mish mash. There’s a guard during the day at the gated entrance, but his job seems to be mainly devoted to underground parking issues. The elevators require a key fob for access, but anyone could take the stairs. The doors on each apartment are very solid, with non-duplicatable keys, multiple impressive locks and a door peephole. (This had me wondering about how to quickly escape a fire.) Elevator areas have surveillance cameras. On at least one occasion, we had a couple of men rattling our doorknob at 3:00 AM. When we mentioned it to security, they just gave us a number to call. We did not follow up.