ALMATY, KAZAKHSTAN — Kazakhstan’s Hospitality Scene Takes Center Stage
Kazakhstan’s hospitality industry has reached a new milestone with the first-ever Tatler Best Kazakhstan awards ceremony, bringing the country’s leading restaurants, bars and hotels together under one major international hospitality platform.
Held at The Ritz-Carlton, Almaty, the inaugural ceremony presented 73 awards across restaurants, bars and hotels. The program included 50 venues across the inaugural Tatler Best 20 lists and 23 Best-in-Class awards recognizing areas such as service, design, innovation and individual talent.
The ceremony represents a significant moment for Kazakhstan’s hospitality industry, which is increasingly developing its own identity rather than simply following established international trends.
A New Chapter for Kazakh Hospitality
Tatler Best first brought Kazakhstan into its regional awards framework in 2025, when the country joined the Tatler Best Asia-Pacific Awards.
But 2026 marked the first time Kazakhstan’s winners were celebrated with a dedicated national ceremony.
That distinction matters because the country’s hospitality sector has been undergoing a noticeable transformation. Tatler Asia points to chefs returning home after gaining international experience, bartenders incorporating local botanicals and fermentation techniques, and hoteliers developing a more contemporary interpretation of luxury.
The result is a hospitality scene that increasingly reflects Kazakhstan itself—its food traditions, landscapes, culture and rapidly changing cities.
The Biggest Winners of the Night
Among the evening’s highest honors, The Ritz-Carlton, Astana was named Hotel of the Year, while Akami in Almaty took Restaurant of the Year.
In the bar category, Gruppo 63 in Almaty won Bar of the Year.
Other major Best-in-Class winners included:
- The Ritz-Carlton, Almaty — Best Destination
- Pana Unique Semey — Best New Hotel
- The Veil, Astana — Best Boutique Hotel
- Rixos Borovoe — Best Resort
- Swissôtel Wellness Resort Alatau Almaty — Best Family Hotel
- Nammu Spa & Wellness, Almaty — Best Wellness Retreat
- The St Regis Astana — Best Service
- Tenir Eco Hotel, Almaty — Best Innovation
- Palomar, Almaty — New Restaurant and Best Design
- Auyl, Almaty — Best Innovation
- Atelier, Astana — Best New Bar
- Adept, Almaty — Best Innovation among bars.
20 Restaurants Put Kazakhstan’s Food Scene in the Spotlight
The inaugural Tatler Best 20 Restaurants list stretches across Almaty and Astana, with venues including Qarlygash Café, Oyster Bar, Palomar, Rifugio del Monte, Akami, La Barca, Ogonyok, Auyl, Qazaq Gourmet and Eva.
The list also features Aqqu, Ami, Pier, Korkem Gourmet, Khoroshiy God, Renée Café, Banollo, Six Coffee + Wine, Line Brew Reserve (The Veil) and Selfie.
The geographical spread is revealing: while Almaty dominates the restaurant list, Astana also has a strong representation, highlighting the two cities’ increasingly important roles in Kazakhstan’s culinary development.
Almaty and Astana Lead the Bar Revolution
The bar rankings tell a similar story.
Gruppo 63 claimed the overall Bar of the Year title, while Atelier was recognized as Best New Bar.
Other venues on the Tatler Best 20 Bars list include Temple, Malena, Atomic, Yellow Door, Lilou, Ágorá, Adept and Red Beer Bar, alongside venues such as The Shakespeare Pub, Buddha-Bar Astana and French 42.
The recognition also extends beyond venues to individual talent, with Daria Bezhina receiving the Best Rising Star award in the bar category.
Hotels Reflect a Broader Definition of Luxury
The hotel awards demonstrate how Kazakhstan’s hospitality industry is expanding beyond conventional luxury.
The Tatler Best 10 Hotels list includes major international properties such as The Ritz-Carlton, Almaty, The St Regis Astana, Swissôtel Wellness Resort Alatau Almaty, Sheraton Astana Hotel and Hilton Astana.
It also includes properties such as Tenir Eco Hotel, Rixos Borovoe, The Veil, Yurta Boutique Hotel and Wyndham Residences Aqkol.
The combination of international hotel brands, boutique properties, eco-focused accommodation and resort destinations reflects a hospitality market becoming increasingly diverse.
Local Identity Meets Modern Luxury
One of the ceremony’s most striking elements was its food program.
After the awards, guests experienced a menu that brought traditional Kazakh flavors together with contemporary international cuisine. Yurta, a boutique hotel and restaurant in Almaty known for reinterpreting nomadic cuisine, served traditional specialties including smoked zhaya and baursaks.
Other dishes came from Japanese restaurant Akami and The Ritz-Carlton itself.
That combination captured one of the larger themes surrounding Kazakhstan’s hospitality evolution: local heritage does not necessarily have to compete with modern luxury—it can become part of it.
More Than 400 Experts Helped Shape the Results
The awards were based on assessments from a panel of more than 400 experts, including Tatler editors, restaurant critics, food and travel journalists, influencers and hospitality professionals.
The highest-scoring establishments received Best-in-Class recognition, while the top performers in the restaurant, bar and hotel categories earned the respective Restaurant of the Year, Bar of the Year and Hotel of the Year titles.
That gives the inaugural Kazakhstan list significance beyond a simple popularity ranking.
The winners are being positioned as representatives of a hospitality industry increasingly capable of competing for attention on a regional and international stage.
The Winners Are Heading to a Bigger Stage
The Kazakhstan winners will have another opportunity to gain international exposure.
All winners from the Tatler Best 20 and Best-in-Class categories are eligible for the Tatler Best Asia-Pacific Awards in Shanghai in October, potentially giving Kazakhstan’s leading hospitality venues an even larger regional audience.
That could make the first Kazakhstan ceremony more than a domestic celebration.
It may become the beginning of a much broader conversation about what modern Central Asian hospitality looks like.
Kazakhstan Wants the World to Taste Something Different
For years, Kazakhstan has often been better known internationally for its vast landscapes, nomadic heritage and rapidly developing cities than for its luxury dining and hospitality scene.
The first Tatler Best Kazakhstan ceremony suggests that perception is changing.
From restaurants reinventing traditional cuisine to bartenders experimenting with local ingredients and hotels combining international standards with regional character, the country is building a hospitality identity that is increasingly its own.
And with 73 awards now placing Kazakhstan’s restaurants, bars and hotels under a global spotlight, the country’s hospitality industry may have just entered a much bigger league.
The first Tatler Best Kazakhstan ceremony has closed—but the real test begins now: can these rising hospitality stars turn international attention into a lasting reputation for Kazakhstan?
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