Kazakhstan is stepping further onto the luxury travel map after Tatler Best held its first dedicated awards ceremony in the country, recognising 73 hotels, restaurants and bars across Almaty, Astana and other destinations.
The inaugural Tatler Best Kazakhstan ceremony was held at The Ritz-Carlton, Almaty, marking the first time the awards programme has staged a full-scale Kazakhstan event. The country had joined the wider Tatler Best Asia-Pacific programme in 2025, but 2026 represents its first dedicated national celebration.
The awards highlight a hospitality industry that is rapidly developing its own identity, blending Kazakhstan’s nomadic heritage and local ingredients with contemporary design, international culinary techniques and increasingly sophisticated luxury experiences.
73 awards showcase Kazakhstan’s hospitality boom
A total of 73 awards were presented across three major categories: restaurants, bars and hotels.
The programme named 50 venues across the inaugural Tatler Best 20 restaurant, bar and hotel lists, while another 23 Best-in-Class awards recognised achievements in areas including service, design, innovation and individual talent.
The selections were based on assessments from more than 400 experts, including editors, restaurant critics, food and travel journalists, influencers and hospitality professionals.
The highest-scoring venues in each category received Best-in-Class recognition, while the overall Restaurant of the Year, Bar of the Year and Hotel of the Year awards went to properties that delivered the strongest all-round performances.
The winners will also be eligible for the Tatler Best Asia-Pacific Awards in Shanghai in October, giving Kazakhstan’s leading hospitality businesses an opportunity to gain greater international exposure.
The Ritz-Carlton takes Hotel of the Year
The Ritz-Carlton, Astana emerged as Kazakhstan’s Hotel of the Year, while The Ritz-Carlton, Almaty was recognised as the country’s Best Destination.
The Almaty property also hosted the inaugural awards ceremony, putting one of Kazakhstan’s leading luxury hotels at the centre of an event designed to showcase the country’s evolving hospitality scene.
Other major hotel awards included Pana Unique Semey, which won Best New Hotel, and The Veil in Astana, which was named Best Boutique Hotel.
Rixos Borovoe took Best Resort, while Swissôtel Wellness Resort Alatau Almaty won Best Family Hotel.
For wellness travellers, Nammu Spa & Wellness in Almaty was named Best Wellness Retreat. The St Regis Astana received the Best Service award, while Tenir Eco Hotel in Almaty was recognised for Best Innovation.
The wider Tatler Best 10 Hotels list also includes Sheraton Astana Hotel, Hilton Astana, Yurta Boutique Hotel in Almaty and Wyndham Residences Aqkol.
Almaty dominates Kazakhstan’s restaurant scene
Almaty emerged as a particularly strong centre for contemporary dining, accounting for the majority of restaurants on the inaugural Tatler Best 20 list.
Qarlygash Café, Oyster Bar, Palomar, Rifugio del Monte, Akami, La Barca, Ogonyok and Auyl were among the Almaty restaurants recognised.
Astana also made its mark, with Qazaq Gourmet, Eva, Line Brew Reserve at The Veil and Selfie included in the national top 20.
Akami in Almaty took the coveted Restaurant of the Year title, while Palomar was named both Best New Restaurant and Best Design.
Auyl received the Best Innovation award, reflecting the growing interest in restaurants that reinterpret local culinary traditions through contemporary techniques and presentation.
Selfie in Astana was recognised for Best Service.
Individual culinary talent was also celebrated. Denis Kapralov received the Best Sommelier award, while Nariman Abdygapparov of The Ritz-Carlton, Almaty was named Best Pastry Chef. Inga Makogon, co-founder of Fika, was recognised as a Rising Star.
Kazakhstan’s cocktail culture is gaining attention
The country’s bar scene was another major focus of the awards.
Gruppo 63 in Almaty was named Bar of the Year and also won Best Design, establishing the venue as one of the country’s leading destinations for contemporary drinking culture.
Atelier in Almaty was recognised as Best New Bar, while Lilou in Astana won Best Service.
Adept in Almaty received the Best Innovation award, while Daria Bezhina was recognised as a Rising Star.
The Tatler Best 20 Bars list includes venues across both Almaty and Astana, ranging from cocktail-focused destinations to pubs and more experimental drinking concepts.
A new generation is reshaping Kazakhstan’s hospitality industry
Beyond the awards themselves, the event points to a broader transformation taking place across Kazakhstan’s hospitality sector.
Chefs with international training are returning home, bartenders are experimenting with local botanicals and fermentation, and hotels are developing more contemporary interpretations of luxury.
That evolution is helping Kazakhstan move beyond the perception of being simply an emerging travel destination.
Instead, cities such as Almaty and Astana are developing increasingly distinctive food, drink and hotel scenes capable of competing for attention on the international luxury travel circuit.
The country’s cultural heritage remains an important part of that development.
At the awards celebration, guests were served dishes inspired by traditional Kazakh cuisine, including smoked zhaya, a delicacy made from horse meat, as well as baursaks, the deep-fried dough traditionally served at celebrations.
The combination of traditional flavours and modern culinary techniques reflects the direction of Kazakhstan’s hospitality industry: preserving elements of its heritage while presenting them in ways that appeal to a new generation of travellers.
Kazakhstan’s luxury travel ambitions are growing
The arrival of a dedicated Tatler Best programme gives the country’s hospitality industry another platform for international recognition.
With 73 awards spanning hotels, restaurants and bars, the 2026 results show that Kazakhstan’s luxury scene is no longer concentrated around a handful of international hotel brands.
Instead, local restaurants, independent bars, boutique hotels, wellness properties and emerging hospitality personalities are increasingly becoming part of the country’s travel identity.
As the winners prepare to compete on the broader Asia-Pacific stage in Shanghai, Kazakhstan’s hospitality industry will have another opportunity to demonstrate how its combination of culture, modern luxury and local creativity can attract the region’s increasingly adventurous luxury travellers.
For travellers looking beyond the usual destinations, the 2026 Tatler Best Kazakhstan awards offer a new reason to put Almaty, Astana and the country’s emerging hospitality destinations on the map.
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