Kazakh businessman Kairat Boranbayev has unveiled the new Medeu Park Hotel, built at the foot of the high-mountain Medeu skating rink in Almaty. The official presentation took place on September 22, the businessman's birthday. Hotel representatives said 20 billion tenge was invested in the project, with construction underway since 2021, according to infohub.kz.
The complex comprises two buildings: a main block and a separate apart-hotel. The main building is already welcoming guests, while work continues on the apart-hotel. The main block has three floors and 90 rooms, along with the Shilik restaurant, the Ibe lobby bar, and a SPA area.
The interior's central motif is the swallow — "qarlygash" in Kazakh — which can be seen above the skating rink. This image appears on logos, in brochures, and in works by Kazakh artists displayed inside the hotel.
The walls feature works by some of the most sought-after artists in Kazakhstan and abroad, including Saule Suleimenova, Askhat Akhmedyarov, Yerbol Meldybekov, and many others. In a conversation with Kursiv LifeStyle, Boranbayev emphasized that filling the halls with art was a fundamental decision.
"It was important for us to create a space for exhibitions. Our artists from Tselinny worked on this too, so that different paintings could be shown here," the businessman said.
Construction of Medeu Park Hotel began in 2021. The luxury hotel complex next to the high-mountain skating rink of the same name in Almaty was planned for completion at the end of 2022, but those plans were thwarted by Kairat Boranbayev's arrest in 2023.
Previously, the site housed the Medeu Hotel, which opened in 1977. Thirty years later, it was decided to demolish it. Kursiv LifeStyle previously reported how Boranbayev's daughter Alima headed the Tselinny Contemporary Culture Center founded by her father.