Aventine

Beginning a week long trip here and didn't see any threads for this property. A truly gorgeous St. Regis property in freezing Astana, Kazakhstan. Everything is opulent, luxurious and done with an excellent sense of Kazakh nomadic culture (Horse motifs, traditional Kazakh attire pieces, etc). Not too gaudy or overdone.

Will update with more pictures and commentary as I get over jetlag.

Cat. 5 hotel

3rdworldresident

Aventine

Gorgeous indoor infinity swimming pool. Not much of a view and would prefer pool to be heated.

Had it all to myself this afternoon.

Aventine

Both the base rooms and suites are immaculately done in white and black. Very high quality build and finishes. It's obvious the owners put a lot of money into the construction. The butler team decorated it with balloons and rose pedals for our anniversary. A job very well-done!



I expected to see the brand standard Remede but they use L'Occitane here. It's made in France and not a Malaysian licenced copy.

littlevoices

I spent three days here in October 2019 (likely the quiet season), overall was very impressed and glad we stayed. I'm a Lifetime Titanium and my corporate rate at this hotel seems to be about 40% of the BAR, which made it easy to justify to myself, though this was a leisure trip.

Upgrade/Room: Without asking we were given a huge ambassador suite, personal hand-written welcome letter (and a follow-up the next day), bottle of prosecco, chocolates (refreshed daily) and fruit. The room was excellent, and came with a balcony and great view of the sun setting over the city. As such we ended up with 1.5 toilets, a stand-alone bath, living room and main bedroom. The TV selection was ok, a lot of channels but only really 3 in English (Nat Geo, Nat Geo Wild and Discovery), though strangely this was better than most other hotels around the country. We missed HBO, and that the hotel had disabled changing the input on the huge / good quality Samsung TVs to prevent you casting your own movies

Location: You're likely to be getting taxis around the city anyway (Yandex taxi now rather than Uber), but on arrival we walked around the river area nearby which was pleasant after a long flight. Lonely planet recommended the nearby restaurant 'ASTANA NURY' and we enjoyed dinner there before walking back to the hotel on a large pedestrian bridge. As a small note, the hotel also has a combined residences section, along with a shopping area, be aware that the proper hotel entrance is up the slope (not every taxi realised this immediately). We had arranged an airport collection (A bargain at under 50USD, even if the local taxi would have been far cheaper), which made our arrival particularly smooth.

Lounge: Yes this hotel has a very small 'executive lounge', aka open room next to the main restaurant with a happy hour 6-7pm. I glanced through and saw a few fruits, biscuits and drinks but we didn't properly partake. I thought it was a nice gesture since that isn't brand standard I believe.

Breakfast: I took the points so we had a high quality breakfast in the main restaurant, that was fairly quiet and small whilst we were there - an outside terrace would have been great in summer, but here in late autumn it was preferable to stay inside. Had an egg chef, custom made waffles/pancakes, reasonable selection of local and international foods. What was unusual for this region was no Chinese breakfast option such as congee, clearly the city (or hotel) isn't popular with Chinese visitors. We were very satisfied.

Would definitely return if in the area again.

DFWsakp

Anybody else has visited here recently?

skrosvik

I'm here now for 4 nights. Upon arrival last night (00:30) there were no doorman, bellboy or whatsoever at the entrance. I entered two sets of heavy swing doors and ventured around the lobby with my luggage. It took me some time to find the reception, since there were no staff to ask in the lobby area. Was told I was upgraded from a deluxe room to an Ambassador Suite, which I deeply appreciated. The hostess informed me about opening hours, etc in and around the hotel. Got my keys and off to my room - no assistance offered. Not important to me, but would definitely expect a doorman and luggage assistance at a St. Regis property.

My suite, on the 6th floor, is very nice. Large and spacious. High ceilings and loads of art and paintings. Nice and crispy quality furniture. Very comfortable bed. Bedroom is hot and stuffy though, and A/C won't make it cooler, like it does in the living room. I asked front desk to check it out, but I don't think they have managed to fix it. But not a big problem, I will just sleep with the door to the living room open. Very large bathroom with a stand alone tub with a tv, a large walk-in shower, toilet stall, double vanities. All with nice heated marble floor. There is a small guest toilet as well. However, the toiletries seems to be a random run of the mill. One day there is shampoo from Grand Bains, conditioner from L'Occitane and shower gel from Remede. The next day there is another mixture of the brands. I find it strange that they don't use St. Regis brand Remede. But I have noticed that after the pandemic hotels are using a lot of random brands. The following day I received a fruit basket and a printed welcome letter. A form letter that is - not up to the same level as others have reported previously.

Service is overall good, but just not up to other St. Regis hotels I have visited in the past. Employees seems a little shy and overwhelmed when asked questions. Some of the security guards and doormen don't greet you. Butler service works well, they wake me up at 10 AM, open the curtains and put coffee on the table - I appreciate this service

Was told the St. Regis bar is open till 2 AM. Yesterday I went there at 00:50, just to be told it is closed - i.e. last order is at 1 AM. Just found that a tad strange. The bar is lively with locals and nice. Nice and attentive staff. Breakfast is served till 11 AM on weekdays and noon at weekends - which is a nice touch. The food at the hotel is okay, but nothing to write home about. Another thing is that they don't have half the things offered on the menu. This goes for both drinks and meals. I yet to try the Japanese restaurant. Champagne sabring is Fridays only. They do have an "evening ritual" daily from 6 PM till 7 PM. There is complimentary wines and nibbles. I haven't had the chance to try it yet. There are some shops on lobby level, but caters mostly to locals, I assume. Very nice swimming pool on the 3rd floor.

Location - it's a compound in the middle of a park. Slightly outside the city centre. But a Yandex will take you to any point of interest for 1000 KZT or less. The car service offered by the hotel is overpriced, as expected. I used their airport service, a Toyota Camry was around 38 USD (their Mercedes would be around 100 USD!). And well worth it, the driver parked right outside the airport door, and he also assisted me in getting a local sim-card. A Yandex-car would set you back 5 dollars or so, and I will definitely use that when leaving the country. But I assume most people won't go to St. Regis to save money, hehe.

A nice hotel, but could have been so much nicer if they just put some attention to the (very) small details St. Regis Astana gets 4 out of 5 from me. Enjoying my stay - and wouldn't hesitate to stay here again.