Orbita Boutique Hotel

Top choice in Shymkent

LoginSave

This little gem 2km west of the centre has just a handful of rooms, all individually and pleasingly designed with features like half-timbering and exposed brick – one even has an African theme – and equipped with tea/coffee makers and well-stocked minibars. Young, attentive receptionists, fluent in English, inhabit the conservatory-like upstairs lobby. Price includes one of the best breakfasts in Kazakhstan.

There's a restaurant downstairs and several others along the leafy street. It offers free airport pickups too.

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

  • Museum of Victims of Political Repression

    Museum of Victims of Political Repression

    1.65 MILES

    This small museum documents Soviet oppression in Kazakhstan, from the dekulakisation (Soviet campaign of political repression from 1929 to 1932) and…

  • Regional Museum of Southern Kazakhstan

    Regional Museum of Southern Kazakhstan

    5.48 MILES

    In its shiny new quarters on the northern outskirts of the city, this regional museum has well-presented, trilingual displays on local geology, Iron Age…

  • Tauelsizdik sayabagy

    Tauelsizdik sayabagy

    2.1 MILES

    Tauelsizdik sayabagy, accessed by footbridge from the tall, Mother Earth–topped Independence Monument, was inaugurated in 2011 for the 20th anniversary of…

  • Alleya Slavy

    Alleya Slavy

    1.57 MILES

    In Abay Park, two tall concrete pillars lean on each other above an eternal flame, and the alley is lined with plaques bearing the names of the more than…

  • Bazar Samal

    Bazar Samal

    2.22 MILES

    Of several new markets around the city fringes, Bazar Samal, next to Samal bus station, is the biggest and most interesting, with a particularly colourful…

  • Abdul-Aziz Baba Mausoleum

    Abdul-Aziz Baba Mausoleum

    10.04 MILES

    The occupant of the three-domed Abdul-Aziz Baba Mausoleum is believed to have been a leader of the Arabic forces that brought Islam to the Sayram area in…

  • Karashash-Ana Mausoleum

    Karashash-Ana Mausoleum

    9.99 MILES

    The 13th-century Karashash-Ana Mausoleum is where Akhmed Yasaui’s mother lies beneath the central tombstone.

  • Central or Upper Bazaar

    Central or Upper Bazaar

    2.2 MILES

    The central bazaar is now somewhat diminished after the conversion of its outlying sprawl into parks and the removal of many traders to markets on the…

View more attractions

Nearby Shymkent attractions

1. Alleya Slavy

1.57 MILES

In Abay Park, two tall concrete pillars lean on each other above an eternal flame, and the alley is lined with plaques bearing the names of the more than…

3. Independence Monument

2.01 MILES

This monument consists of a tall, red granite column topped with the figure of Mother Earth.

4. Altyn Shanyrak

2.03 MILES

The tall Altyn Shanyrak monument in the middle of Independence Park – a sort of tall, metallic funnel – represents the central roof opening of a yurt.

5. Tauelsizdik sayabagy

2.1 MILES

Tauelsizdik sayabagy, accessed by footbridge from the tall, Mother Earth–topped Independence Monument, was inaugurated in 2011 for the 20th anniversary of…

6. Wedding Palace

2.16 MILES

The squat, blue-domed Wedding Palace is a useful landmark.

7. Central or Upper Bazaar

2.2 MILES

The central bazaar is now somewhat diminished after the conversion of its outlying sprawl into parks and the removal of many traders to markets on the…

8. Bazar Samal

2.22 MILES

Of several new markets around the city fringes, Bazar Samal, next to Samal bus station, is the biggest and most interesting, with a particularly colourful…