Asia's Largest Tent Features An Indoor Beach With White Sand Straight From The Maldives

Famed architect Norman Foster created a masterpiece. Known for futuristic projects like the Gherkin in London and the Hearst Tower in New York, the British designer birthed a record-breaking structure in Kazakhstan back in 2010. Travel less than 30 minutes from Astana International Airport and prepare to be awestruck by the extremely modern Khan Shatyr Entertainment Center. The structure is intended to be a grand homage to Kazakh history, when the people in the territory were nomadic and lived in yurts.

The Guinness World Records didn't exaggerate when the organization declared Khan Shatyr Entertainment Center the tallest tensile structure ever built. Rising nearly 500 feet from its base and reinforced by giant cable beams, this mega tent is more than equipped to house its very own unique sky beach club with imported Maldivian sand.

The club is housed in the transparent apex of the center on its fifth floor. Entering the club means stepping into a sunny penthouse oasis complete with cozy loungers, palm trees, tropical plants, and, of course, the white sand. Although temperatures in Kazakhstan have been known to drop below -4 degrees Fahrenheit in winter, there's no need to worry. The material the top of the tent is constructed with, ETFE (ethylene tetraflouroethylene), is designed to protect spaces from extreme weather and helps control indoor temperatures as well. The club is kept at balmy temperatures year-round, and the water is a constant 84 degrees Fahrenheit. The club's microclimate — and gleaming seawater — easily mimic the warm shores of the aforementioned Indian Ocean isles, and you might never want to leave.

The entrance fee to the club is 10,000 KZT per adult and 6,000 KZT per child and 12,000 KZT and 6,000 KZT respectively on weekends and holidays. (One American dollar is equal to about 495 KZT at the time of writing.) This grants you full access to the space, where you can pretend you're glamping on a white sand beach in Asia. It may be tempting to spend all day floating in the heated waters of the two pools (one for adults and one for children), but there is also a water slide, a restaurant, and a sauna.

The water slide activates at 2 p.m. and propels you into the kiddie pool, so you may want to leave that particular endeavor to the underage members of your party. If slippy slides aren't in anyone's interest, head over to the volleyball net and get a game going.

The poolside restaurant keeps the energy up as well. Visitors on Tripadvisor were pleased by the restaurant's assortment of American favorites such as pasta, burgers, and chicken sticks. For additional unwinding, take a moment to gaze at the wonderfully beachy scene from the sauna. Perhaps another nod to the stunning glow-in-the-dark beaches of the Maldives, the club's beams glow in the dark, creating an unreal, luminescent beachscape.

Outside of the Sky Beach Club, there are plenty of offerings in the center to pique your interest. The Khan Shatyr Center is home to a range of international retail brands ranging from sportier ones like Adidas, Tommy Hilfiger, and Lacoste to affordable but still high-end options like Armani Exchange, and the center also houses luxury brands such as Massimo Dutti. You can certainly spend the day circling the floors that loop around the building and dipping in and out of the shops. Typical for a large mall in Asia, the center also has its choice of cafes, restaurants, and spas, but Khan Shatyr doesn't stop there.

For a bit of whimsy, head to Fame City on the fourth floor where, like many family-friendly theme parks, you can find a variety of video gaming opportunities and amusement park rides. Ride the Gold Mine Coaster or take a trip on the Drop Tower, which releases you from the peak of the center and drops you about 125 feet.