Eight and a half tons of fireworks; enough caviar to fill a private jet; and a guest list ranging from Sharon Stone and Tom Jones to the prime minister of Uzbekistan: last May’s launch party opening the Mardan Palace hotel in Antalya was nothing if not lavish.
The hotel, complete with gold-plated bathrooms and a five acre swimming pool, is the creation of Azerbaijani billionaire Telman Ismailov, the latest oligarch drawn to the Mediterranean province already popular with high-spending Russians.
