Always On My Mind

Not content merely to imitate Brooklyn or Berlin, Georgia aims to exceed those places when it comes to opening personality-driven, creatively daring boutique hotels. Especially these ten in Tbilisi.

It can safely be said that Georgia’s boutique hotel scene now rivals some of the biggest and coolest places you can think of, and did so at a pace that’s rather hard to believe, considering from how far behind it started.

It wasn’t that long ago that Georgia was a Soviet Republic, set well behind the Iron Curtain. And even more recently it suffered a Russian invasion of its own. But this is the birthplace of winemaking as we know it — the latest archaeological evidence puts the earliest Georgian wines at around 8,000 BC — and the home of some incredible skiing and snowboarding (the Caucasus range covers as much ground as the Alps, but reaches much higher). It was only a matter of time before Georgia found its footing and started drawing travelers from outside the immediate region.

It’s that surrounding region that makes Georgia so captivating: a veritable crossroads between the cultures of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. The famous Silk Road passed through here, building up the country’s hospitality bona fides one weary wanderer at a time. And it shows.

In the previous decade, Portugal was the travel industry’s hot, new, under-the-radar destination, with more cutting-edge boutique hotels opening there than countries ten times its size. Georgia won’t likely draw tourists the way Portugal does, but as you can see below, it’s following suit in terms of truly creative hotels, particularly in the capital of Tbilisi.

See all of our boutique hotel picks for Georgia.

Communal Hotel Plekhanovi

Tbilisi, Georgia

With just 14 rooms in a revitalized antique townhouse, Communal Plekhanovi can aim for a communal atmosphere without feeling crowded or chaotic. The style is a postmodern mixture of period architecture, classic fixtures and furnishings, and a very modern graphic color sense; no two rooms are alike, but the hotel presents a unified aesthetic and makes an impression that’s nothing if not memorable.

Communal Hotel Sololaki

Tbilisi, Georgia

Sister hotel to the Communal Plekhanovi, Communal Sololaki is near-identical in concept: a townhouse with plenty of historical character, restored and transformed into a richly eclectic boutique hotel. The difference here is the setting — the picturesque mountainside Tbilisi neighborhood of Sololaki was a 19th-century cultural center, and is today home to a wealth of restaurants, bars, and live music venues.

Stamba Hotel

Tbilisi, Georgia

Stamba occupies a classic 1930s building, once home to a famous publishing house, and its post-industrial patina gives it a visual identity all its own — along with surreal flourishes, like trees that grow through a five-story central atrium. The rooms go all in on retro, with leather headboards, brass fixtures, and weathered textures, and while they’re unpretentious, they have more than a touch of luxury.

The Blue Fox Hotel

Tbilisi, Georgia

Occupying a sympathetically restored period mansion in the heart of Tbilisi’s Old Town, the Blue Fox offers both character and contemporary comforts. The 17 bedrooms, some of which have balconies, feature hand-painted murals created by Tbilisi-born artist Musya Qeburia. The inner courtyard is the beating heart of the hotel, where drinks and live music are often enjoyed.

Rooms Hotel Tbilisi

Tbilisi, Georgia

Rooms Tbilisi, located inside an old publishing house, embodies many of the qualities that make Tbilisi so appealing: elegant architecture, rich traditions in literature and the fine arts, a bohemian spirit, and an emphasis on social life. The design honors the building’s original function, but is hardly industrial: faded Persian rugs, wide wood-planked floors, handmade wallpaper, and colorful vintage pieces add a lived-in feel.

The Telegraph Hotel

Tbilisi, Georgia

Once Tbilisi’s central post and telegraph office, this 20th-century building has been transformed into a sharp, design-led hotel in the heart of the city. Much of the original architecture remains, paired with classic interiors, a rooftop bar, and a jazz club downstairs. Rooms are understated but comfortable, and the food offering is broad, with everything from Thai street food to modern Georgian.

Unfound Door – Design Hotel

Tbilisi, Georgia

An opulent century-old building remained untouched and unrestored until its new owners took it on, and spent two years transforming it into Unfound Door, a hotel whose unique name sums up its status as a hidden gem. Each of its 13 rooms is different, each one a unique work of hospitality art, retaining much of the antique elegance and period details, while adding contemporary flourishes and modern boutique-hotel comforts.

Khedi Hotel Tbilisi

Tbilisi, Georgia

Khedi Hotel is located in Tbilisi’s riverside district of Avlabari, close to the Holy Trinity Cathedral and other local landmarks. And the hotel is something of a monument unto itself, at least for devotees of luxury boutique hospitality; its two buildings are divided into 57 rooms and suites in two styles, one a colorful modern re-interpretation of Georgian tradition, and the other a more spare, more subdued, more contemporary look.

Sandali Metekhi

Tbilisi, Georgia

Occupying a thoughtfully restored 19th-century building in Old Tbilisi, Sandali Metekhi is perfectly located on the edge of the Mtkvari River in one of the oldest neighborhoods in town, an ideal base for exploring the city. Inside and out, it’s stylistically grounded in its place — rooms are eclectic with elegant coffered walls, Art Deco-inspired headboards, Moorish archways, and geometric patterns reminiscent of Islamic art.

Qarvasla Hotel

Tbilisi, Georgia

Thanks to its location between the Caucasus Mountains and the Black Sea, Tbilisi was an important stop on the Silk Road. Only a couple of its many caravanserai — overnight lodgings for trade caravans — remain today, including one that houses the Tbilisi History Museum. The other, a regal red-brick building with a decorative Moorish facade in the heart of the old city, is home to Qarvasla Hotel.