Unfound Door - Design Hotel ★★★★

A Nineteenth Century House with Its Frescoes Left Showing

Number 111 on Davit Aghmashenebeli Avenue is a residential building from the nineteenth century, and the people who converted it made one decision that settles everything else: they kept what was there. Terrazzo floors were cleaned rather than replaced, patches of old fresco were left exposed on the plaster, and the seven rooms were shaped around the walls instead of through them. What has been added is contemporary and quiet, so the house reads as a private apartment building that happens to take guests. It is a protected structure, which explains both the texture and the absence of a lift.

Why It Works

We kept it because so few hotels in Tbilisi commit to a building this completely. The seven rooms run from twenty square metres to a seventy seven square metre two bedroom suite, some with kitchens, which makes the same address work for a weekend and for a month. There is a restaurant, a bar, a garden, a terrace and a small spa, all at a scale where the staff know who is in which room. And the programme goes beyond beds: cooking classes, walking tours and themed dinners are run from the house. The Michelin Guide includes it in its hotel selection.

Why This Location

Aghmashenebeli Avenue is the restored boulevard of Chugureti, on the left bank, and the stretch around the hotel is the most pleasant walk in the city: pedestrianised in parts, lined with restored facades, dense with cafes and wine bars that open late. Marjanishvili metro is four hundred and fifty metres away, which puts the old town, Rustaveli and the station within minutes. The Queen Tamar Bridge and the Mushtaid Garden are both close. The avenue is lively at weekends, which is worth factoring in when choosing a room.

Fast Facts

• Price: Premium

• Vibe: Restored, residential, design led

• Rooms: Seven, from twenty square metre city view doubles to junior suites and a king suite with balconies and a seventy seven square metre two bedroom suite, some with kitchens

• Best For: Design minded travellers, couples on a city break, families taking the two bedroom suite, longer stays

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: The patches of original fresco left uncovered on the walls, which no amount of new design could have invented

• Dining: Restaurant with a la carte, continental and vegetarian breakfasts, bar, room service, themed dinners and cooking classes

• Amenities: Spa with massages, facials and body treatments, garden, terrace, shared lounge, walking tours, safe, air conditioning; no lift, as the building is protected

• Attractions: Aghmashenebeli Avenue itself, Marjanishvili metro and theatre, the Mushtaid Garden, the Queen Tamar Bridge, the old town across the river

Seven Rooms, and the Ones with Balconies

The smallest rooms are twenty square metres and face the city; the deluxe doubles and twins add five more. The step up is to the junior suites at thirty five square metres, which come with balconies, and the king suite at forty nine, which does too. The two bedroom suite at seventy seven square metres is the one to take for a family or two couples, and several rooms include a kitchenette or a full kitchen, which turns a week here into living in the district rather than visiting it.

Breakfast, the Bar and the Garden

Breakfast is the thing guests write about, served a la carte with continental and vegetarian versions rather than laid out on a buffet. The bar handles the evening, room service covers the rest, and the garden and terrace are where the house spends its warm months. The spa is small and real, with massages, facials and body treatments, and the cooking classes and themed dinners are worth asking about at booking.

The One Thing to Know Before You Book

There is no lift. The building is protected, which is exactly why the interiors look as they do, and it means luggage and upper floors are done on foot. The avenue outside is busy at weekends and the rooms facing it catch some of that, so ask for a courtyard side room if you sleep lightly. Otherwise the practicalities are simple: metro at four hundred and fifty metres, taxis constant, the old town a quarter of an hour away on foot.