A Soviet Luxury Hotel

REVIEW

Kobuleti impresses with its vast beaches and sunny summers. Located right next to the Black Sea, promenades and parks are filled with tourists sunbathing as long as possible. Pale-skinned Russians frequently return to the hotel rooms with rosy cheeks and shoulders: Kobuleti is truly the perfect spot to get sunburned.

As a beach town in the region of Adjara, it joins the famous town of Batumi in hosting international tourists. Crowded mostly with Russians, the coastline receives more and more Turkish and Arab tourists by the year. The recent discovery by Western media outlets also lead to a spike of British, American, and German tourists.

Coming to the Black Sea and getting sunburned requires the right hotel to spend the cool nights recovering in. A hotel with a spa, for example. Built by grand Soviet city planners to accommodate Moscow-based comrades during their Black Sea vacation time, the name of the hotel we visited now includes the word “Georgian”, symbolizing the nationalization process after the collapse of the USSR. A renovation process 10 years ago made the hotel steadfast for the increased tourist flows, leaving a luxury accommodation option that showcases a conglomeration of 21st-century tourism luxury and historical Soviet-influenced interior design.

As a five-star hotel, it offers everything necessary to tick the boxes to be awarded so many shiny ratings, but compared to other hotels in the same spectrum, a certain "perfection" is missing. The spa area is amble; the outdoor pool offers a bar directly accessible while soaking. The restaurant offers international cuisine. And the rooms are equipped with all kinds of gadgets. But something is missing to really make the cut of hotels such as Crowne Plaza.

Yet, in the end, staying at Georgia Palace Hotel & Spa Kobuleti is an experience of nostalgia for the Soviet past. Imagine how many important figures must have slept in these rooms... 

By Benjamin Music