Luxury Hotels in Tbilisi: 10 Five-Star Stays I'd Book

Tbilisi is known for luxury hotels in unlikely buildings: a 1930s Soviet institute with a glass tower rising behind it, a former publishing house, a grand hotel that opened on Rustaveli Avenue in 1915. Here are the 10 I'd book, what a five-star night costs in lari, which ones have a pool, and which part of the city each one puts you in.

Tbilisi luxury hotels at a glance

Ten hotels, five neighborhoods. Most of them sit on or near Rustaveli Avenue, with the design pair in Vera, two by the river and one tower out in Vake.

How much a luxury hotel in Tbilisi costs

In my view, luxury is where Tbilisi gives you the most for the money. A 4 or 5-star room runs about 300 to 700 GEL a night, roughly 108 to 250 USD, in the Old Town, on the riverfront and along Rustaveli. The Biltmore, the name most people mean when they ask for a five-star, has doubles at about 180 to 300 USD.

The spread inside that top band comes down to the season and the room. A standard room in the off-season sits near the bottom of it, and a suite in October near the top. If the numbers above feel like a lot for a short trip, the small Old Town houses in the middle row give you most of the atmosphere for half the price, and the best hotels in Tbilisi across every tier are a mix of both.

Five-star hotels on Rustaveli Avenue

Rustaveli Avenue is Tbilisi's grand boulevard, lined with the opera, the parliament and the national museum, and five of the city's luxury hotels sit on it or a block off it. It's where I'd stay on a first trip: flat, central, two metro stations, and Freedom Square at the bottom puts the Old Town a short walk away.

The Biltmore Tbilisi

The Biltmore at Rustaveli 29 is the most striking hotel building in the city. The lobby fills the colonnaded 1930s IMELI building, a Soviet institute, and a glass tower rises straight up behind it, so the old facade and the new skyline sit in one frame. It's a standout example of the city's Soviet architecture being reused rather than torn down.

It opened in 2016 as the first Biltmore-branded hotel outside the US. There are 214 rooms, pools, a spa, saunas and a fitness center, and Xeme, the sushi restaurant on the 31st floor, has one of the best views over Tbilisi you can book a table for. Doubles run about 180 to 300 USD. I'd book it for a big birthday or a business trip, and ask for a high floor facing the Old Town.

Tbilisi Marriott

The Marriott at Rustaveli 13 is the old grande dame. It opened in 1915 as the Majestic, built by Mikael Aramiants, and it still has the marble and the chandeliers to prove it. The Majestic Bar looks out on the avenue through stained glass, and it's a fine place for a drink after a night at the Tbilisi opera house, a short walk up the same street. There's a 24-hour gym. Pick it if you want a classic grand hotel rather than a tower.

Radisson Blu Iveria

The Iveria at Republic Square 1 is the 18-story block you see from all over the center. It was built in the 1960s, housed refugees from the war in Abkhazia for more than a decade, and reopened in 2004 after a full renovation. Today it has 248 rooms, 12 of them apartments, which makes it the easiest luxury pick for families.

The facilities are the most complete on the avenue: Filini for Italian, Umami for Asian food, the Iveria Terrace in summer, an Anne Semonin spa, an open-air pool and a casino. Rustaveli Avenue is about 2 minutes' walk away.

Wyndham Grand Tbilisi

The Wyndham Grand is at Lado Gudiashvili Street 3, between the National Library and the Georgian National Museum, on a quieter street than the avenue itself. It has 158 rooms, an indoor pool and a sauna. I'd book it for a trip built around museums and galleries, with a swim before dinner.

Monograph Freedom Square

Monograph sits on Freedom Square at Pushkin Street 5/7, in a building that has hosted guests since the 19th century. It's a five-star with art throughout, Sominee for Georgian fine dining, a rooftop terrace bar and a lounge balcony over the square. Of all the big hotels, it puts you closest to Old Tbilisi: the lanes start right behind the square. For couples who want five-star comfort and the Old Town on foot, this is my pick.

Rooms Hotel and Stamba Hotel in Vera

Rooms and Stamba share one address, Merab Kostava Street 14 in Vera, in the two wings of a converted Soviet-era publishing house. They are the two famous design hotels in Tbilisi, and both are about 5 minutes' walk from Rustaveli Avenue. Both are built around their bars and courtyards rather than a spa.

Stamba Hotel

Stamba is the one I'd book if I had a single night in the city. It opened in 2018 in the old printing wing and kept the bones: preserved concrete and steel, and a five-story atrium planted with trees. The 150 rooms have freestanding brass tubs and McIntosh hi-fi systems, and the corridors are lined with bookcases.

The ground floor is a destination of its own. Cafe Stamba, a bakery, a chocolatier, an Asian restaurant, a bookstore, the pink bar and an outdoor amphitheater all sit in the complex, along with the Tbilisi Photography and Multimedia Museum. Expect a busy lobby, because the cafe draws a crowd from all over the city.

Rooms Hotel Tbilisi

Rooms opened in 2014 in the red-brick wing next door, as Georgia's first design hotel. It's a four-star with about 140 vintage-style rooms, and the upper suites come with private terraces. The courtyard is the best part, with the glasshouse Garden Bar, plus The Kitchen restaurant and a gym.

Luxury hotels by the river

Two big hotels sit right on the Mtkvari, one on each bank. They're the picks for anyone who wants the Old Town and the river views without giving up a full-service hotel.

Ambassadori Tbilisi

The Ambassadori is on Shavteli Street 17, on the Old Town bank of the river, the same lane as the leaning Gabriadze clock tower. It started in 2004 as a seven-bed guesthouse and has grown to 121 rooms. The classic rooms have marble bathrooms, and a newer wing has modern ones.

It's my Old Town pick for a pool: there's an indoor pool, a sauna and a gym. The best seat in the house is Mozaiko, the restaurant and terrace on the fourth floor, which looks across the river to the Presidential Palace dome. I'd book the Ambassadori for a first trip in winter: the Old Town on the doorstep, and a pool to come back to.

Sheraton Grand Tbilisi Metechi Palace

The Sheraton sits at Telavi Street 20 in Avlabari, on the left bank of the river. It opened in 1991 as the first international hotel in Tbilisi and the whole South Caucasus, and it has been renovated since. There are 220 rooms, a spa, gyms and 12 conference rooms, which is why it fills with conferences.

It suits a work trip, or anyone who likes the predictability of a big international brand. From Avlabari, the glass curve of the Bridge of Peace is the prettiest way across to the Old Town on foot.

Pullman Tbilisi Axis Towers in Vake

The Pullman is the five-star for a spa stay. It fills part of the twin Axis Towers in Vake, just outside the city center, and its spa has an indoor and outdoor pool under a retractable roof, which is the best hotel pool in Tbilisi in my book: open air in June, covered in January.

The two places to eat and drink in the towers are reasons to visit even if you sleep elsewhere.

Weather Report Sky Bar

Weather Report is the hotel's sky bar, a pale marble room with floor-to-ceiling windows looking out on the hills above Vake. Go at sunset for cocktails, and if you're making a night of it, it holds its own against the rooftop bars in Tbilisi closer to the center.

Dumas

Dumas is the Pullman's French restaurant: a dark, low-lit room with shelves of wine and plaster busts. It's a good change of pace after a week of khachapuri, and one of the hotel dining rooms I'd add to a list of fine dining in Tbilisi.

Tbilisi luxury hotels with a pool and spa

A pool matters more here than you'd think. July and August regularly pass 35°C, and a swim between sightseeing and dinner is what makes Tbilisi in summer comfortable. These are the luxury hotels with one.

The design pair in Vera trade the pool for courtyards and bars. If you want a small hotel with a pool, Shota @ Rustaveli, a boutique hotel by the Rustaveli Theatre, is the rare one with a pool and a sauna.

Which luxury hotel suits you

• First trip, walking everywhere: Monograph Freedom Square for the Old Town, or the Radisson Blu Iveria for the middle of Rustaveli.
• A special occasion: the Biltmore, with dinner at Xeme on the 31st floor.
• Design and nightlife: Stamba, or Rooms next door, with Vera's bars on foot.
• The Old Town with a pool: the Ambassadori.
• Spa days and summer heat: the Pullman Axis Towers or the Biltmore.
• Families: the Radisson Blu Iveria, for its 12 apartments and the open-air pool.
• Conferences and business: the Sheraton Metechi Palace or the Biltmore.

When to skip a big luxury hotel: if you want an old house with a wooden balcony and 15 rooms, the boutique hotels in Tbilisi suit you better and cost less. If the money is better spent on wine and day trips, the cheap hotels in Tbilisi in Sololaki and Marjanishvili are clean, central and a fraction of the price.

Booking a luxury hotel in Tbilisi

Book 2 to 4 weeks ahead for May, June, September and October, the months when the weather is best and the good rooms go first. Spring and autumn give the best balance of weather and rates. In July and August, check that the hotel has a pool and good air conditioning before you check anything else.

Getting in is easy. The airport is 18 km from the center, and a taxi to the Old Town or Vera costs about 20 to 30 GEL, so getting from Tbilisi airport to the city is cheap even if your hotel doesn't run a transfer. Choose the neighborhood before the hotel: Rustaveli for first-timers, Vera for food and bars, the Old Town bank for the old streets, and the full breakdown of where to stay in Tbilisi by area helps if you're torn.