Hospitality Kings – Style

Kommersant Style talks about interesting travel routes: about how tourism is developing in Armenia now, about new directions and vectors of development that have recently appeared in the republic.

Half an hour from Zvartnots Airport on scenic roads after a three-hour flight from Moscow – that’s how long it takes to get to Yerevan. Tourism is one of the actively developing sectors of the country’s economy, and this vector of its development miraculously coincides with the textbook “purely Caucasian” hospitality, which is found here literally everywhere and in its most charming manifestation. Tourism is actively invested, and therefore projects such as Seven Visions Resort By Dvin appear. Like many local infrastructure facilities, the hotel was built during the Soviet era and was opened after ten years of reconstruction and renovation in October last year. The transformation of Soviet chic was successful: chic remained and was transformed into fashionable art deco with lacquered surfaces, marble, soft, light-colored carpets, laconic furniture, and golden details in interior decoration. Industry professionals liked the style — the hotel was nominated in five categories of the World Travel Awards 2023: Europe`s Leading Business Hotel, Luxury City Resort, New Hotel, Conference Hotel, Leading Hotel. So far, only nominations, but given the scale of the changes, the probability of winning is clearly high. So, the details: in the hotel (in addition to rooms on the 16th floors and a helipad on the 17th) there is an air theater One & Only, a nightclub with a dinner show The Stage, there is an outdoor pool The Pool overlooking the mountains, a Fragrance bar, a Hayrik restaurant , banquet hall Music Hall. The plans include the opening of a spa center with an area of ​​7500 m, the work is already in full swing: there will be baths and saunas with dry and wet steam, mild heat and different air temperatures, an indoor pool, an opportunity to practice yoga or meditation.

The creators of the complex managed to give the local flavor of Las Vegas features – every Wednesday at the hotel you can become participants in the immersive acrobatic show One & Only – the first theater in the region without a stage. Its participants, acrobatic actors, come from the famous Cirque Du Soleil, so the quality of the stunts is exceptionally high, and a number of elements (such as the tightrope walker performance) pass as unique according to the criteria and will be submitted for examination to be entered in the Guinness Book of Records. The acrobats of the show work without insurance just a few meters from the audience – such a performance requires courage and experience.

The area where the hotel is located can be a starting point for exploring Yerevan: a few minutes away is the street named after the main Armenian artist Martiros Saryan with museums, boutiques and the main attraction of the city – a cascade that can be found on all tourist postcards. Within walking distance are the Republic Square, the National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, the Sergei Parajanov Museum. An important detail: restaurants, gastronomic shops and wine boutiques are almost a defining part of the culture here – the food is varied and delicious. You have to choose, and often: you can go to Italian restaurants (Extra Virgin, Napoletana Armenia), try Japanese (Tokyooo, Ako Sushi, Dragon Garden), but traditional cuisine is still a priority: from simple cafes to gourmet restaurants . Favorite celebrity Dolmama (Maya Plisetskaya, Charles Aznavour, Kim Kardashian and Prince Charles have been here), Ktoor, Hayrik, Barev Arev – wherever you go, prepare in advance for the visit: you should come to Armenian restaurants very hungry! Portion sizes, the quantity and presentation of dishes, the quality of ingredients, the work of local chefs with them – everything speaks of the rise of gastroculture in the region.

From Yerevan, you can go inland to at least compare the climate and get to know other regions – Dilijan, for example, is located to the north, and the terrain there is not only mountainous, but also more favorable in climate compared to the capital: not so hot and comfortable, which at one time made this area a place of power for the recovery of people with diseases of the pulmonary system. Now Dilijan is becoming a place of attraction not only for connoisseurs of beauty and tranquility and harmony. The famous UWC Dilijan College is also located here, where students from all over the world study. The implementation of the Dilijan development program is carried out by the Impulse management company – development includes not only the improvement of the tourist infrastructure, but also educational programs, charitable, social and environmental initiatives. Similar projects have also been launched in the cities of Tatev, Gyumri, Meghri and Noyemberyan.

On a trip around the country, it is worth seeing Lake Sevan, ancient Christian churches, visiting wineries and getting acquainted with the long-term traditions of winemaking (Armenia is famous not only for cognac) – everything is worth writing down in your itinerary list and following it slowly and with soul, as is customary here.

Irina Kirienko