rives21

Has anyone stayed at the Marriott or the Courtyard in Tblisi Georgia (former Soviet state)? If so what did you think? There's a business trip coming up over there and I'm curious if any other FT'ers have stayed there. I've never been to that part of the world, so any additional advice/caution is also welcome.
thanks.

dcmike

I wanted to bump this and see if there was any difference between the two properties in Tbilisi. The prices for the Marriott and the Courtyard are very close.

RMC500

I spent several days at the Marriott property in Tbilisi last fall. Although I did not go inside the Courtyard, which is about a mile away, locals advised me that the Marriott is hands down the nicest hotel in the City. The Marriott has a very nice club with free wine, beer, and snacks, continental breakfast, etc., so I would recommend upgrading to club access if possible. Staff is friendly and helpful. Also, some of the regular rooms are quite small (although very nice) and if you can do so, upgrade to a jr. suite, which is much larger, but fairly expensive. Many rooms face an interior courtyard (as does the club) or an adjacent building so don't expect a view. There is a small fitness center (with a nice view) which was empty most of the time. When I was there, many of the small number of guests were long-term business travelers from western europe who flew home every weekend. The restaurant is okay but service is extremely slow. Overall, a nice hotel for that area of the world, and my first choice, but IMO Tbilisi isn't a fun place to stay in for more than a few days. Incidentally, the hotel can arrange for transportation to and from the airport. This can be pre-arranged by email.

Dudemon

I'm in the Marriott Tbilisi for the next two nights. Earlier today I walked down to the Courtyard to check it out and compare the two.

The Marriott is very clean and well staffed. The concierge doesn't work on Sunday but I was told that he'll be in monday morning and can arrange a 3-4 hour tour of the city for about 40 US. The lobby and bar are in keeping with aqny Marriott in Europe and the restaurant had a very good breakfast that was included in my room rate. The normal cost of the breakfast was $35 which was very reasonalbe if you compare this to a European hotel. The problem is as mentioned about is this is not Europe. All of the former easterm European countries are in much better shape then here and so the prices seem out of place. You won't complain about the property or the service though. I had a couple of problems and the staff was very quick to address them.

The Courtyard's location wasn't as good in my opinion. It's right on a big traffic circle that was very busy. The hotel itself was clean and well maintained and would have been equally fine for a short business stay.

There is a movie theatre in between the two hotels tha appeared to be playing current movies though I don't know if they are in english but I would assume so because the movies are all very recent releases.

You can walk the better part of the area between the two hotels and then back past the Marriott and down to where the McDonalds is in about 1.5 hours as a brisk pace. The area seemed safe and this appeared to be where all the designer stype of stores are located.

Karter

The Marriott is definitely the nicer property of the two, and although very expensive, it's rarely more than $30 than the Courtyard. I'd insist that both locations are very good. The Courtyard is closer to the Old Town and nearer to Chardin Street and the baths district. The Marriott is right in the middle of Tbilisi's main road, next to opera houses, government buildings and other grand structures, yet it feels leafier than the Courtyard. It's also closer to the McDonalds if that's what you're after, although Georgian food really is excellent.

I checked in this cinema and the movies are all dubbed into Russian.

littlevoices

To add a viewpoint to this thread as it would have been handy before my trip. Just came back from a 5 night redemption at the Marriott Tblisi and 1 night at the Tblisi Courtyard (both bargains on points at 15/10k respectively vs $250+ on cash payments) whilst on vacation.

Marriott
Good lounge with a nice selection of foods and good food timings (breakfast till 11am, evening food supposeduly from 5.30pm-7.30pm, followed by deserts till 9.30, but in fact when I was there the food was frequently out till past 8pm, in summer so the hotel was quieter) and generous portions - you could theoretically eat out of the lounge if you wished. The food was also European based, no Russian style pastas or breakfasts, which was a positive compared to an experience in Yerevan/Armenia last year. I had an executive room which was spacious but without any real views (to the front of the hotel, the main avenue of the city, so just traffic - others looked onto an internal courtyard, as did the lounge). The hotel corridors were very dark with no natural light, but the public spaces were pleasant. The lounge was key accessible 24/7 which was a nice benefit as the amount of soda/water you drink in the summer here is considerable (more lounge details in the relevant thread).

Courtyard
I liked that I was recognised as a Plat Premier explicitly by the front desk manager, who also commented I was the first he had seen visit the hotel. This resulted in an "upgrade" to one of the best rooms in the hotel (I appreciate Courtyard's don't have suites) - a slightly larger corner room with a lovely view of the main freedom square and looking onto a gold plated church on the other side of the river. The welcome gift of icecream was nice, and appreciated that it was doubled to cater for my wife also being with me. The location of this hotel is slightly better, it is right next to the metro and closer to the old town and museums, but in truth it is only 500m from the Marriott which is further down one of the main avenues. Public areas were clean and like a Courtyard, nothing special or Georgian (beyond lots of wine being sold).

Conclusion
So, if I return I'd stick with the Marriott for the lounge (which saved a lot of money and trips to find water/sodas as there aren't really nearby small shops), if I didn't have lounge access then the Courtyard would be my preference for a superior location and view. Otherwise they use the same cars (to/from the airport, mercs - for the same price 59GEL including tax at 19%), wifi provider (available in both hotels and free as a plat, both wired and wireless options), tv channels (around 60, including a good selection of English language such as Nat Geo and a few Discovery channels), size of TV and so on - the hotels are owned by the same company I believe.

As a final point: The executive level on the Marriott comes with a free (one-way) transfer to/from the airport, and since I was a Plat I was upgraded to this level - it may have been a mistake by the night staff when we arrived but we were comped our car trip to the hotel? Put me in a good mood and nobody re-added to the bill, suspect they should tighten their wording to make it clear that this benefit only applies to paid stays. "In Georgia we pay you to stay in hotel" came to mind, so we spent that 59GEL on some tasty wine!

LRD

Stayed this past weekend as a Plat, redeeming a Cat 4 cert, and I also got comped for a (Mercedes) ride to the airport. Nice deal!

Other notes from the Exec Level Welcome letter, in addition to the complimentary one-way airport transfer:

• Wake-up call with complementary coffee/tea delivered to your room
• Complimentary shoe-shine
• 10% discount on laundry/dry cleaning

ankdc

Is breakfast comp'd for a Starwood/Marriott Gold (not Platinum) at either property? If not, would reserving a room at the Exec Level a decent deal for a family of three who is looking for a breakfast along with the room? Thanks.

SkiAdcock

Marriott Golds get lounge access for free for elite+1. The hotel may extend it to the 3rd family member if you come in at the same time.

AFAIK SPG Gold would not get you free breakfast at the Rooms Hotel Tblisi (Design brand w/ SPG).

Cheers.

alrvd83

Does anyone have any recent reports from other Marriott hotels in Tbilisi?

My wife and I Are visiting for 4 days in September 2020, but we cannot decide on which one to choose.

yurtripper

Someone recently posted a review for the Rooms Tbilisi, I seem to recall. So check the thread for that.

Personally, I'd be v. interested in hearing what people think about the Kazbegi also.