Armenian Hotels

Boutique Hotels Arrive in Armenia: Will Tourists Follow? 

If you're thinking of spending your next vacation in Armenia - and really, who isn't - you will be happy to know that this former Soviet republic now has its first boutique hotel chain. This may be a sign that Armenia is truly "in",or that boutique hotels are officialy "out".

The owners of the Tufenkian Heritage Hotels (www.tufenkianheritage.com) are hoping their three new properties will lure tourists to Armenia's mountanious countryside, set between the Black and Caspian Seas. each Hotel features Tufenkian carpets, handmade by Armenian weavers, as well as local cusine.

At Avan dzoraget, a 34-room hotel in ori (on the main road to Tbilisi), there is an indoor pool, a spa and a gym. At Avan Marak Tsapatagh, on Lake Sevan - a popular lakeside resort town with outdoor sports - the lodge is completely constructed of Armenian stone. Avan Villa, a 14 - room hotel 10 minutes from the city of Yerevan, however, sounds the most stylish, with Frette linens and rooms with traditional Armenian firplaces -  the kind used to make lavash bread.   But the website description also proudly menions that Avan Villa rooms have "hot and cold water running 24 hours a day" - normally not a big selling point for the average boutique hotel.