Need to know
Rooms
10, including four suites.
Check–Out
Noon, and check-in is at 3pm. Both are flexible, subject to availability and a 50% charge (until 6pm or from 6am respectively).
More details
Rates exclude breakfast, but a buffet spread of local delicacies and made-to-order eggs is available for GEL30 (US$10).
Also
The restaurant, pool, and ground-floor rooms are accessible for guests with some mobility.
At the hotel
Courtyard, and free WiFi throughout. In rooms: air-conditioning, smart TV, Roberts radio, minibar, De’Longhi coffee machine (in suites), tea-making kit, pool towels, and locally made bath products.
Our favourite rooms
Expect individually styled interiors and alternative layouts from each room and suite at Communal Hotel Kutaisi, which follows the original floor plan of the 19th-century house to every last antique-filled nook and cranny. A polo-playing pattern adorns the walls, headboard, and lampshades of one room; artworks depicting Caucasian wildlife hang in another. To soak up some folklore, ask for the suite with the clawfoot tub – it stands under a frieze of the legendary Jason (the Greek hero famously retrieved the golden fleece from Colchis, an ancient kingdom now thought to be in western Georgia).
Poolside
Nicknamed Georgia’s ‘city of eternal sunshine’, Kutaisi is blessed with relatively balmy year-round temperatures – making the hotel’s outpool pool a hot commodity, especially once summer rolls around. There are striped deckchairs and sunloungers to bask on, and tasselled parasols for shade.
Packing tips
Bring some sturdy boots to tackle the various hiking trails just outside Kutaisi, and a copy of Tony Anderson’s 'Bread & Ashes' documenting his travels from the Caspian to the Black Sea.
Also
The Communal Hotel group has equally swish stays in Tbilisi, if you’re considering a twin-centre trip with time in the Georgian capital.
Children
All ages are welcome, but little Smiths aren’t especially catered to.