Hotel help!?

Me and my wife will be part of the Tartan Army that will visit Tbilisi for the football match in October. The problem is, we dont really know which hotel to book. It has to be central, in the middle of town, and of a reasonable standard. I am aware of the likes of the Marriot, etc., but if there are any hidden gems, I%26#39;d appreciate the advice.

Thanks in advance for the help, and see you in October. (Remember to have the bars well stocked!!);-)

Hotel help!?

Any hotehl will be ok.Tbilisi Marriot or maybe hotel Varazi

Here is a link of some hotels

Maybe it will help you

http://www.georgica.caucasus.net/hotels.htm

Good luck

Hotel help!?

Thanks for the responses. We have booked into the Hotel Primavera. Hoping this is a good centrally located hotel.

Thanks again to those who replied.

I%26#39;m not exactly sure where that hotel is but most places are within walking distance of the main attractions. The match is being played at Dinamo%26#39;s stadium, which is either a long walk or you%26#39;re better off familiarising yourself with a local ex-pat bar beforehand, where you%26#39;ll be able to pre-arrange a taxi to take to you to the stadium, or simply just get talking to one of the ';local'; ex-pats who you could tag along with (there%26#39;ll be plently going). The police will probably close the roads to the stadium resulting in the usual traffic chaos that no-one here is really surprised about any more.

Probably the most English-speaking-friendly bar to try is the Hangar Bar, where you%26#39;ll get all the information you need to get by, or you could try the Vera Steak House, which is in the small park next to the big, round, ';Philharmonia'; theatre. Your best bet to find these places is to get your hotel to arrange a taxi for you. The Hangar is in a side street called Shavtelli Street, a very short walk up a lane from ';The Ambassadori'; Hotel car park, which most taxi drivers will know. The Steak House is a little harder to find but worth checking out for a good feed and live music most nights (depending on how long you%26#39;re staying - worth staying on a few days if you can).

The local beer is cheap and ok, or you can get the usual stuff like Heineken in most places.

A couple of tips - don%26#39;t flash a lot of money (or cameras/fancy phones etc.) on the streets. Cash points are in plentiful supply but you%26#39;re better off using one in either a hotel, bank or supermarket, which is a safer than taking money out of one on the street. Both of the Marriott hotels have cash machines, as does the supermarket over the road from McDonald%26#39;s on Rustavelli Avenue.

Also, taxi%26#39;s are cheap - not as cheap as the buses or the metro - but you should expect to pay no more than 5 Lari (about £1.50) for most journeys in the city. 10 Lari would probably get you an invite to the taxi driver%26#39;s village to meet all his family.

hi mmetbs and citizens of the republic of georgia

like my compatriot mr sporran, i am looking forward to visiting tbilisi for the football in october and i wonder if you could tell me if the bars and clubs stay open late during the week (particularly sunday - wednesday)?

also, a group of us are planning on travelling to yerevan the day after the match. we would like to go by train but it seems that the only direct service is overnight which is not ideal as we would like to take in some scenery en route. could you recommend a travel agency where we could possibly hire a people carrier or minibus and driver to take us into armenia?

any help much appreciated.

greg.

Greg,

The bars usually stay open for as long as there are people there propped up with money in their pockets. No worries on that front - particularly around the time of the match.

Getting down to Yerevan? Probably easiest to find a local driver to drive you down. The train or minibus are the cheapest option but probably a little difficult for you to arrange if you%26#39;re only here a short time (unless you have someone from here going with you who can sort it all out for you). I%26#39;ve never been down on the train - we went in a packed out minibus which took about 5 hours. I think it cost about a tenner. There%26#39;s an Avis in the Marriott Courtyard where you can hire a car and driver (I guess), but it would be a bit pricey.

My girlfriend took a taxi down there recently - I think it cost about 60 quid one way. You could probably do a deal with a minibus or taxi driver to take you down there and bring you back. The driver would need to find himself room for the night in Yerevan, but that should be pretty easy (either that or he could sleep in his car/minibus). How many of you do you reckon would want to go down there?

A quick word about entry visas for Armenia - it%26#39;s pretty easy - you can get one at the border (I think it was about 20 dollars) which they call a transit visa. This gives you 4 days before you have to leave Armenia. Probably best to carry a couple of spare passport photos with you for the visa form you have to fill in.

mmetbs, is it right that it is 60 pounds for a cab from Tbilisi to Yerevan? Sorry, I don%26#39;t quite know that nicknames for money units.

Yes, there were 3 of them who went down by taxi. It cost them about 50 or 60 Georgian Lari each, and there%26#39;s about 3.3 Lari to the pound.

I%26#39;m not sure how much the train costs - maybe 10 pounds one way.

Max1856,

A few more exchange rates...

1 Georgian Lari = about US$1.68

1 Beer (local) = about 2 Lari

1 Beer (foreign) = about 5-6 Lari

A meal for two in an expat bar with a couple of beers will probably set you back about 50-60 Lari

A cab fare between most places in the centre of the city should cost no more than about 5 Lari

Tip - don%26#39;t fumble about with big wads of cash either on the street or in taxis. Taxi drivers will likely see that as a cue to double the fare. It%26#39;s best to agree the fare before you get into the car because none of them have any idea what a fare structure is so they usually shrug their shoulders when you get there and ask, hoping you give them a 10 Lari bill, for which they never seem to have change for.

I%26#39;ve been here about 5+ years and I still carry a small amount of low value notes in a separate pocket, folded so that the smallest bills are on the outside. It%26#39;s not too bad on the main streets, in the day time, but the summer months bring all sorts of people out of the woodwork here and a quick snatch of your money will probably net some opportunist more money than they would earn in a month.

Finally, a tip for the Tartan Army - there%26#39;s still a few guns and knives out on the streets, so try not to get into any arguments with the locals. Most people are good normal folks but drink, a big footie match, and plenty of relatively rich (%26amp; probably drunk) foreigners coming into the city are a recipe for trouble. Be sensible and you%26#39;ll have a great time here.

thanks for all your sound advice mmetbs

music to my ears regarding the bars!-)

we are staying in the courtyard so avis would certainly be handy - there will be at least 8 of us travelling to yerevan so the cost shouldn`t be too prohibitive.

are there any places en route that you know of that would be worth stopping at either for a leisurely lunch or some overnight shenanigans.

re your final tip - sounds just like glasgow!

regards,

greg.

There%26#39;s a small roadside barbecue stop on the way down (it%26#39;s about 30-45 minutes on from the Armenian border) which is as good as anywhere to stop for something to eat. You can get Kebab or shashlik (BBQ bits of meat on a skewer) there. Apart from that there%26#39;s just small villages and great scenery all the way down.