Historic building transforms into Golden Tulip Borjomi hotel

A unique historic building built in 1892 in small resort town Borjomi, has been transformed into a new hotel.

Today four-star Golden Tulip Borjomi hotel opened in the building, which 124 years ago was built for the Iranian consul.

The turquoise colour building, commonly known as Blue Palace Firuza (turquoise in Georgian) combined characteristics of Persian, Georgian and European styles. An open balcony with sparkling small mirror fragments covering walls and the ceiling gave the building extra sparkle.

Golden Tulip Borjomi hotel will be operated by international management company Golden Tulip, a member of the Louvre Hotels Group.

It is important the building was reconstructed in a way so it kept its historic appearance and cultural value,” said Georgia’s Economy Minister Dimitry Kumsishvili at the hotel opening.

About $2 million USD was invested to transform in the old building into a modern hotel with 16 rooms, restaurawith a fitness hall, swimming pool and health centre.

Golden Tulip Borjomi hotel is located near the entrance of the historical central park of Borjomi, which is where the public can drink Borjomi mineral water from its main source.

The hotel will employ about 50 local people, said Kumsishvili and added the private sector development was important for creating jobs in the country and for contributing to tourism infrastructure improvement.

The historic building was built 124 years ago for the Iranian consul. Photo by Georgia's Ministry of Economy. 

The Minister said more than 158,000 people were employed in Georgia's tourism sector.

About 508 hotels have opened in Georgia within the last three years, which was 58 percent more than the number of hotels open to tourists before 2013,” he said.

Half of the hotels that are now available in Georgia were created during our Government’s term because we created such special investment conditions that allowed investors to carry out their projects easily,” Kumsishvili added.

Currently there are 1,225 hotels and 48,457 beds available in Georgia, said the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat).

Golden Tulip Borjomi hotel combined characteristics of Persian, Georgian and European styles. Photo by Georgia's Ministry of Economy.

At least 60 new hotels with 3,800 rooms collectively are currently under construction in Georgia as developers boost investments to match surging demand, said Kumsishvili.

Georgia’s Economy Minister said due to the current Government’s tourism development strategy, the number of international visitors could increase from six to 11 million per year.