Rtveliრთველი
The biggest room in the house — herringbone parquet, a terracotta door, and light that moves across it all day.
from ₾145 a night See the room
Telavi · Kakheti · Georgia
A two-hundred-year-old house with four rooms in it
We restored the family house in the middle of Telavi and kept everything worth keeping — the parquet, the shutters, the green paint. Breakfast comes out of the oven at eight.
The house
It was falling down. Now it is the reason people stay an extra night.
The building is about two hundred years old and it belonged to the family long before it belonged to any guests. When we started, the roof was going and the floors were under three layers of later, worse flooring.
What came up underneath was original herringbone parquet, which is now in the big room. The shutters are the old ones, rehung. The green on the doors and windows is the colour they always were — we matched it off a piece we found behind a cupboard, and then we put it on everything, which in hindsight was a decision, but it is our decision and guests seem to like it.
There are four rooms. That is not modesty, it is the size of the house. It means we cook your breakfast ourselves and we know which room you are in.
Where you sleep
Four rooms, and none of them is room 3
Each one is named for something in Kakheti and each one is genuinely different — different floor, different light, different size. Every room has its own terrace and its own bathroom.
From ₾105 a night, breakfast included. Booked with us, not through anybody.
Alazaniალაზანი
Warm apricot walls, wide pine boards, and a bright green bathroom that guests keep photographing.
from ₾130 a night See the room
Maraniმარანი
The smallest and quietest room, with the old green shutters set into the wall.
from ₾105 a night See the room
Gomboriგომბორი
The family room proper — a double, a bunk bed, pale pine floors and the mountains through the window.
from ₾155 a night See the room
The house
Four photographs, and what is in them
Nothing here was staged for a camera and nothing was borrowed.
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01 The door the rest of the house is painted after. We matched the green off a piece found behind a cupboard, and then put it on everything, which in hindsight was a decision. -
02 Marani’s shutters open onto the neighbour’s side of the building, and always did. Rather than board them up we restored them and left them exactly where they were. -
03 Gombori, from the doorway. The bunk has its own nook by the window, so the children get a corner that is theirs and you get to read for a while after they go quiet. -
04 Imeruli khachapuri, out of our own oven, cut at the table. If you are up early you will smell it before you are properly awake, which is the intended effect.
The table
The khachapuri is not from a supplier
It is made in the morning, in our kitchen, and it comes out whole. So does the bread. If you are up early you will smell it before you are properly awake, which is the intended effect.
Beside it: lobiani, which is the same bread with beans in it instead of cheese. Georgian bread with butter and our own jam. Chiji-biji, which is eggs scrambled with tomato and is what half the country actually eats in the morning. Khinkali, five to a plate.
The whole card is eleven things and nothing on it is over ten lari. It is printed at the top of the card that we will do any of it vegan if you say the word, so we will.
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The breakfast is the thing people write about first — khachapuri and bread out of the oven that morning.
On the breakfast -
A beautifully restored two-hundred-year-old house, full of charm and character.
On the building -
The host is what makes it. Warm welcome, endlessly helpful, nothing is too much trouble.
On the hosting
These three lines are the things guests say most often on Booking.com and Tripadvisor , and we have left them unattributed on purpose. We would rather quote nobody than put a name to something a person did not write. The 9.7 and the 412 reviews behind it are real, and you can go and read them.
While you are here
We are not a hotel with a tour desk. We just know everybody.
Cooking in our kitchen, cellars that are not on the coach route, a driver who knows the Gombori pass in the dark. Arranged by us, not by an agency.
- At the house
Cooking with us
Make khachapuri from scratch in our kitchen, then eat it at the long table.
About 3 hours - Out in Kakheti
A day in the vineyards
Three or four cellars in a day, chosen for you rather than off a list.
Most of a day - Out in Kakheti
Rtveli — the harvest
Late September to mid-October: pick grapes, crush them by foot, and eat like it is a wedding.
Half a day or a full day - Out in Kakheti
Telavi on foot
An hour and a half around the old town with someone who grew up in it.
1.5 hours
Where you are
In the middle of Telavi, not on the edge of it
You can walk to the palace, the plane tree and the market. The wine is fifteen minutes out in every direction.
Read the Telavi guide- King Erekle II Palace & Batonis Tsikhe 6-minute walk The 17th-century royal residence at the centre of town.
- The Giant Plane Tree 500 m Around 900 years old, 40 m tall, and about 11 m around the trunk. Telavi grew up around it.
- Telavi market 10-minute walk Best before 10am.
- Tsinandali Estate 12 km Chavchavadze’s house, garden and cellar.
- Shumi Winery 9 km Tastings from around 15 GEL.
- Gremi Citadel 28 km The old Kakhetian capital.
- Tbilisi 85 km · about 2 hours Over the Gombori Pass.
- Tbilisi International Airport (TBS) 84 km We can arrange a transfer.
Before you come
Three things worth reading first
- Getting here How to get from Tbilisi to Telavi Marshrutka, taxi, Bolt or your own car — every way to cover the 85 km to Telavi, with real prices, real times and the truth about the Gombori pass.
- Telavi Telavi or Sighnaghi — where to base yourself in Kakheti Both are two hours from Tbilisi and an hour from each other. Which one you sleep in depends on whether you came for the wine or for the view.
- Wine Rtveli — what the Georgian grape harvest actually involves Mid-September to mid-October, all of Kakheti stops to pick grapes. What rtveli is, when it happens, what you do, and how to join one rather than watch.
Practicalities
What is here
In every room
- Private bathroom
- Air conditioning
- Private terrace
- Tea & coffee maker
- Electric kettle
- Wardrobe
- Private entrance
- Free toiletries
Around the house
- Free Wi-Fi throughout
- Garden
- Shared terrace
- Picnic area
- Coffee shop on site
- Indoor play area
- Board games & puzzles
- Bicycle parking
Practical
- Free private parking
- 24-hour front desk
- Daily housekeeping
- Room service
- Luggage storage
- Laundry (extra charge)
- Airport shuttle (extra charge)
- Car hire
Good to know
- Pets welcome (charges may apply)
- Contactless check-in
- Smoke alarms
- Fire extinguishers
- First aid kit
We take Cash, Visa, Mastercard and most other cards, as well as cash in lari. Free private parking on site. Pets are welcome — tell us in advance.
Direct
Ask us about dates
Write to us here and we will answer ourselves — usually within a few hours, always the same day. Booking directly means no booking fee and no commission, and we can be flexible about arrival times in a way the big sites cannot.
Message us on WhatsApp
or call +995 555 000 000
or write to [email protected]
- Check in
- 15:00 – 19:00
- Check out
- 08:00 – 12:00
- We speak
- English, Georgian, Russian