In Stepantsminda, retro cable cars, crashing waterfalls and the Caucuses’ diverse cuisine are best bookended with sauna sessions at a newly refurbished hotel housed in a Soviet-era sanatorium
06 February, 2023
Stepantsminda, Georgia.
Whether February’s avalanche of red roses and heart-shaped baked
goods makes you want to run for the hills or ride off with your
beloved into the (wildly remote) sunset, Stepantsminda provides.
Getting to the townlet – known locally as Kazbegi – in Georgia’s
mountainous north-east, from the capital, Tbilisi, is half the fun. The three-hour road
trip along the Georgian Military Highway takes in Ananuri’s domed
1689-built Church of the Virgin, emerald-green rivers and
reservoirs, cattle and sheep pastures, the vast Treaty of
Georgievsk Monument – its bold tile mural contrasting brilliantly
with the surrounding snowy peaks – and the odd roadside stand
selling traditional sheepskin hats.
Book now and you’ll be among the first to enjoy the newly
refurbished Rooms
Hotel Kazbegi, a reinvented mountain bolthole housed in a
former sanatorium that had lain abandoned for decades prior to its
2012 transformation. Think Soho House minus the “look at me”,
Gstaad minus the sky-high prices, and Soviet brutalist architecture
minus the communism.
Mountain views from Rooms Hotel Kazbegi. | Photo credit: Ana
Gabashvili / Design Hotels
Make time around skiing, hiking or horse riding to visit the
Easter Island-esque Stone Heads of Sno, a collection of sculptures
hand-carved from massive slabs of granite by local artist Merab
Piranishvili; the 14th-century Gergeti Church, in the shadow of the
5,034m-tall Mount Kazbek; and the thundering Gveleti Waterfall, from where eagles, hawks and
Griffon vultures swoop across the valley.
The 155-key, Adjara Arch-designed Rooms
Hotel Kazbegi, whose breakfast spread is as epic as the views
through the floor-to-ceiling windows and whose pine-clad wellness
area – all vintage ski posters and Caucasus-facing poolside lounge
chairs – takes mindful R&R to new heights.
For refined Georgian-meets-international cuisine made with
ingredients sourced from local growers and farmers, the hotel
restaurant can’t be beaten. The honey cake dessert is
worth a visit in itself.
Dining at Rooms Kazbegi, left, and a mountain-view room.|
Photo credit: Ana Gabashvili / Design Hotels
Georgians were experts in natural wine long before it started
appearing on London menus. Get to grips with the country’s
indigenous grape varieties on a tour and tasting at Stepantsminda’s
Winery Khareba.
Your secret lover. Chances of you bumping into anyone you know
in a lift queue or on a riverside walk around here? Low to
zero.
Your phone, loaded with the Night Sky app, designed by indie studio iCandi. With
no light pollution, this is a perfect place for star-gazing, and
the tech will assist you in telling your stars from your
satellites.
Fly from London to Tbilisi via Munich, then either rent a car or
take a taxi (shared or private) or bus for the awe-inspiring
three-hour ascent to Stepantsminda.
