We stayed in Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, for four nights at the four-star Tufenkian Heritage Hotel which had 83 rooms, over several floors. Whilst the building was relatively new, it was in the style of the late 19th/early 20th century architecture using local black and orange tuff (a rock made from volcanic ash).
Room 409 was a good size with a large but very high bed, even for me at 5’ 6”. It had a heavy hand-knitted cover and there were bedside tables, lights and plug points. The room was well equipped with a long desk and chair, tea and coffee making facilities, complimentary water, TV and safe but the wardrobe emitted a strange bleep when the two doors were not fully closed. The Wi-Fi was slow and although there was AC, it wasn’t needed. A long stool at the end of the bed, was ideal for suitcases. A key card was required for both the lift and the door, but mine frequently failed requiring trips to reception to have it reprogrammed. In a similar vein, the single guest lift was often out of action, and we had to use the service lift.
The bathroom was similarly large with everything we needed including a practical, large walk-in shower with hot, powerful water, and a mix of small plastic toiletry bottles and more environmentally friendly refillable ones. There was a good hairdryer/mirror combination, space for toiletries and a wooden rail under the sink for drying washing, although a heated towel rail would have been useful bearing in mind the space. It was the only hotel on our month-long trip of the Caucuses that offered the option to reuse towels by hanging them up. I’m told the bathroom mirror was useless for shaving.
There was a small pool, unfortunately directly overlooked by a building site and scaffolding. For those happy to put up with the noise and workmen, there were a few loungers and comfortable wicker chairs and tables.
The hotel was well located: a five-minute walk from the central Republic Square and opposite the Vernissage, a large open air craft market which was lovely for wandering through.
Breakfast had a good selection of creamy yoghurts, fruit, cereals, juices, cold meats, dips, cheeses and salads and then a hot selection of eggs (fried and boiled), sausages (but not as you know them), bacon, fried potatoes and aubergines. The bread selection was small (lavash, brown and French) and there was one daily changing cake, with coffee and tea being available in urns. Whilst everything was there, for a large city centre hotel, it inexplicably felt a little underwhelming.
Although there was a restaurant (with a 10% discount for guests), we ate out, but made use of the café bar for drinks either before or after dinner. There was also a small outdoor seating area for use during the day, but there were no draft beers and my small tub of plain pringles was ceremoniously poured into a martini glass.
A large carpet showroom and shop formed part of the hotel and it was interesting to watch the three ladies weaving.
We also stayed at another hotel in the group whilst touring Armenia, The Tufenkian Old Dilijan Complex.
