J I rarely write reviews about hotels - I think that there are so many of these reviews and this is not the most rewarding thing. Besides, then I get tired of arguing with those who disagree. But the Marco Polo hotel on the slopes of the Caucasus Mountains in the Georgian ski resort of Gudauri was an exception. Marco Polo Hotel Gudauri 4 * is the heart of a young resort, the most expensive, fashionable and largest hotel in the entire tiny village. Before the trip, we practically did not meet detailed reviews about him, and those that were were not the most informative. All this prompted me to write a detailed photo review.
Promises and Facts: Briefly about advertising brochures and realities of life
To begin with, a short comparative review of the promises from the hotel's website and my impressions of their compliance with reality. Once again, I want to emphasize that everything below is my personal opinion, which, of course, may and will differ in some way from the opinions of other people. And so, we are officially promised:
…“The closest hotel to the ski lifts. You can leave the hotel and go down to the ski lifts”…
It's like that. The hotel has two entrances and one of them is specially for skiers or boarders. The lift is located 20 meters from the exit and you can safely get to it already in uniform.
…“There is a swimming pool with panoramic mountain views, ample parking”…
Pool. That's an insult! This is not a swimming pool, this is a huge SPA center with its own indoor and heated pool, separate saunas and jacuzzi. The mountain view is excellent. But I will dwell on this point in more detail a little later. Of course, there is also a parking lot and it is huge by the standards of Gudauri.
…“The panorama of the snow-capped peaks opens from the windows of the hotel”…
They don't lie. Opens. And she is beautiful when the weather is good. Here is proof of that.
I even had a balcony in my room. Wood. Kind and big. For what purpose - do not ask at all. Perhaps, in this hotel and on the balcony in particular, they relax in summer or spring, in winter I can’t even imagine how it can be used for its intended purpose. But the fact is that there was a balcony!
…“Marco Polo is a modern, clean and comfortable hotel that values its reputation”…
I confirm. The hotel sparkles. Everything is new, clean, tidy - cool elevators, excellent repairs, good furniture, and the floor is so clean that you can sit. In white pants.
…“The hotel has Russian-speaking staff”…
He works and understands Russian, but only at the reception and in bars-restaurants. But in the ski lobby, the cleaners often did not understand even a single language we knew.
…“Each room is equipped with a bath, a bathroom; there is a telephone. Guests are provided with a bathrobe”…
Here the hotel even a little modest. Somehow he didn’t really praise himself, but he could, and moreover, completely justified. But about the numbers a little lower and in detail.
Infrastructure of the hotel Marco Polo Hotel Gudauri 4*
There really is a place to roam here: a restaurant, a lobby bar, a lounge bar, a SPA center and a massage room, a conference room, an indoor pool, billiards, bowling, air hockey, a children's game club - the hotel is a whole "town in a snuffbox" and on its vast territory, everyone will find something for themselves.
Despite the huge scale of events and a rather large number of rooms, the hotel is very compact and everything is located correctly - all appearances are located the first time and you will get to them quickly. You can also always order food from the menu in the room.
About the rooms at the Marco Polo Gudauri Hotel
The rooms are new, spacious, comfortable, clean, well-groomed, with solid furniture, good carpentry and plumbing, and very tidy. With a plasma on the wall (but I personally don't care which TV not to turn on during the holidays).
The hotel does not have such a category of rooms as a single, so if you come without a company, then you will have to live in a double room. And also pay for a double. This is a minus. Although, probably, people rarely come to the hotel without a couple.
The room has: a bed, a safe, a wardrobe, an additional blanket (although, thanks to the presence of central heating, it was very warm and I even opened the window), an armchair, a mirror, a TV, a telephone, bedside tables and table lamps, a table, a combined bathroom, one more but already a desk, and a built-in mini-bar.
Everything in the minibar is for an additional fee, the prices are the same as in the hotel itself, a bottle of water 0.5 costs 3 lari (a little more than 1 dollar). Moreover, absolutely any water - that of the ordinary and budget "Bakuriani" without gas, that "Borjomi" - all for 3 lari. There are also mini bottles of whiskey, liquor and Georgian champagne.
The room is almost perfect, the only negative: increased audibility. Sometimes there was a feeling that the doors or walls near the room were made of cardboard. When large companies gathered in the hall on the floor, you could hear their every word. But we must pay tribute to the complaints of neighbors and security guards - everywhere cameras and security guards resorted to calm the riotous public in a matter of minutes.
Bath accessories were put in every day, regardless of whether you used them or not. All rooms are equipped with white bathrobes and slippers. They also cleaned every day, without reminders and small baksheesh.
The pass to the room takes place on an electronic card, which is issued according to the number of people living in the room. I was alone, but I received two cards.
Please note that the cards are discharged when in contact with a mobile phone. If this embarrassment has occurred, you need to go to the reception - you will immediately restore access to your own room.
SPA center with an excellent rating
If this spa center did not exist in the hotel, it would definitely have to be invented. Solid 5 plus on a five-point scale. The spa is clean, tidy and comfortable. The SPA had a huge indoor and heated pool, and around it flowers in tubs, sun loungers and cute red chairs in the form of armchairs, male and female saunas, as well as a jacuzzi with a water temperature of 36.6 degrees.
For the convenience of vacationers, sunbeds with tables and red plastic chairs are located around the entire perimeter of the complex. The temperature inside was kept consistently warm. The spa is equipped with men's and women's changing rooms, as well as turnkey lockers.
The cleanliness of the center was vigilantly monitored by 2 people and periodically raked out excess water on the floor with a Karcher washing vacuum cleaner.
The SPA-complex worked from 10-00 in the morning until 22-00 in the evening. Even large companies were quietly accommodated there. There was also a separate massage room here, we were not interested in prices.
By the way, everything is free for hotel guests, but for third-party visitors, 1 hour of stay on the territory of the complex costs 30 GEL or 10 dollars per person. And spending 3-4 hours a day in this spa is easy. Guests from the outside were also not given white bathrobes and slippers, and we took ours from the rooms.
For a surcharge, the spa offers an all-you-can-eat menu. We ordered tea in teapots, water, profiteroles and khachapuri. Everything was delicious, and the tea was strong. They brought it quickly.
Game center for adults and children
I will make a reservation that this is a center for big children. The playroom for the little ones is located a little higher. There is billiards, bowling (4 lanes), air hockey, hand football, PS-box and Playstation - our guys appreciated everything.
The game center also offers à la carte food and drink options. At extra charge. Everything was fine, but sometimes the bowling alley did not work, and the leg of the table football suddenly flew off - but these are trifles. If this happens to you, make sure that the game time is stopped during the repair. After all, you paid for it.
By the way, the hotel promises an animator and full supervision of your child while you conquer the snow-white peaks of the Caucasus Mountains. Haven't tested it, but it probably is.
Organization and quality of food in the hotel
The cost of accommodation at the hotel includes two meals a day (the so-called half board (HB)) according to the "buffet" system. This is breakfast and dinner. The restaurant itself, with a panoramic view of the mountains, is clean, comfortable, spacious and you can move tables around as you like.
Meals in the general restaurant
The breakfast was wonderful, everything is fresh, hot and with a Georgian touch: oatmeal or semolina, all kinds of dry cereal with milk, scrambled eggs, 3-4 types of ham-sausages, cheese, cheese, suluguni, grilled vegetables, sausages (and very good! ), tomatoes baked with cheese, khachapuri, pancakes and 3-4 types of jam (including delicious sea buckthorn), snack sandwiches, stuffed pita bread, french fries or mashed potatoes, assorted vegetables, bagels, muffins, vegetable fillings, yogurt with fruits, water and packaged (to taste) juice, sliced fruits, Althaus tea of your choice and coffee.
Dinner was also good: soup, toasts, Althaus tea in assortment and coffee, 3-5 types of salad (and all of them are absolutely edible and tasty. Salads of red cabbage, crab sticks, chicken and mushrooms, herring with potatoes), a lot of greens vegetables and various dressings - you could make a salad yourself and to your taste, mushrooms or grilled vegetables, without fail meat and chicken with different sauces, two types of side dishes (potatoes - pasta) and sweet: 2 types, water and packaged (to taste) juice.
In a word, the food was tasty, satisfying and varied. In general, there are almost no complaints and claims, with the exception of some, in my opinion, minor minuses. But to keep silent about them would not be entirely correct.
Cons of eating in a restaurant:
- If any name of food was taken apart, it was not always brought on time or not brought at all;
- The restaurant was often opened 10 minutes late, but closed on time;
- Dinner lasted from 18-00 to 19-30. It is somehow unusual and short, plus there is little time “to chat and sit in good company”;
- When you come to breakfast or dinner by the end of it, everything is already cold - the food is in special containers, but it cools down by the end of dinner, perhaps it needs to be warmed up somehow from below (greetings from the resourceful Egyptians and Turks :))
Meals in hotel bars
In the bars of the hotel it was possible to eat only for an additional, and not the most modest, fee. And here our opinions differed. All meat food was tasty and fresh, the menu included barbecue, fish, different types of khachupuri and European cuisine - everyone is unanimous here. But with sweets there were often problems. Their choice is initially small: profiteroles, cheesecake and a couple of desserts, BUT! they ended by 9 pm and new ones appeared only after dinner.
We ordered cheesecake three times, once it was delicious and good, and twice frozen. The money for the substandard cheesecake was returned, but the sediment remained. Probably, it is necessary to store sweets in the refrigerator, but in a more gentle mode, or something.
A separate song is tea in a teapot. We ordered it from the bar to the pool. That's while he was brought tea became a real chifir. It was simply impossible to drink it without further consequences for the cardiovascular system.
It is necessary either to put less tea leaves, or pour more water, or maybe carry it faster. We never found out at what stage the tea disaster occurs, but we drank very strong tea all the time. There, even lemons did not save the situation. But we are still sincerely grateful to them for their efforts. By the way, tea in a teapot costs 20 lari, which is 7-8 dollars.
Importances, trifles and oddities
Below are some possibly subjective or unnecessary facts from my trip. Namely: about the cost of a hotel room, Wi-Fi and some oddities associated with the disappearance of personal belongings of the guests.
Cost of living at the Marco Polo Hotel Gudauri
In addition to the room, the price of my stay included free access to the spa, two meals a day buffet in the restaurant half board (HB), free ski storage, free use of the safe in the room, free Wi-Fi throughout the hotel . All gaming services and buns - for an additional fee.
The cost of living per day starts from 100 USD per room. And this price is out of season. Already in February, the room costs 150 USD per day. This is for two people in the standard. If you are with children, then they will be given extra beds or simply folding beds in this standard, but you will have to pay an additional fee for this. I don’t even want to talk about the cost of a junior or a triple bunk room. But there is also a presidential one :)) Although the hotel itself and aggregator sites sometimes throw out discount prices from 60 USD per standard with breakfast included.
Free Internet
Yes! Free internet was free, fast and always available. One trouble. In order to get it, I had to take free vouchers with a code at the reception every day (by the end of the holiday they did it for two days). One code - for one device and for one day. It seemed to us that the hotel fainted from the number of vouchers we needed per day per person. And what if we do not travel with one gadget.
Perhaps there is nothing wrong with such a system, and for the hotel it is somehow justified. But it was very annoying for us, especially when you had already gone to bed, you decided to read something, watch it, instagram something ... and the voucher had already expired and you had to stomp at the reception for a new one. Or sit without an Internet.
By the way, Wi-Fi was free in the lobby, spa center and restaurant without a voucher. When we checked out of the hotel, we were told that the Internet voucher system was closing and now the Wi-Fi connection would be normal and always available - absolutely the right decision.
Lost and weird
Like a paranoid maniac, I even hid the lenses in the safe, but my colleagues calmly left the MacBooks in the room and no one stole anything from them. The situation is all the more strange for us – the boy was returned the iPhone 5s forgotten at the bar in our presence, but the colleague lost his iPhone 4 in the ski lobby and was never returned. In the price dimension, these are two different vector lines, so it was more logical to steal the first option. But the ways of the Lord are inscrutable.
Another feint, but I think it's just a technical overlay. When leaving, we were almost “cheated” by a tangible amount, but we figured everything out in time and deducted the amount from the bill.
My final opinion about the Marco Polo Hotel Gudauri
Liked the hotel. By and large, living in it went without a hitch and without a hitch, and the SPA complex really brightened up absolutely every day of rest. Annoying little things are everywhere (how could it be without it ?!), but here they fully paid off with fat pluses. The hotel is ideal for a large company and with children. You won't find another one like it in Gudauri.
The only negative, all this would be cheaper, so the hotel does not correspond in all respects to the golden truth "price - quality". For such a price, they could give free water to the rooms, a bottle per person, or something. And a gym wouldn't hurt either.
As a non-smoker, I really liked that the entire hotel was non-smoking. Smoking is allowed only in the back of one bar and in a designated area in the adult play area.
The cost of the hotel for a non-sea four is not small, which is why I reacted to it very meticulously and even wrote a review. I am sure that my review of the Marco Polo Hotel Gudauri will help to make up a significant part of the overall picture, and will provide an opportunity to carefully weigh the pros and cons…
Rating of Marco Polo Hotel Gudauri 4*
Location - 90%
Purity - 100%
Maintenance - 80%
Kitchen - 90%
Price/quality - 80%
Infrastructure and entertainment - 90%
88%
average rating
EN 
RU 
Stayed here for a couple of days during a small tour of the Caucasus. The hotel is well equipped and offers everything you might need. SPA and pool are clean with good service. The room was the same, everything was without problems. The rooms are quiet and no one bothered us. The staff is friendly and helpful, they speak many languages (although not all). The food was great with a wide variety of options (booked breakfast and dinner). Wine and beer are up to standard and not particularly expensive. The views from the hotel are amazing. Check-in and check-out - without problems and delays.
Outside the window, snow and beautiful majestic mountains and this is the main thing. The room we got was very clean, well furnished and had a kettle. But there was no tea or coffee...
The lighting in the room is excellent and there are plenty of power points for charging phones etc. The bathroom was compact, small but well thought out and comfortable.
The restaurant has a good buffet but lacks red meat. The staff were very friendly. Other amenities include a heated indoor pool, bowling alley and a sauna. In my opinion, a solid four, although I also saw negative reviews ...