Afon Resort Hotel (Новый Афон)

New Athos is a beautiful, scenic place with sea, mountains, intoxicating spicy smells, and more attractions than anyone could fit into one trip. We stayed there but drove our own car to the city market in Sukhumi for groceries. Fruit and vegetables were very cheap there, and accommodation was cheap too. The drawbacks were the total lack of chain stores and the extremely high prices for practically everything, probably because local income is seasonal and mostly tied to tourism. Locals are friendly, though somewhat pushy when offering services. If saving money isn't the goal, I recommend New Athos as a wonderful resort, no worse than Turkey and in some ways better. The holiday atmosphere reminded me strongly of Sochi during the Soviet era.

The town is beautiful, cozy, and full of historic buildings. It was once the ancient capital of the Abkhazian Kingdom, and its microclimate comes from the mountains being so close to the sea. New Athos sits midway along the coastal tourist route. From there it is convenient to travel toward Sukhumi and eastern Abkhazia, or the other way toward Pitsunda, Gagra, and elsewhere.

The nature is fantastic, but there isn't much else that feels fantastic. If you're traveling independently, be careful about where you eat. The shops are mediocre and have no fresh meat or dairy at all. When we visited in August, the chicken had apparently been frozen since May. We drove about 20 km to something like a Pyaterochka, where at least the selection was normal. The local population cannot really be called polite. Driving on the roads feels dangerous, with terrible driving and head-on overtaking. Traffic police seem to stop tourists because of insurance. You need to stay polite and get out of the car when dealing with them, and keep an extra 10 km in mind.

New Athos is a beautiful, peaceful place right in the center, with a very calming atmosphere. Unfortunately, we didn't get to try breakfast. The rooms have essentially no soundproofing, so music from «Lebed» was extremely loud and every word from the neighbors came through clearly.