Loft Hotel

The photos made this hotel look appealing, but our stay became one of our worst trips. We booked through Tinkoff Travel and arrived on the night of January 2nd and 3rd. At reception, an elderly woman was playing loud music on her phone and shouted over it without greeting us. Once we explained that we had a reservation, we were told there was no booking under our name. After about ten minutes of arguing, we no longer wanted to stay. We got back in the car and had to drive back to Russia in the dark. As of January 21st, the hotel still had not replied or refunded our stay. Please be careful when choosing this accommodation.

The sea is only about 5-7 minutes from the hotel, and New Athos has plenty of attractions. From the breakfast veranda we could see the fortress and the New Athos Monastery, along with palms, tangerines, and other exotic plants that felt very unusual to us from Siberia. We stayed in May, and the staff and hotel were excellent. The outdoor pool was a comfortable 28 degrees Celsius, even when it was 16 degrees Celsius outside and raining. Breakfast was so filling that it felt like breakfast and lunch together, leaving us wanting only an evening meal. There are always flaws if you look for them, but I'm a positive person and liked everything. I recommend it.

The hotel is new, though construction was not fully finished and the grounds were still being improved. The rooms themselves were spotless, modern, and thoughtfully equipped. They had air conditioning, panoramic windows, a dryer, kettle, dishes, tea, sugar, coffee, and water. The bathroom supplied soap, shampoo, gel, toothpaste, a toothbrush, and towels, including beach towels. The sea is a 5-minute walk away. A stroller was a little awkward over the gravel and broken asphalt, but we managed. The balcony rooms are smaller than the rooms without balconies, at least the ones we received. In the room without a balcony, a folding bed fit with space left over. In the smaller balcony room it stood right against the balcony, so we had to move it to get outside. Balcony rooms face the New Athos Monastery, while the other side has a partial view of the Anacopia Fortress. The construction visible in the 2022 photos was on the other side, and it didn't disturb us while we were inside. There is one maid, and she asked every day what needed changing or adding. The white bedding was clean, and cleaning was mostly in the bathroom. Trash was removed daily, and toilet paper, soap, shampoo, or anything else that ran out was replaced. WiFi was good, although watching YouTube or films on the TV was difficult. We booked breakfast at their other hotel, afon resort, which is directly on the seashore with immediate beach access. There were two kinds of porridge, spaghetti, sausages, cottage-cheese casserole or fritters, omelet, eggs, cucumbers, tomatoes, a couple of appetizers, apples, cottage cheese, cocoa, tea, coffee, cheese, sausage, and butter. We were very happy with Loft and recommend it. Wherever you look in Abkhazia, the nature is beautiful.

The rooms, pool, location, and staff were all great during our May stay, but construction caused a few problems. Someone was building another floor, and I heard a hammer drill a couple of times. An extension cord was also running up the stairs. A separate building was under construction too. It wasn't noisy, but it did spoil the view from the pool somewhat. Inside the room, we missed having a heated towel rail, a second chair, and a coffee table.