Nairi Rest House

The location works well for getting around on foot: the center, with its shops, restaurants, monuments, Orbeli Brothers Museum, Malakan House, and Ararat Bank, is a relaxed 5-10 minute walk. Kecharis Monastery takes about 15 minutes. Makravank Monastery in Hrazdan is 45-60 minutes away on foot over a spur, likely through knee-deep snow. For extra payment, you can request rides to and from the ski lifts, Hankavan hot springs, Lake Sevan and places like Sevanavank, Hayravank, and Noratuz, as well as the airport and Yerevan. Only the very expensive Golden Palace Hotel Resort & SPA Gl is right by the slopes with direct hotel access, so ski holidays in Tsaghkadzor generally involve a shuttle from your hotel. Nairi has its own character, with a bit of a USSR feel, though the owners are working hard to make it a modern hotel. The management takes guest concerns seriously. There’s no prepayment or hold on your bank card, and they let you judge the comfort before settling payment, so you can move elsewhere if unhappy. Nobody did during our visit, including at least a dozen Russians. They often offered us better rooms for the same price on arrival, and were flexible about room changes. One couple changed rooms three times, with the last move being an upgrade from a junior suite to an available suite. The administration and staff never pushed or extorted anything. They really seemed to put guests first. Even with my very fussy and quarrelsome nature, I left happy, with only positive feelings. Thanks, guys. The building dates to 1976 and has an unusual design, with six terraced floors along the slope of a spur. Each floor has a large open terrace on the accessible roof and its own access to the wooded slope. Car access was built to every second floor. The layout apparently made an elevator impractical, perhaps an escalator could have worked, but none was added in the 1980s. Since 2005 the hotel has kept improving. It has a new gas boiler room, a fully replaced heating system, and modern radiators in every room. The suites are about 40 square meters and have single or double beds, a kitchenette, and a large comfy sofa with a coffee table. Recently renovated junior suites are 20 square meters. Standard doubles are plain but tidy, single rooms are available, and there are budget rooms for groups of up to four children. Every room has a bathroom with a shower and its own electric water heater. Breakfast was filling: a generous serving of porridge, scrambled eggs with sausage or cottage cheese with sour cream, lots of fresh national bread from a private bakery, and apricot or pear jam. It kept us going all day, whether we were skiing or sightseeing, until dinner. We also ate dinner at the hotel after telling management in the morning. At one point the two of us were the only guests, and they still served us. We got to try all the national dishes. Many other holidaymakers, after trying a restaurant in Tsaghkadzor, ate the rest of their meals in Nairi’s dining room. When there are almost no guests, sometimes just two, the hotel doesn’t heat the whole building centrally because of the cost. It runs in maintenance mode, and oil heaters warm the rooms where those few guests are staying. The hotel was built in 1976 to an original design, with six floors stepped along the spur. Each has a spacious open roof terrace and independent access to the forested slope. Because of this layout, installing an elevator would have been impossible, perhaps only an escalator was feasible, and none was built in the 1980s. Cars can reach every second floor.

We went skiing from February 9 to 17, 2020, with night temperatures down to -20°C, and our room felt cold. The director and staff were so warm and friendly, though, that it more than made up for that. The food was tasty, and they provided transport to and from the ski lift. The skiing was great, and it all cost a fraction of the price. I’ll definitely return.

There are ghosts in this house, along with other paranormal activity.