Batumi Orbi City Central Block Vakhostan Apartment-hotel

The room was dirty, the AC didn’t work, and the balcony sloped noticeably. The toilet barely flushed, with water sitting in the bowl for over two minutes, and there wasn’t any toilet paper. Staff were awful: long waits, no card payments, and no English. The elevators seemed unsafe and neglected, and they raised the price when we arrived above what we’d booked. I’d spend a little more somewhere other than Orbi.

We ended up leaving without staying after spending over an hour trying to get into the room. The agency refunded the booking, but offered nothing for the wasted time or taxi fare, and seemed unconcerned. At night, reception sent us to the agency office on the 10th floor for a key card. We then waited 10 minutes for the elevators before taking the stairs up 12 floors to floor 22. The card didn’t work. The agency, now on floor 12, said it needed resetting, but sent me back to reception on floor 1. There was a huge, chaotic queue there, with lots of guests dealing with problems. After a long wait, they reset the card. I went up to 22 again and it still wouldn’t work. Back at reception, I waited again and was told the door battery might be dead. They said they’d get a technician, asked me to wait upstairs, and said he’d arrive in five minutes. I went up for the third time, but nobody showed up.

We asked through Booking for a higher floor and a better view, but got the 9th floor out of 50, facing a construction site. They said it was too windy higher up, although I could see other guests were staying on the upper floors. During our three nights, nobody cleaned the room, and we only got one toilet roll and one shampoo for two people, with no replacements. The location is the one good thing. Reception staff were rude and unprofessional, and the first-floor corridor around reception felt more like a bus station than a hotel. The stay left us disappointed, and I wouldn’t pick this place again.

The reception was packed, and staff didn’t help with problems. One night someone was even given a key to our room and opened the door; after seeing our things, they argued loudly in the hall for a long time. The elevators felt badly maintained and unsafe. There’s no real cleaning service. You can ask for it once every three days, and they’ll change shower gel and slippers, but the dirty floors from our arrival stayed dirty. If you’re out for a day, the power gets switched off, so food in the fridge can spoil. Coming back meant a stuffy room with a bad smell. The AC didn’t work either, and the shower had barely any pressure or hot water, just a trickle. Wi-Fi was another hassle: we weren’t given our room’s password and were told to use neighboring rooms’ networks. The balcony railing had a big gap above the floor where clothes or even a phone could slip through. There was a stove but no cookware, and no washing machine or hotel laundry service. The country is what saved the trip for me. This hotel’s basic amenities really can spoil a vacation. It’s a four-star place and should be cleaned daily, like hotels elsewhere.