The Biltmore

A skyscraper behind the IMELI façade on Rustaveli

The Biltmore stands at 29 Rustaveli Avenue and joins two eras. On the avenue it is fronted by the historic IMELI building, the former branch of the Marx, Engels and Lenin Institute, and behind it rises a thirty-two-storey glass tower, the tallest hotel in the region. From here it is a walk to the Opera and the Rustaveli Theatre, and the Abanotubani sulphur baths are close at hand.

Inside, glittering interiors recall the glamour of a bygone age. The hotel has more than two hundred and ten rooms, thirty seven of them suites, and the city is visible from almost every window. There are a spa, a gym and an indoor pool, a grand ballroom and eight meeting rooms, and the old building keeps an amphitheatre where the Georgian Parliament once sat.

There are five places to eat. On the thirty-first floor is Xeme, named after the fork-tailed gull, with sushi and international cooking and a view all round Tbilisi, and one floor below is a cosy bar. By the garden and pool is the Azura restaurant, breakfast is at Sonnet, and the Parlour on the ground floor is known for its afternoon tea and cakes.