Glamour Revives Port of Batumi

Seiran Baroyan/Associated Press for The New York Times

In Batumi, at the grand white-columned Cafe Sanapiro, which uses the Georgian word for beach, the seaside tables are stacked with Georgian specialties.

oars above the clear Black Sea and the mist-covered Caucasus mountains surrounding the port town of Batumi, Georgia. Its night lights flood the skyline, revealing a new building that contrasts with the 19th-century facades of the old town and casting a warm glow over a palm tree-lined promenade of strolling lovers and giggling families. The majestic structure — the tallest on the sea’s coast — calls to mind a mosque, a library or a museum. Multimedia

Seiran Baroyan/Associated Press for The New York Times

Swimmers on the shore of the Black Sea at Batum.

But, as I discovered when I entered the marble-floored lobby this summer, the building was a much more unexpected cultural treasure: an $80 million, 203-room Sheraton hotel, which opened in June and became Batumi’s first international brand hotel. Modeled on the lighthouse of Alexandria, Egypt, built by Alexander the Great, it is a beacon of what Batumi aspires to become.

A once-decrepit resort town 12 miles from the Turkish border, Batumi is undergoing a frenzied facelift. As recently as four years ago, water and electricity were sporadic, functioning sewage disposal did not exist and peeling paint marred most historic buildings in the town’s Belle Époque quarter. Not only have those issues been resolved, but the town has also renovated dozens of Old Town buildings and completed a swanky extension to its four-mile oceanside walkway as part of a $103.9 million government investment into infrastructure. A host of upmarket restaurants and nightclubs have opened, as have three Monte Carlo-inspired casinos. And Air Batumi started in June, offering flights between the Georgian capital Tbilisi and Batumi with plans to serve other cities in the region.

Among the projects in the works are more hotels (including a Radisson in 2012 and a Kempinski in 2015), a renovated historic district and a push for eco-tourism. There is even a plan by private investors to import golden sand for the rocky coastline that stretches to Turkey.

Now the chief spectacle of Batumi? Cranes.

“We are, in a sense, catching up,” said Teimuraz Diasamidze, chairman of the tourism and resorts department for the Adjara region, of which Batumi is the capital. “We are lucky that the conflict in Abkhazia and South Ossetia did not touch us, but we still lost visitors,” he said of Georgia’s 1991 and 2008 wars over breakaway regions whose independence is still disputed.

Not since the oil boom of the 1890s, when industrial magnets like Baron Alphonse de Rothschild and the Nobel brothers of Sweden transformed Batumi into a playground for the wealthy, has this city of some 120,000 pulsed with such enterprise. Under the Russian Empire, the thriving port was home to one of the world’s first oil pipelines. Then came years of Communist decline, followed by the 2003 pro-democracy Rose Revolution, accompanied by widespread economic reform and a flood of foreign capital. Private investment into tourism totaled $311 million from 2004 to 2009, according to the local government.

Some of the growth is evident in the 20 restaurants and 10 nightclubs that have opened in Batumi in the last two years, part of a night-life renaissance led by young Georgians who have spent time abroad. Keti Bochorishvili, 30, a partner in the Tbilisi dance club Bamba Rooms is typical of the new nightclub owners here. “Last year I came to Batumi on vacation and saw all the construction and great projects planned, the international hotels, the new roads,” said Ms. Bochorashvili, an entrepreneur who spent a year of high school in Louisville, Ky., and studied management at an Italian university. “I thought, ‘Wow, Batumi is becoming beautiful.’ I felt like we needed to be there.” The Batumi outpost of Bamba Rooms opened on the beach in August with an all-white, Miami-meets-St.-Tropez décor and menus that contain its signature Continental and Georgian dishes, as well as sushi. Still heavily reliant on Georgian beach lovers, Batumi is initially seeking visitors from countries like Armenia and Azerbaijan. The port town received 554,150 hotel visitors last year, about twice as many as in 2006, with most coming from the surrounding region, according to the Adjara tourist department. But Ms. Bochorashvili and others have their sights set on Western visitors. For now the club is hopping with well-coiffed Georgian fashionistas with a weakness for Marc Jacobs who can rattle off their favorite trance playlist in Russian, English and French.

Mediterranean Cruises

guest post by Gill Cruises Every year, more and more travellers are discovering the convenience, flexibility and excitement of embarking on a cruise ship holiday. While there are cruises sailing around the world, those heading to the Mediterranean are among the most magical and beautiful. Few other cruise destinations offer the cultural wealth and historical beauty like Monte Carlo, Naples, Athens or Istanbul. And unlike a traditional holiday, where you will spend many days of your travel time in transit, on a cruise ship all the travelling is done at night while you catch up on your beauty rest. Each morning you will wake up to discover a new port of call. Athens, Greece is one of the world’s oldest cities, with around 3,400 years of recorded history. On your stop in Athens, there are tours to view a stunning array of ancient monuments and works of art. The Parthenon on the hill of the Acropolis is not to be missed, but you could also visit the Propylea, the Temple of the Wingless Victory, the Erechtheion temple, the Acropolis Museum, the Arch of Hadrian or the Temple of Olympian Zeus. There is also a huge collection of antiquities for you to peruse at the National Archaeological Museum. Naples, Italy is another very popular port of call on Mediterranean cruises. This is another ancient city, dating back more than 2,800 years. Naples is also brimming with extraordinary works of art and architecture. Pompeii should be at the top of your list of tours, one of the world’s most famous excavation sites. Naples is also the birthplace of pizza, so you should seek out an authentic Italian pizza shop before you head back to the ship. Monte Carlo, Monaco is undoubtedly the most glamorous city on the Riviera, and has long been a favourite holiday destination for the rich and famous. The most popular day trips include stops at the casino, the Hotel de Paris, the Oceanographic Museum, and the Cathedral of St. Nicholas, where Princess Grace and Prince Rainier are entombed. Istanbul, Turkey dates back to 800 BC, but is now a modern, bustling city of almost 12 million people. One of the most inspiring experiences you might have is listening to the prayers being broadcast over the public loudspeakers in the morning or evening. There are also amazing day trips to visit the Blue Mosque, Istanbul Archaeology Museum, Basilica Cistern, or the Grand Bazaar, the oldest and largest covered marketplace in the world. Taking a Mediterranean cruise holiday with Cunard Cruises is simply one of the best vacation values for the money. You will be able to sample a wide geographic area of destinations, and see if you’d like to return there for a longer holiday. You will find a non-stop variety of activities, events, activities and meals, and you will be pampered like nowhere else. Plus, most of your shopping can be done duty free! With so much to see and do, every traveller will come home with wonderful memories to last a lifetime.