This is, without a doubt, one of my favorite hotels in Armenia. Located in the historic heart of Gyumri, Villa Kars is not really about conventional luxury – and that is precisely what I love about it. It is about art, architecture, craftsmanship, history, and those small, almost forgotten details that give a place its soul.
Gyumri’s first boutique hotel, Villa Kars is an Art Nouveau treasure, its historic façade restored to its former glory in the spirit of the Armenian Belle Époque. Inside, the hotel feels almost like a private collection rather than a conventional boutique property. The rooms have no anonymous numbers; instead, each one carries the name of an Armenian cultural figure or historic place.
There is Aram Khachaturian, a tribute to one of Armenia’s most celebrated composers; Arno Babajanyan, named after the renowned Armenian composer and pianist; and Mush, recalling the historic Western Armenian city and region.
I stayed in the Sayat-Nova room, and it was probably the one I would have chosen anyway. It is filled with books – something I absolutely – and has the wonderfully intimate feeling of a room that belongs to someone rather than a hotel. Sayat-Nova was an 18th-century Armenian poet, musician, and troubadour, and the room seems to carry something of that literary, romantic spirit.
All of this is thanks to Antonio Montalto, an Italian who first came to Armenia as a doctor in the aftermath of the 1988 earthquake and eventually made Gyumri his home. He later restored Villa Kars and turned the historic building into a boutique hotel, while becoming involved in wider cultural and restoration projects in the city.
His Italian eye for beauty is unmistakable, but what I find most interesting is the way it meets the Armenian character of the house. The result is neither conventionally Italian nor traditionally Armenian. It is something much more personal – a dialogue between European Art Nouveau, Armenian Belle Époque, local craftsmanship, and the layered history of Gyumri.
His Italian sense of taste and beauty, combined with a keen eye for architecture and design, can be felt in every detail of the interiors.
