Guide: Both
Narek, in Armenia and Shota in Georgia, were lovely people. Narek is quite educated and was a good source of information. Our trip to Georgia was somewhat longer than anticipated due to some problems with the roads, but we enjoyed both of them. Shota, especially was helpful to my wife dealing with merchants, and knew the Tblisi environs very well and suggested reasonably priced merchants for certain souvenirs. Narek also was helpful to my wife with various merchants and got us reservations and assistance.
Driver: Narek drove very slowly (actually too slowly for us) but was very relaxed.
Shota was bit more aggressive, as you’d expect, but very very safe and cared very much about our safety.
Narek’s car (RangeRover Discovery) was a bit bumpy in the back seat, Shota’s Toyota Isis had a much more comfortable ride.
Car: See above
Hotels: The
Cascade was a lovely place with friendly employees, and very well located (close to Cascade Steps, Opera house, etc).
My one criticism is that the rooms were much too small (although tidy and clean) and the beds were as hard as a rock. As older Americans accustomed to larger hotel rooms, we would have paid more gladly for a larger room. We changed to the
Double Tree-Hilton for our last night, and really enjoyed that comfort, even though the Doubletree was not as conveniently located as the Cascade. Next time, I’d specify the Marriott. We are really very experienced travelers, but the size and comfort of the hotel rooms is now becoming a priority for us. Perhaps you could give people the option of upgrading the hotel for a higher price.
What did you like best in your trip? It was a very meaningful trip for us in many ways. We saw family members of my wife we had never met; the prices were very reasonable in both Armenia and Georgia, and we really enjoyed every day’s adventures. We loved our lunch near the Garni Temple with the Babayans. I loved my early morning walks each day around Yerevan and Tblisi.
What didn’t you like in the trip? The roads between Yerevan and Tblisi were often very bad, and even non-passable.
What would you add to your trip? Options for larger hotel rooms
Would you recommend our company to your friends? Yes. Thank you
I will also send you my journal, so you can see how carefully I documented each day.