Red-co is in the process of turning Georgia’s premier alpine skiing resort into ‘Davos of the Caucasus’
By Kate Tabatadze
Special preparations are underway at New Gudauri for the upcoming winter season. New features awaiting the visitors to Georgia’s premier international skiing resort include a new casino, two new restaurants, as well as a new spa centre with indoor and outdoor pools. Additionally, numerous interesting cultural events and entertainment will turn Gudauri into a popular destination for visitors all year round.
What can visitors expect during the 2017 winter season?
Development company RED-CO has already finished constructing four aparthotels near the cableway network. In December 2017, another high-end aparthotel – the New Gudauri Suites – will open in Red-co’s residential and leisure complex, adding a further 102 apartments to the existing 400. For those who come to Gudauri for more than just skiing, RED-CO will open its first casino on New Year’s Eve inside the company’s fifth aparthotel. Casino Gudauri will be tailored to visitors’ wishes, and will entertain its guests daily from 6 p.m. (the end of the cableway operating hours) until 4 a.m. A chance to enjoy a glass of wine sitting next to a green fireplace while listening to calm music will create an ideal winter night’s mood.
Aparthotel Management System
New Gudauri Residences & Spa is a network of aparthotels united under the management of RED-CO, offering hotel-type services: a booking system, a concierge, 24 hour security, secure parking, skiing equipment storage, room cleaning, as well as a private apartment rental service and a flexible booking system (on demand). The resort development plan also includes various commercial, leisure and sports facilities.
Future Plans
RED-CO began developing New Gudauri in 2012. From the very beginning, the company has aimed to build and develop tourist infrastructure that would be attractive even to the most demanding investors – both Georgian and foreign – who value modern and high-quality services, security, comfort and effective management. According to the general development plan devised by the Canadian company Ecosign, RED-CO is to construct a total of 26 new buildings on a space of 50 ha over a period of 5 years, including 2, 3, 4 and 5-star hotels, aparthotels, private homes and cottages. RED-CO will invest a sum of USD 150 million into the development of New Gudauri Resort Residences & Spa. Numerous restaurants, bars and cafes, fitness centres and spas, children’s facilities and conference rooms are available to guests for an entertaining and comfortable stay at New Gudauri. In order to create European-standard interior and exterior, RED-CO has collaborated with highly qualified Georgian and foreign architects, a large group of designers, as well as representatives from world-renowned hotel brands and project companies for all of its projects.
Global Brands
As part of the New Gudauri development process, RED-CO will undertake another step of international significance in 2018-2019 by constructing the 5-star, 160-room Radisson Blu Gudauri hotel. This will be the first global luxury hotel brand operating at the resort, and will include several restaurants, a spa complex, as well as indoor and outdoor swimming pools. RED-CO will invest approximately $20 million in the construction of the hotel. As for other global brands, RED-CO has already concluded preliminary agreements with Starwood Hotels and Resorts, Sheraton and Four Points by Sheraton regarding construction of new hotels in Gudauri. At the same time, RED-CO continues to develop a line of international-standard aparthotels. By 2018, a further three aparthotels will be added to Red-co’s leisure complex in New Gudauri, with a total of 700 new residences. In less than a year’s time, the Georgian developer will turn New Gudauri into ‘Davos of the Caucasus.’
