Review: Paragraph Freedom Square, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Tbilisi [Georgia]
| Positives | Negatives |
|---|---|
| Expansive pool and spa facilities | Executive lounge offers very little |
| Stylish Georgian designs | |
| Centralized location | |
| Good value on points; easy 35K-50K FNC redemption |
Paragraph Freedom Square is a new hotel that recently opened just less than a year ago that I had my eyes on when planning my Caucasus trip.
This is the second Paragraph hotel in Georgia (that I know of), with the first located near Batumi by the Black Sea, the Paragraph Resort & Spa Shekvetili under Autograph Collection branding.
Paragraph Freedom Square is the first of Marriott’s Luxury Collection Hotel in Georgia, and the second in the Caucasus region, with the first hotel being The Alexander in Yerevan, Armenia. It sets itself as possibly the most expensive and luxurious hotel in Tbilisi!
To be frank, I didn’t have much expectations coming into the hotel as I was looking forward more to The Ritz-Carlton Baku, but it ended up being my most favorite hotel of my latest Caucasus trip! And I’m excited to spread good words about this hotel.
Paragraph Freedom Square Tbilisi- Booking
I booked a 2-night stay with the combination of 40k and 50k Free Night Certificates. Cash price may float around ~$300 a night. While the redemption value isn’t too spectacular, I was fine with it due to FNC’s having set expiration dates that cannot be extended.
This hotel is rated at Category 6, so the points redemption rate may float between 35k-81k points per night. Therefore, it’s possible to redeem a 35K or 50K FNC with topups, or guaranteed with 85K FNC without topup during peak season.
Paragraph Freedom Square Tbilisi- Location
Paragraph Freedom Square is centrally located in Tbilisi right next to Freedom Square as the hotel’s name suggests, and is also right across the Art Museum of Georgia. The immediate area has malls, museums, restaurants, and luxury shopping, particularly in Rustaveli Avenue.
I recommend getting the Bolt app to get around Tbilisi as they’re convenient and very affordable while taking Visa and MasterCard as payment options. From the airport, it would take ~$12 to get to the hotel.
Paragraph Freedom Square Tbilisi- Check-in
We arrived to Tbilisi at around 1pm from Borjomi and got off the car in front of a curved glass building where the Paragraph hotel is in.
As I stepped into the building, a vibrant lobby sets the tone of the hotel, and a tasteful gold, black, and white colors are prominent in this hotel.
The staff’s uniforms of traditional Georgian robes are also gorgeous!
The lobby area also shares a bar named Talani. There’s two other bars this hotel has, Chinari Sky Lounge and Eary Rooftop Bar at the upper floors.
I preemptively chatted with the hotel on the Marriott app and told them it was my birthday in hopes that it improves my chances in getting upgraded. Then the day before, I was confirmed for a Premium Suite upgrade!
To my surprise, the front desk also gave me the 1000 points and free breakfast as the welcome gift! Though I wasn’t quite sure if it was normal or that it’s a little extra for my birthday.
They told me that my room wasn’t ready so they asked if we wanted a drink, so I picked their special lemonade. They also told me that I’ll have access to the executive lounge on the 9th floor. After we have our stuff taken for safekeeping, we head to the lounge, which I’ll cover more in details down below.
Paragraph Freedom Square Tbilisi- Premium Suite
I was assigned to Room 819 on the 8th floor. But, before I cover the room, I just want to say how cool it is to have public bathrooms in the rooms hallway, and they look fancy as well.
Living Room
The Premium Suite is at least ~800 sqft in size with a separate living room.
The living room has a unique style to it, and the furniture don’t look boring! The curtain can be controlled with a switch by the sofa.
The most-left of the living room is the pantry with complimentary tea, coffee, and water.
The minibar contains soft drinks and different kinds of wines, but they’re not free.
There’s a Bluetooth player on the shelf next to the pantry.
The welcome gift placed for my birthday was surely grand. A chocolate pudding birthday cake, Georgian sweets, fruits, bottle of red wine, and a personal note in an enclosed envelope.
The chocolate cake was good, and there’s more volume than it looks.
The only Georgian sweet I recognized was the churchkhela (the second piece from the left). But, they were all pretty good.
The view is quite nice, with the Holy Trinity Cathedral being the most noticeable landmark that can be seen from the suite.
Bedroom
Turning right to from the entryway is a hallway to the bedroom area going straight. To the right of the hallway is where the bathroom is.
The hallway doubles as walk-in closets where you can see luggage rack, bathrobes, slippers, safe, and ironing board placed inside.
The bedroom area is bright with gold panels on the wall, and there’s a swinging chair on the far right. I don’t know why it’s there but it’s cool I guess.
There’s also a TV in front of the bed, but my main gripe is that the gap between the TV and bed is too tight, and I bumped into the TV a few times when trying to get to the farther side of the bed or the swinging chair.
The bed itself was very comfortable though, and we appreciated the extra memory foam pillows!
The view is also very beautiful with the Holy Trinity Cathedral in the background. One of the windows can be opened if you want outside air in. The curtains (and lights) for the bedroom can be controlled with the bedside switch.
Bathroom
The overall bathroom design is easy on the eyes with varying neutral color usage. I personally enjoy the bronze sinks that reflect well with the lighting. Dental kits are provided, and while shaving kits aren’t readily available, you can request some.
Behind the sinks are an additional bathrobe and heated towel racks.
The showers and toilet are behind frosted glass while the tub is in an open space.
The shower pressure was good, and the Le Chemin by Byredo (Luxury Collection standard) amenities are always nice to use.
Then, there’s the bathtub and a flat-screen TV next to it. The wall makes it seem like it’s a murphy bathtub (it isn’t). Does that even exist?
The toilet comes with Japanese and European style bidets! How amazing! It was the only hotel I stayed at in the Caucasus that has a Japanese-style bidet.
Evening Turndown Service
The hotel does have evening turndown service daily. What I enjoyed about it is they put extra effort in delivering different treats each day, rather than just small pieces of chocolates most hotels tend to leave. The two nights we stayed at, we received sets of cookies and chocolate cake. This reminds me of my stay at Hotel the Mitsui in Kyoto where every night, the evening turndown’s offerings are different.
Paragraph Freedom Square Tbilisi- Breakfast
Breakfast takes place in Gulama Restaurant on the 2nd floor. Breakfast time runs from 6:30AM to 11AM. The ambiance and natural color use of the restaurant give a cozy feeling.
It’s a buffet with mostly Western food consisting of hot items, cold cuts, and pastries, mixed with Georgian items, labeled with Georgian flags on the name cards.
A staff came up to me while I was checking out the soup, and she recommended having a dash of vinegar on the chikhirtma, which what she says is what Georgians normally have. The mini croutons enhanced the flavors as well, though they’re not standard for Georgian locals.
There’s also a station where you can order egg dishes, pancakes, and waffles that they’ll bring to your table after ordering. I had the eggs Benedict with salmon.
They have these massive buckets of butter that looked enticing, but I didn’t get to try them unfortunately.
Overall, the breakfast was good, and the staff were pretty quick on spotting empty plates and clearing the tables. Service was also great where my coffee is replenished quickly once empty.
Paragraph Freedom Square Tbilisi- Pools
Perhaps the most impressive facilities of the hotel are the pools. They’re multi-floored facilities with the indoor pool on the 9th floor and an infinity pool on the 8th.
Indoor Circular Pool
The indoor circular pool is massive with a beautiful view of Tbilisi in the background.
There are sections within the circular pool with jacuzzi and waterfall functions where you can have free reign of control on when to turn on or off with the push of a glowing button on the poolside.
Indoor Pool Cafe
By the pool is a cafe where you can order light meals and drinks. Though you can still do so from your lounge chairs by the pool.
The cafe offers cushioned sofas with a nice view of the Freedom Square.
Infinity Pool
There’s a set of stairs by the Paragraph Spa entryway where you can head down to the 8th floor where the infinity pool is. Just stepping outside, you’ll be able to feel a nice breeze.
It’s especially beautiful during evening and night where you can see reflections of lights from the hotel’s glass structure. You can also see the Holy Trinity Cathedral light up brightly starting the evening from the infinity pool.
Because my room on the 8th floor, it was convenient to exit and head to my room through the infinity pool. But, you can’t enter the infinity pool through 8th floor, and you must do so through the 9th floor.
Paragraph Freedom Square Tbilisi- Spa
The sauna facilities are also impressive as well, and they share the same overall space with the indoor pool. There’s different room types for sauna like salt room, herbal room, steam room, and even an ice cave.
I thought the sauna facilities from the Crowne Plaza Borjomi was impressive already, the ones in the Paragraph Freedom Square are even better!
The herbal room in particular lets you see the indoor pool and outside view through the glass.
Additionally, the hotel offers spa services like massages that require appointments. The menu can be found on their Linktree page.
Paragraph Freedom Square Tbilisi- Gym
The gym’s also on the 9th floor located just to the right after the path to the indoor pool. It has tons of equipment for both strength and cardio training, complemented with a semi-panoramic view of Tbilisi.
Paragraph Freedom Square Tbilisi- Executive Lounge
The executive lounge is located at the 9th floor named “The Library.” The lounge opens 24/7, but will have evening cocktails and snacks from 5pm to 8pm that I sadly couldn’t get to check out. I assume that only Platinum Elite and higher have complimentary access without having to book a Club room.
A geometric statue of a man also stands by the lounge’s entry menacingly.
We first visited the lounge when we were waiting for our room to get ready. At around 1pm, nobody except us were there, which was good for me so I can take lots of pictures.
The lounge mainly has a drinks station where you can serve yourself some coffee, tea, soft drinks, and even wine.
Having multiple brands of wine to sample should be pretty nice, especially since Georgia is known for their wines. Because I had a big bottle of wine gifted in my room already, I didn’t have it in me to sample them.
Outside of drinks, there are light snacks like cookies, macaroon, and fruits.
The lounge has plenty of seats with library of mostly illustrative books.
There’s a main bar that I assume will be attended from 5pm to 8pm for cocktails and light snacks.
The lounge also comes with a big outdoor space!
While it’s cool that a Luxury Collection hotel has a lounge, which is already atypical for the brand, the lounge was nothing special. Even though I didn’t get to see the evening cocktails, I’m not sure if that would sway my opinion. It’s better than nothing I guess? It doesn’t detract from the overall quality of the hotel, however.
Paragraph Freedom Square Tbilisi- Chinari Sky Bar & Lounge
The Chinari Sky Bar & Lounge is located on the 9th floor that opens from 6PM to 2AM. Live dance music will also be played here. The music was loud, and can be somewhat heard from my room since it’s pretty much directly below the bar. But, it was just a faint and didn’t bother my sleep. Though, it’s something to keep in mind if you’re a light sleeper to request a quieter room.
The bar still follows the color trend of the hotel with black and gold, but it definitely looks nice and gives an enigmatic feel to the bar.
We just felt like chowing down on snacks and ordered chicken shish tawook and French fries. Mayo dips are quite popular in the Caucasus, from what I’ve observed.
After drinking quite a bit of the free wine gifted in my room, a Virgin Bloody Mary hits the spot. The whole menu for Chinari can be found here.
Paragraph Freedom Square Tbilisi- Ostigan Restaurant
Ostigan Restaurant is the hotel’s most expensive restaurant. While we didn’t get to dine there, I managed to just get pictures of the outdoor seating. The menu can be found on the Linktree.
Conclusion
The Paragraph Freedom Square in Tbilisi is a remarkable hotel with modern build and stylish decors that please the eyes. The swimming pool facilities are amazing, and they are definitely some of the best that a city hotel can have.
The staff are also great, especially the ones on breakfast service in Gurama Restaurant. The uniforms of the staff in the lobby are also very cool as well.
It is great value on points booking as well, and I recommend redeeming 35K and/or 50K Free Night Certificates to get the most value out of the stay, which is realistic enough to do.
The only disappointing aspect in my opinion, is the Executive Lounge. But, since a lounge is not typical for a Luxury Collection hotel anyway, I feel that it’s a “bonus” facility that’s OK to miss.
This is definitely a hotel I would love to stay again in Tbilisi and possibly won’t settle for less as long as I have some Free Night Certificates laying around.