Review: The Alexander, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Yerevan [Armenia]
| Positives | Negatives |
|---|---|
| Lively & Convenient Location | A bit overpriced in cash |
| Attentive service from staff | |
| Tasteful designs |
I originally planned a 4-night stay in Armenia at the Holiday Inn at the tail-end of my Caucasus trip, but I ended up having to stay an extra night due to a day earlier change of schedule in the overnight train from Tbilisi to Yerevan.
After looking through the options, I thought it might be nice to stay at a luxury hotel after getting off a train ride that I’d have a chance of being restless. So I chose The Alexander as it seems to be one of the nicest hotels in Yerevan and also renew my Marriott Titanium Elite status after the stay.
I must say that I regret not being able to stay longer because I had one of the best services throughout my hotel stays in the Caucasus at The Alexander!
The Alexander Yerevan- Booking
I booked a 1-night stay with a 35K Free Night Certificate from my Amex Bonvoy Business Card. The Alexander is listed as a Category 5 hotel, and it can range between 30,000 to 59,000 points for award booking.
Although I find the cash price for The Alexander to be a bit overpriced for Yerevan, it can be a good deal when redeeming Marriott points for the stay, especially if it’s from a 35K Free Night Certificate. A 50K Free Night Certificate redemption may not be bad as well, and it’s within the range of possibility with 9000 points topup during peak occupancy.
The Alexander Yerevan- Location
The Alexander Hotel is located right in the smack dab of Yerevan’s Northern Avenue, a strip of pedestrian pathway filled with trendy cafes and restaurants and luxury shopping stores. Street performers will occasionally come out during the evening to make the street more lively.
It’s also within walkable distance to Republic Square to the south where there are fountain shows at night and the Yerevan Cascade to the north.
I recommend installing Yandex Go for affordable taxis from/to the airport or railway station since Armenia is the only Caucasus country that does not support Bolt. Yandex Go also accept Visa and MasterCard as payment options.
The Alexander Yerevan- Check-in
I arrived to the hotel at around 11am after coming off the overnight train from Tbilisi. It was a very exhausting ride due to having to exit the train for passport checks on exiting Georgia at 2:30am with another border check just about an hour later when the train approaches Armenia. I was restless and grungy.
However, the hotel upgraded me to a Junior Suite and allowed me to check-in just after confirming all my details. They made sure my room would be ready within 10 minutes. It was very much appreciated!
The lobby looks luxurious with black and gold tones and geometric walls. It reminds me a lot of the Paragraph Freedom Square in Tbilisi; another Luxury Collection Hotel in the Caucasus.
There’s a door on the back of the front desk where it leads directly to Northern Avenue.
The Alexander Yerevan- Junior Suite
The Junior Suite I was assigned to is in Room 808, and the room next to mine was the Alexander Suite, or their Presidential, which I sadly wasn’t able to get to.
But the Junior Suite is ~500 in square footage. It’s not as big as the suites I’ve stayed at in other hotels in the Caucasus, but it’s great enough for myself.
The Junior Suite has a separate living room with a loveseat and a desk across.
Lots of water bottles were prepared on my arrival.
The pantry’s located by the entrance behind a closet.
Across the pantry is the half-bathroom, and that pretty much covers the living room side of the Junior Suite.
The bedroom area is about a similar size to the living room. It comes with a kind bed and a lounge chair next to it. The bed was comfortable!
There’s also a panel by the bed to control the lights and AC.
Underneath the TV, there’s a universal power outlet which is nice. It’s there underneath the TV on the living room side too.
Next to the lounge chair is the balcony with a decent view of Yerevan. The balcony entrance is on the living room side too.
Back to the room, the bedroom side has a closet with bathrobe and slippers, safe, and an umbrella to borrow in case it rains.
The marbled bathroom is steps away from the bed, with the toilet and shower room being the first things you go through after entering. A Frette bathrobe and slippers are readily prepared across the shower.
The shower comes with rainfall and handheld heads. The water pressure was quite good!
The sinks and bathtub are at the furthest back of the bathroom.
Unlike other Luxury Collection hotels that use Byredo, The Alexander uses Anne Semonin toiletries, and they come in single-use bottles! Never thought I’d see them nowadays.
The tub is across the sink and comes with bath salts and heated towel racks above it.
Overall, the Junior Suite is great. Even though it’s smaller compared to Junior Suites I’ve stayed at, the room design and colors are easy on the eyes.
Welcome Gifts
Just around an hour after I settled in to my room, I heard a knock on my door. A staff came in and surprised me with this presentation of a welcome gift! A plate art and personal note with my blog’s logo drawing! A plate full of delicious dried fruits and churchkhela.
This is the second time something of similar nature has happened to me, with the first being at The Ritz-Carlton, Astana in Kazakhstan!
The plate art is straight up adorable, and the sweets on it are all delicious! There are clear artistic talents amongst the staffs of The Alexander. I was also scared to eat my own logo haha (too cute to eat).
I of course, took this note home with my logo drawing on it :).
All of this was just way too cool and The Alexander definitely became one of my most memorable stays!
The Alexander Yerevan- Breakfast
Breakfast takes place in the Italiano Ristorante on the 12th floor. It’s a buffet model with certain egg and pancake menus you can order on top. The spread isn’t the largest, but they all look pretty great.
Though there are more sweets than savory selections in the buffet section. Good thing I was having a sweet tooth that day.
Italiano Ristorante has outdoor seating with a good view of the city. Certain sides will let you see Mount Ararat if the weather allows for it!
For the order-to-cook dish, I chose the blini or Russian pancake. The staff who brought the blinis to me kindly suggested to eat them with condensed milk as he shared that’s how the Russians like to do it.
So I agreed to try it and he gave me an extra blini. Condensed milk is the way to go!
I then saw an interesting apparatus while revisiting the buffet. Armenian coffee is served here, so I was definitely interested in trying. The copperwares look similar to ones used for Bosnian coffee. You can ask for regular or large for size, and I chose large.
The coffee’s good. The preparation has similarities with Bosnian/Turkish in that they’re unfiltered and comes with a rich taste.
The breakfast experience was enjoyable, especially with outdoor seating. The service was excellent, and the staffs were attentive and proactive in offering suggestions and informing items I was not familiar with.
Live music was apparently played as well inside the restaurant, but unfortunately I didn’t have an extra day to experience that and the savory breakfast items.
The Alexander Yerevan- Pool & Spa
The pool is on the 11th floor that’s open from 8am to 10pm. A pool attendant will typically be there to look over guests. The contrasting colors of the pool and ceiling make it look really nice.
There’s plenty of loungers and chairs by the pool to relax on.
There’s outside loungers for sunbathing.
The jacuzzi comes with strong jets, and you can ask the pool attendant to turn on the jets if you wish.
By the pool, there are showers, sauna, and steam room. Water and detox water are readily available too.
The hotel also has a spa service called Alexander Spa by Anne Semonin. The prices are expensive, however, even more so compared to other luxury hotels in the Caucasus.
The Alexander Yerevan- Fitness Center
The gym is located at the next door from the pool. There’s machines for both strength and cardio exercises, but it is quite small.Still, it’s not so bad considering The Alexander has less than 120 rooms in property.
The gym is open 24/7.
The Alexander Yerevan- Other Restaurants
The Alexander has other dining establishments that I wasn’t able to check out during my one-night stay:
- Gabriel’s Pattiserie offers high-end pastries with coffee and tea at lobby floor
- The Keys Cigar Lounge on the basement floor offer high-end wines and spirites
- Gabriel’s Bar and Lounge offers small bites and drinks at lobby floor
Conclusion
The Alexander in Yerevan is a very good hotel in a fun and convenient location. It does not come with the latest hardware and tech, but the tasteful and elegant design inside the hotel made up for it and the hotel feels vibrant because of them. The staffs also delivered some of the most personal services that really made me feel special!
Though, I feel that this hotels leans toward being overpriced in cash compared to other luxury hotels in the Caucasus for the available facilities offered. For context, the Paragraph Freedom Square in Tbilisi costs just as much, but is much newer; the nearby Marriott Yerevan costs about 2 times less of The Alexander.
The value is somewhat saved by the value of points redemption, even more so from Free Night Certificates. I recommend using 35K-50K Free Night Certificates before points if you have some in stock. It’s undoubtedly one of the nicest hotels in Yerevan that I would love to go back to.