The History of The Hotel

Yerevan came to realize its significance in 1926 when the construction of the hotel, predictably named “Yerevan”, started on Abovyan Street. A history of twenty seven centuries encompassed not only the rise and fall of the city numerous times, but also quite recent tragedies: the civil war and the Genocide. Only a decade prior to this, the city took in convoys full of refugees, but was unable to give them shelter.

Now, all of a sudden, the city believed in a promising bright future, and embarked on building it with child like enthusiasm; starting with the construction of a hotel. Hotel Yerevan was designed by Nikoghayos Buniatyan, the chief architect of Yerevan. He became an expert on the architecture of Ani, the most beautiful of Armenian capitals, during the excavations with archaeologist Nikolai Marr. Buniatyan consequently went on to mastermind dozens of landmark buildings in Armenia and the hotel completed in 1928 was one of the first.

By that time, architect Alexander Tamanyan had already developed the new master plan of the city, but none of the buildings soon destined to become symbolic of Yerevan, had been built yet. The four-storey hotel became Yerevan’s skyscraper. However, it was not only its height that made it extraordinary but also its colorfulness, solemnity, festivity and neoclassical style that made it astonishing. “Yerevan” changed the concept of comfort in Yerevan dramatically.

ANCIENT HISTORY AND HOSPITALITY TRADITIONS

Within its three floors, it accommodated 78 spacious and well furnished rooms, including 10 deluxe suites, and only a single hostellike facility with 15 beds. The ground floor and the basement had all the desirable contemporary amenities: a kitchen, a pastry shop, a restaurant, a car park, the administration, a launderette, a barber shop, a currency exchange kiosk, a photo studio and a library. The hotel became the epicenter of all significant events in town due to its designated function. But most importantly, this place became a tangible epitome of the far fetched future, which was no longer on the horizon but just around the corner.