Kutaisi hotels report a full summer, but winter demand remains a concern

Full rooms in July and August can conceal a difficult annual business. In an interview published by BM.GE on 12 October, Kristine Meskhadze, founder of Kutaisi accommodation businesses Seven Doors and Boutique Apartment Signature, said both properties had reached 100% occupancy during the summer of 2026. She also described a marked slowdown after the second half of September and weak business from late autumn into spring in recent years. These are her observations about two properties, not audited citywide occupancy figures.

Meskhadze said roughly 80% of Seven Doors’ summer guests were international visitors and 20% domestic. She mentioned Poland, Germany and Israel among important origin markets. That mix helps explain why changes in flights and foreign travel decisions matter, but it does not show how much guests paid per night or what remained after operating expenses. The report supplies no comparable monthly occupancy series for Kutaisi as a whole.

A separate interview on 5 October adds a different vulnerability. Central Hotel co-founder Tekla Meburishvili said approximately 90% of her hotel’s guest flow was connected to Wizz Air and Kutaisi International Airport. She argued that the city has fewer business and government travel anchors than Tbilisi. This is a hotel-specific estimate and should not be interpreted as the share of all visitors to Kutaisi using that airline.

For a buyer considering a hotel room, guesthouse or short-stay apartment, the underwriting test is seasonal rather than promotional. Request at least twelve months of booked and available nights, average realised nightly rates, cancellation records, heating and staffing bills, platform commissions and maintenance expenses. Test a low-winter-demand scenario and the effect of route changes. The interviews justify closer due diligence; they do not support a numerical forecast of rental yield or a claim that every Kutaisi property is losing money.