Hill Inn: Bringing Luxury Camping to Mountainous Adjara

If you would like to have a quiet and comfortable vacation in the mountains, then the luxury camping located in the village of Dandalo, in Keda is the place for you.

Hill Inn is a Georgian start-up that aims to offer high-class services to holiday-makers in the mountainous region of Georgia. The start-up is headed by Davit Ardzenadze, a 31-year-old economist who has always wanted to make a living out of something that would not only please him but others, too.

As Davit has told us, he has had many ideas overtime – some real, some – not so much. His friends were the first ones with whom he shared his business ideas and they were always generous with the feedback. Finally, after having discussed the idea and having discovered mutual interests, Davit and his friend Maia Verdzadze decided to found a start-up in the tourism sector.

 “At first we made a general outline, we realized what our strong and weak sides were and started to take steps to give ‘meat’ to the idea. What we did first was to find a place in the high-mountain Adjara. We found and bought land in my native village of Dandalo – it completely responded to every circumstance necessary for our business to be successful. Simultaneously we looked into ways to finance our project – we talked to the donors and banks. It so turned out that our ideas were a perfect match with the requirements of a grant competition announced by the Keda Local Action Group, who are implementing EU funded project in the region. The call for grants came at a perfect time for us,” Davit recalls.

The camping space of Hill Inn has everything for your comfort – a very comfortable and tastefully designed hotel room that is set up inside the camp with panoramic views; a home cinema and a small library, and outside – Spa pool/Jacuzzi, and sauna.

The majority of the hotels in the Georgian mountains offer the holiday-makers a place to spend the night and eat, but the luxury camping Hill Inn offers something different and more – it has all the comforts of a luxury room but set up in the wild at a campsite, offering the tourist a unique experience, which is what makes Hill Inn stand out.

Just one glance at the camping site in the village of Dandalo and it will become very clear to you that the business partners have put tremendous work into the making of Hill Inn. According to them, a lot of effort and time was put into actually registering the land, acquiring the right materials, and dealing with hikes in prices.

For the time being, Hill Inn has opened its doors to both of the luxury camps. Outdoor relaxing spaces are nearly fully furnished and soon will be complete. The territory gives the possibility to set up many other innovative spaces. The founders have promised that they will continue growing, expanding, adapting to the needs and demands of the customers.

Hill Inn received grant funding as part of the Keda Local Action Group (LAG), which is a community-based initiative supported by the European Union to help spur development in the regions of Georgia.

“The core of the EU’s rural development support is to motivate people to address their local needs by identifying strengths and weaknesses on the ground, and to start local development activity in their own hometown. A key tool in this regard are local action groups, which are based on the proven EU “LEADER” approach, where local citizens, businesses and local governments are involved in the development process. This ensures that all stakeholder views and voices are be taken into account. Keda is one of twelve LAGs in Georgia so far, which shows this model is well received.  Through this model,  the EU encourages innovative ideas such as this interesting and innovative business created in the village of Dandalo, which will help tourists discover this beautiful place, spur economic activity and permit Kedans to proudly present their traditions.“ – states Ketevan Khutsishvili, Programme Manager for Rural Development, Civil Emergencies and Crisis Management.

In the case of the Keda LAG, tourism was one of the development priorities set out for local development, which made it possible for them to provide a grant to Hill Inn.

“The increase in the number of tourists in Keda Municipality in recent years has led to an increase in demand for local hotel services. While prioritizing the development of hotel services, Keda LAG selected the Hill Inn’s project for funding in addition for being very innovative. This project is important for the development of tourism and economic potential of our municipality.” – Says Giorgi Abuladze, Chairman of Keda LAG.

This approach seems to be working.  Hill Inn business partners have said that without their participation in the EU project ‘Keda Leader’ entering the market would have been very difficult and would have taken many more years.

“We found out about the project via social media. The information campaign answered nearly all of our questions. We made our idea into a project and after passing through some stages, we got the grant. It needs to be said that without our participation in the EU project ‘Keda Leader’ entering the market would have been very difficult and would have taken a lot longer. Other than financial support, “Keda Leader” is actively working on our development, providing consultations, trainings and so on,” – said Davit Ardzenadze.

For more information on the EU’s support to rural areas, please check enpard.ge.

Source: Entrepreneur Georgia Journalist, Ana Bibileishvili