3 of Spades — Seven Visions Resort & Places, The Dvin

This modern hotel, meeting the highest international standards, is built on the site of the iconic, once-renowned luxurious Dvin Hotel, located in the oldest and most authentic district of Yerevan — Kond.

 

Dvin was built in 1979 by a team of architects — F. Hakopyan, A. Aleksanyan, and E. Safaryan — and during the Soviet years was rightly considered a model of modernist architecture. In 1984, a monument was installed in front of the hotel — Mountain Dance (Kochari) by sculptor Tigran Arzumanyan — which soon became one of Yerevan’s symbols.

The building had a difficult fate — its golden age ended with the collapse of the USSR, followed by a long period of abandonment and neglect, until 2022, when one of the most elegant hotels in Yerevan opened on the site.

 

Located at: 40 Paronyan Street

3 of Diamonds – Ani Plaza Hotel

The Ani Hotel — the first high-rise in Yerevan, a 16-story building — opened on November 29, 1970. It operated under the Soviet Intourist system and quickly became one of Armenia’s best hotels. 

 

The hotel’s name symbolizes Ani, the capital of the Bagratuni kingdom, whose coat of arms is depicted in the hotel’s logo. The hotel’s architects were Feniks Darbinyan, Felix Hakopyan, and Eduard Safaryan.
Structural engineers: G. Balayan and A. Shahnazaryan.

Although it was classified as a tourist hotel rather than a first-class hotel, Ani stood out for its interior and excellent cuisine. Larisa Dolina, Levon Malkhasyan, and Armen Tutunjyan performed there. It had Yerevan’s first currency bar, and a cellar where Armenian wines, brandies, and traditional dishes were offered with live national music. Beneath the hotel was the famous “Urartu” restaurant; to the right — the “Snezhinka” café, which sold the city’s first colored ice cream…

In 1990, the hotel building was completely rebuilt and modernized, and has since operated as a four-star hotel under the branded name “Ani Plaza Hotel.”

Located at: 19 Sayat-Nova Street

3 of Clubs – Armenia Marriott Hotel Yerevan

The hotel building, part of the architectural ensemble encircling Republic Square, was built in 1950.

Architects: Mark Grigoryan, Eduard Sarapyan. Designer: Konstantin Altunyan.

At that time, the hotel was called “Armenia.” During the Soviet period, it was the main tourist hotel.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the hotel was privatized and fully renovated in 1998 according to international standards. It was then renamed “Armenia Marriott Hotel Yerevan.”

The hotel building is listed as an immovable monument of history and culture.

Located at: 1 Amiryan Street

3 of Hearts – Grand Hotel Yerevan

In 1926, construction began on Yerevan’s main street — Abovyan Street (then Astafyevskaya Street) — for a hotel with a very predictable name: “Yerevan.” The project’s architect was Yerevan’s chief architect Nikolay Buniatyan. The hotel was completed in 1928.

From 1928 to 1935, poet Yeghishe Charents lived in the luxurious Suite 21 on the second floor. In the 1930s, the hotel’s café became a bohemian hub — regulars included Shirvanzade, Gurgen Mahari, Charents, Ara Sargsyan, and Panos Terlemezyan. On the night of August 9, 1936, Gurgen Mahari was arrested directly in the hotel restaurant — “We were drinking cognac and cooling our throats with watermelon, with Vahram Papazyan and Hrachya Nersisyan…” In 1929, from the 4th floor, Soviet Armenia’s radio broadcast for the first time; in 1935, composer Aram Khachaturian, in Hamo Beknazaryan’s hotel room (he was unable to move due to sciatica), composed the music for the film Pepo.

In 1999, the hotel was reconstructed by an Italian construction company, and in 2009 it underwent a complete renovation.

It is an architectural monument and protected by the state.

Located at: 14 Abovyan Street