Shanghai-based architecture firm NeriHu has successfully converted an abandoned Soviet-era post office in Tbilisi, Georgia, into a striking 239-room luxury hotel while carefully preserving the building's distinctive modernist facade. The Telegraph Hotel represents the studio's first major project in Georgia, where founders Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu tackled one of the capital city's most prominent Soviet-era ruins located on the bustling main artery of Rustaveli Avenue.
The original building was designed by Georgian architects Lado Meskhishvili and Teimuraz Mikashavidze in 1964, serving as the local population's primary connection to the outside world. Before telecommunication technology became commonplace in most households, residents relied on this central post office to send telegrams and make important phone calls. "The Telegraph building holds a special place in Tbilisi's social memory – not just as a physical landmark, but as a space of communication, connection and exchange," NeriHu explained in their design statement.
The renovation project carefully retained the building's Soviet modernist facade, including its monumental cornice made of local Bolnisi tuff stone – the same material used to clad the Georgian Parliament building further along Rustaveli Avenue. However, at street level, the architects introduced floor-to-ceiling glazing that allows passersby to glimpse into the hotel's public spaces. "Our goal was to respect its identity while reimagining it for contemporary use, creating a new chapter that remains connected to its original spirit of openness and exchange," the design duo added.
The hotel's layout centers around an internal courtyard that features climbing greenery and houses an al fresco bar. Five different restaurants and a small library are arranged around this central space, with NeriHu using glass partitions instead of solid walls to divide these areas. This design choice maintains clear sight lines deep into the building from the street, establishing the Telegraph Hotel as an extension of Tbilisi's public space. "A key gesture was the use of a transparent facade, which helps dissolve the boundary between inside and outside," the architects explained.
The material palette in the courtyard and surrounding thoroughfares maintains an outdoor aesthetic, with travertine tiles covering all floors and the hotel's reception desk, alongside informal bench seating that resembles street furniture. Board-formed concrete walls echo the same gridded pattern as a tribute to the rigid geometry of the Telegraph's original facade. Blackened metal and dark timber complete the interior's minimalist material palette, complementing the weathered concrete beams and columns that provide glimpses of the building's historical significance.
NeriHu used this limited selection of materials to create distinct personalities for each public space throughout the hotel. The library features walnut-veneer paneling, while the Grand Café – a fine dining restaurant serving modern Georgian cuisine – incorporates coffered ceilings and antique mirrors to create a French bistro atmosphere. Green serves as the only color used throughout the entire hotel, appearing in the leather seating booths of diner-style restaurant The Grill and the metal-mesh screens and lamp shades that create a street-market ambiance at Laan Thai, which is operated by Bangkok-born Parisian chef Rose Chalalai Singh.
Veiny green marble was also used to form a pill-shaped bar and a dramatic brass-framed fireplace in the BellGrey Bar, which connects to the Telegraph Hotel's main reception area. From this central space, guests can access their accommodations via a dramatic central staircase, for which NeriHu created a custom 35-meter-long pendant light fixture. The 239 guest rooms are housed on the building's upper floors and organized around the courtyard and a second light-filled atrium that looks down at the planted roof of the hotel's ballroom.
The absence of solid walls continues throughout the guest rooms, where fluted glass and black metal create transparent partitions that separate bedrooms from bathrooms and living areas. Like a Swiss army knife, this same metal skeleton integrates multiple functions throughout different rooms, serving as a framework for storage and lighting, or supporting mirrors, soap trays, and washroom doors. The hotel's rooftop suites feature their own private terraces, providing panoramic views over Tbilisi from the sixth floor.
Scheduled to open in September are additional amenities including the Rolling Stone Rooftop Bar and a crimson-themed jazz club designed by Georgian interior designer Ketuna Kruashvili, positioned near the wood-paneled gym in the hotel's basement level. The Telegraph Hotel forms part of a larger redevelopment initiative for the area surrounding Tbilisi's former Republic Square, spearheaded by the Silk Road Group.
The first phase of this redevelopment saw the local investment firm transform the former Hotel Iveria – Georgia's first high-rise tower, which later served as temporary shelter for Abkhazian refugees – into the Radisson Blue Hotel in 2009. "This space [Republic Square] used to symbolize Georgia's collapse," said Silk Road Group founder George Ramishvili. "We want to change that. Our redevelopment plan will transform it into a pedestrian-friendly area where people want to walk, not avoid."
Despite ongoing political tensions with Russia, which currently occupies 20 percent of Georgia's territory, the country's tourism industry is experiencing significant growth. Direct flights from London to Tbilisi were reintroduced this April after a 12-year absence, signaling renewed international interest in the region. Recent hotel openings in the area include Tbilisi's cinematic Blueberry Nights hotel and Silk Road Group's AHEAD-shortlisted Tsinandali Estate, which has taken over the historic winery and estate of Georgian aristocrat Alexander Chavchavadze that later served as the summer residence of Russia's last tsar.
