Fabrika Hostel is a large and centrally located hostel in Tbilisi. However, SRAS recently hosted a group of students on a short-term faculty led program from University of Richmond who chose a hostel stay for their time abroad. The following was written by Richmond student Chase Hartley documenting their time there to help future student groups hit the ground running and feel at home when they arrive.
The Fabrika Tbilisi Hostel opened in the summer of The goal was to create more spaces that would promote tourism in Tbilisi. The architects of the Fabrika Hostel, Gogiko Sakvarelidze and Devi Kituashvili, are well known for their other design projects in the city of Tbilisi.
In each of these cases, the two men brought life back to industrial ruins to accommodate the preferences of a hip new clientele and a growing desire to increase the appeal of Georgia for visitors and foreign investment.
The hostel is a mix of old and new as it combines old industrial Soviet architecture with contemporary art and style. Today, Fabrika is a multifunctional space that is one of the most popular places to stay for youthful and budget minded travelers, including study abroad groups like ours. Fabrika is more than just a hostel: it is an art-filled and mural-covered beacon of hospitality that people associate with innovation and fun, a hipster laid-back feel and vibe, eco-conscious living, great food and drink, and an intentional sense of community.
It also has a ceramics studio, an all-local all-natural wine bar, and rotating art exhibits and happenings. While Old Tbilisi contains both the government center Parliament , major museums, and the toniest tourist attractions, the Fabrika side of the river is definitely a place where ordinary people live, work, shop, and barter. Its an excellent place to live if you want to see how the people of this city actually live. The streets around Fabrika are full of thrift shops and food stores.
