Batumi Boom Town
GEORGIA 2024
Part 2
As we drove closer to Batumi, large billboards began to appear along the roadside, advertising brand-new apartments for sale. As the hillside gave way and the road wound through the city’s outskirts, we were greeted by tall construction sites on the upper side of the road. Still, we couldn’t quite piece together what it all meant. Up to this point, our experience of the Georgian architecture had been limited to minimally maintained, post-Soviet towns with chaotic road layouts.
However, everything became clear as soon as we reached the coastline. The view opened up, revealing the main city in the distance, and it was immediately obvious why Batumi is often called "the Las Vegas of the Black Sea" by the locals. The city sparkled with brightly lit, extravagantly designed high-rises — a colorful and blinking spectacle. With a population of around 170,000, it’s also Georgia’s second-largest city
We had booked our accommodations on Airbnb beforehand. Our first apartment was located in one of the older districts, in a four-story building with an external staircase. Since there were no other guests, we moved up one floor. From outside our bedroom window, we could see the next generation of high-rises towering above the tin roofs of the aging Soviet-era apartment blocks. It promised to be an exciting stay.
1 The Night of Arrival
With a history spanning over 2000 years, Batumi has long held strategic importance as a hub for trade between Asia and Europe. Its ancient port was once a vital link on the historic Silk Road. In the 20th century, Batumi played a key role in exporting oil from Azerbaijan to Western Europe. During the Soviet era, the city became a popular beach resort. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Batumi remained part of the autonomous region of Adjara, which operated independently and was largely isolated from the rest of Georgia until 2004. It was not later then in the early 2000s when Kazakh investors began to recognize Batumi's potential, gradually transforming it into Central Asia’s premier gambling destination.
2 Checking out the areas close by
In the early 2000s, Batumi began attracting Kazakh investors. Since then it is gradually earning its reputation as the "Las Vegas of the Black Sea." The city became a magnet for gamblers from Turkey and Iran, where gambling is prohibited. In recent years, Batumi has experienced an unprecedented real estate boom. Its seaside has been transformed into a skyline dominated by towering hotels and apartment buildings, fueling the fastest-growing real estate market in Georgia. Despite the impressive numbers, many of these buildings remain partially or even mostly unoccupied. Even during peak holiday seasons, the anticipated influx of tourists has yet to fully materialize. Meanwhile, Batumi has become home to many young Russians and Ukrainians fleeing military conscription. Their presence has made Russian the unofficial primary language in the city, often the only language heard on its streets.
Through our second accommodation, we wanted to get a better picture of Batumi's current real estate boom. We stayed in a one-room apartment in the Batumi Beach Tower, located in the city’s downtown area. The building was one of the many modern apart-hotels — a hybrid of individually owned apartments, concierge services, and hotel amenities. At the reception desk, we got our key.
3 Moving to a Boom Town Apartment (28GEL/10€ per night special discount)
Inside our room, everything was tidy and clean. Another plus was the bed, which felt like heaven compared to what we had been sleeping on throughout our trip. The cons were the loose cables dangled from the walls, a suspiciously shaking balcony railing, and algae coated parts of the shower. Despite the great bad, we could hear the constant ding of elevators arriving in the corridor throughout the night. Later, we discovered that the ground floor of the building was only partially utilized. The section that wasn’t a hotel lobby was a vacant construction site. Even more unsettling, all floors above the 24th were completely empty. If you accidentally pressed the "Roof" button in the elevator, it would ascend to a stop exposed to the open sky, with only a flimsy grid door standing between you and a sheer drop. Needless to say, the advertised rooftop garden was nonexistent.
4 INVEST NOW!
After our first few days, we were still overwhelmed by the dynamism of Batumi’s construction sector. I viewed the numerous billboards around the city, which promised even taller apartment towers and luxurious lifestyles, with suspicion. To me, the building of our second accommodation exemplified Batumi’s current redevelopment very well. Throughout our trip, we made several of these observations: the initial grand vision doesn't quite match the reality.
5 Skyscraper Adventure
After spending two days immersed in this surreal dreamscape, the urge to ascend one of those modern buildings became irresistible. We set our sights on the most intriguing structure, kindly referred to The Pearl of the Black Sea, only to discover it was essentially a Ghost Tower - an abandoned or partially stalled construction site. Right during sunset we waited for a good opportunity, then delved inside, with only one goal in mind: Reach the top!
Besides accomplishing our self-set goal of ascending the most fashionable skyscraper in town, I want to share some other noteworthy observations we made in Batumi.
1. CCTV
Firstly, the whole city is full of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, both in public on every street corner and in private areas. And, before you ask, yes, the cameras are working and they are monitored. (We made some tests.)
2. The city has its own Central Park
and it is called Parki 6 Maisi, which contains some trees, neatly trimmed gras areas and a 5.5 ha-large lake, the Nurigeli lake, which once was of natural origin.
3. Neon City
Thirdly, high-rise buildings and neon signs appear to have a longstanding tradition in Batumi, one that predates its recent redevelopment.
4. Digital Government
Fourth, as we initially intended only to pay our parking fees, we discovered that these same Paybox Machines are also used for gambling. We ended up losing all our money on Crystalbet. (Just kidding.) The machines are indispensable if you need to pay government fines—which, incidentally, was exactly what we had to do because Georgia’s traffic rules seemed quite obscure, and its fully surveilled highway system catches everything.
5. Police Patrol
Fifth, even compared to other Georgian cities, there seemed to be significantly more police cars patrolling in Batumi. This felt quite strange, as there wasn’t much happening on the streets, and we felt like we were the only foreigners in the entire city anyway.
6. Last Words
All in all, Batumi was a city full of unexpected twists and fascinating contradictions — exactly the kind of experience I love most about traveling. If I ever get the chance, I would definitely return, as I left a couple of important things unaccomplished.