Tufenkian Old Dilijan Complex

The quaint Tufenkian Old Dilijan Complex is on a hillside overlooking the town and thickly forested mountains of Tavoush province. What was once a crumbling 19th-century village street with stone-built houses, intricately carved wooden balconies and uneven stone stairs has been restored to its past glory and reinvented as a small boutique hotel, restaurant, and cultural complex complete with specialised workshops and studios selling traditional arts and crafts.

The result is undeniably pleasing to the eye and has drawn in visitors by the coach load. However, the less generous may observe that the Tufenkian Old Dilijan Complex is the product of extensive Disneyfication. Accommodation is in the complex’s Ananov Guesthouse, with 16 guestrooms and two suites. The ensuite guestrooms have a warm and inviting feeling.

Rooms are decorated with mafrashes (handwoven bedspreads) and Tufenkian carpets, and the suites are filled with beautiful antique furniture and exhibit rich architectural details. Some rooms have balconies. The Old Dilijan Haykanoush restaurant serves Armenian cuisine in a room where the high vaulted ceilings, handmade chandeliers, and intricately detailed handmade carpets recall the Dilijani dining rooms of old.