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Gudauri Resort Reviews

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Visitor reviews for Gudauri Ski Resort

Gudauri Ratings

Overall: 3.6. Based on 37 votes and 18 reviews. Vote

Snowsure: 3.7

(1) Occasionally gets enough snow for skiing, (2) is often closed due to a lack of snow, (3) occasionally suffers from a lack of snow, (4) rarely suffers from a lack of snow, (5) Gudauri is snowsure even in the poorest seasons.

Variety of pistes: 3.9

(1) The ski runs are featureless and unvaried, (3) the ski runs are varied but not extensive enough for a week, (5) Gudauri has diverse and interesting pistes including forests and high alpine terrain.

Off-piste: 4.2

(1) No off-piste worth mentioning, (2) off piste is out-of-bounds, (3) some varied offpiste that stays fresh for one or two days, (5) a vast array of off-piste routes that can stay untracked for several days.

Scenery: 4.1

(1) An ugly resort in a bland setting, (3) average mountain views and resort, (5) a spectacular setting and a beautiful / historic resort town.

Access: 4.2

(1) At least one overnight stop, (2) requires a whole day, (3) requires more than half a day – you may have time for a few turns (4) arrive by lunchtime and ski all afternoon, (5) there is a main airport within an hour of Gudauri.

Public Transport: 3.4

(1) There are no buses or taxis to Gudauri, (3) there are slow or infrequent buses / trains available, (5) getting to the resort is easy with frequent bus / train connections.

Accommodation: 4.2

(1) No places to stay in/near Gudauri, (3) a few places to stay in the resort, (5) a wide variety of accommodation suitable to suit all budgets.

Cheap Rooms: 3.8

(1) No budget accommodation available, (3) just one or two hostels so book ahead, (5) several cheap hostels and pensions available.

Luxury Hotels: 3.7

(1) No luxury accommodation available, (3) just one or two luxury hotels so book ahead, (5) several up-market hotels in Gudauri.

Ski in/Ski out: 4.4

(1) The ski area is located far from any accommodation, (3) a free ski bus takes you to the ski area in a short trip, (5) Ski-in ski-out accommodation is available.

Childcare: 2.9

(1) There are no child care facilities at Gudauri, (5) the resort has excellent child-care facilities including at least one reasonably priced creche.

Snowmaking: 2.5

(1) Gudauri relies entirely on natural snow, (3) there are just a few snow cannons, (5) there are snowmaking facilities on all pistes.

Snow Grooming: 3.8

(1) There are no snow groomers at Gudauri, (3) occasionally some pistes are left ungroomed and in a poor state, (5) all the runs at Gudauri are groomed daily.

Shelter: 3.4

(1) there is nowhere to ski when it is windy or visibility is bad and lifts often shut, (3) there are some trees for poor visibility but main lifts sometimes close, (5) Gudauri is mostly in forest where you can ski in flat-light and windy days, lifts rarely close.

Nearby options: 2.1

(1) If snow conditions are poor at Gudauri, it will be poor everywhere nearby, (3) there are good alternatives within an hours drive, (5) other locations on the same lift pass provide a rich variety of snowsure ski conditions.

Regional rating: 4.2

(1) Gudauri usually has poor snow conditions compared to other resorts in region, (3) has average conditions for the region, (5) usually has the best snow conditions in the region.

Lift Staff: 3.8

(1) The staff at Gudauri are rude or unhelpful, (5) lift staff at Gudauri are pleasant, cheerful and eager to help.

Crowds/Queues: 3.9

(1) the resort is always busy and there are usually long lift queues, (3) it is quiet apart from occasional weekends and school holidays, (5) it is uncrowded and lift queues are very rare.

Ski Schools: 3.9

(1) No ski schools available, (2) one or two ski schools but local language only, (3) a few ski schools but book early for multi-lingual instructors, (4) plenty of ski schools and multi-lingual instructors available, (5) excellent ski schools with friendly multi-lingual ski instructors.

Hire and Repairs: 3.9

(1) Nothing can be sourced, not even ski-wax or ptex. (3) there are some ski shops but rentals need to be booked in advance, (5) good quality ski equipment can be purchased or hired and overnight repairs are possible.

Beginners: 4.2

(1) Beginners can only watch others ski and snowboard, (3) a few gentle slopes but beginners will get bored in less than a week, (3) Vast areas of gentle terrain.

Intermediates: 4.4

(1) No intermediate terrain at Gudauri, (3) intermediate skiers will get bored after a few days, (5) vast areas of cruising runs.

Advanced: 4.1

(1) Nothing for advanced skiers and snowboarders, (3) enough steep terrain for a few days with some good offpiste, (5) Enough steep terrain and offpiste areas to entertain advanced skiers for at least a week.

Snow Park: 3.0

(1) Not even a kicker at Gudauri, (3) average sized park quite well looked after, (5) huge park area and expertly crafted pipes, jumps and boardercross trails.

Cross-country: 2.7

(1) There is nowhere to go for cross-country skiing around Gudauri, (3) there are some cross country trails available, (5) the area features many spectacular and well maintained cross-country trails.

Luge/Toboggan: 2.2

(1) No designated luge or toboggan runs, (3) there are toboggan runs that open quite often, (5) Gudauri has long and well maintained luge / toboggan facilities suitable for all ages.

Mountain Dining: 3.8

(1) Nowhere to buy food by the pistes, (3) some places to eat up on the mountain but they are often busy and expensive, (5) there is a variety of excellent mountain eateries right next to the slopes to suit all budgets.

Eating: 3.9

(1) Bring your own food, there isn't even a shop. (5) A wide variety of places to eat and drink in the resort, from fast food to fancy restaurants.

Apres-Ski: 3.2

(1) Nothing to do, not even a bar, (3) there are a few bars in the resort but nothing special, (5) clubs and bars stay open until very late and have a friendly atmosphere.

Other Sports: 2.4

(1) No sports facilities at all apart from ski lifts, (3) resort has just a small public swimming pool, (5) resort has all kinds of sports facilities, including a full-size swimming pool.

Entertainment: 2.5

(1) Besides the snow and walking there is nothing to do here, (3) the non-skier will find things to do for few days but may become bored after a week, (5) the resort area is a fascinating place to visit, regardless of winter sports.

Winter Walks: 2.8

(1) Very limited walking and no snowshoe trails, (3) a couple of designated scenic walking/snowshoe trails, (5) extensive and diverse winter walking trails for all abilities.

Ski Pass Value: 4.2

(1) A 1 week ski pass is overpriced compared to the number of lifts available, (3) the ski pass is averagely priced and covers a reasonable number of lifts, (5) ski passes are excellent value for money and cover a lot of lifts spanning a big area.

Value (National): 4.0

(1) Overall, Gudauri is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the country and not worth the money, (3) overall represents average value for money, (5) overall offers the best value resort in the country.

Value (Global): 4.2

(1) Overall, Gudauri is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the world, (3) overall it offers pretty average value for money compared to resorts from other countries, (5) internationally the resort offers excellent value for money.

Show all 35 ratings

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March 13, 2022
Frank Higginsanyeuropeanreort from Ski United Kingdom United Kingdom
Just back from week in Gudauri. Had plenty of snow and good skiing. Stayed at airb&b, food was expensive and very bland. Portaloo toilets where unusable and overflowing on the slopes, bad roads to the resort. I wouldn't return as it doesn't compare to any European resort.
February 28, 2022
Sammi Heffer from Ski United Kingdom United Kingdom
We have been here for a day so far. The pistes are in really bad condition. Icy with many many rocks. There are hardly any snow machines, to the slopes are icy, bumpy, cut up and with many rocks exposed. Today there is hardly any visibility making it worse. The only toilets available are porto-loos at the top of the gondola. These are full with huge piles of excrement on the seats and all up the back of the cabin. 100% health hazard and unusable. For me let alone if someone had a small child that needed the toilet! Disgusting! The roads are not salted so very icy-east to slip and fall over. The place we hired out gear from was brilliant, food and restaurants are lovely. Sadly, this resort needs some TLC-salt the roads, have clean toilets and snow machine the pistes?!
December 26, 2019
DP from Ski United Kingdom United Kingdom
Visited Gudauri in late December 2019, taking a flight to Kutaisi and renting a jeep for a 4 hour journey. The winter has been relatively mild and there was barely any snow on the slopes and so no skiing. We spent our time hiking and eating delicious Georgian food, which saved the overall experience. It seems that the resort is still in the early stages of development and infrastructure like snow cannons not fully functioning (due to water shortages?). Awful lot of construction going on as well. We will try to come back later in the season when there is more snow to get a more complete experience.
February 20, 2019
Wtraveler from Ski Georgia Georgia
I totally agree with another reviewer from the United Kingdom'. There's too many merging slopes. So, I want to warn people to ski carefully. Most of the slopes are facing south and there are no big rocks you'd want to go off, as an intermediate, at Mt. Elbrus. It's no problem. Break down of slopes without going off: I will say 30 beginner, 60 intermediate, 10 maybe advanced. If there's good snow you decide to go off without walking some distance, you could ride few black and fewer double black runs. I think it's bit short though.
February 07, 2018
Simon from Ski United Kingdom United Kingdom
Just back from 5 days in Georgia, 3 of which spent at Gudauri but don't miss the opportunity of a night in Tblisi!! Skiing: conditions on and off-piste were superb with blue skies everyday. It says 55km of piste and that's about right. Nothing challenging so great for intermediates. It is the easy access to the two bowls right and left of the top lift that make it for inters though. Subject to the avalanche warnings (notably absent!) give them a go. What really makes the resort though are the two Freeride areas on huge ridges left and right of the pistes. For a short 30-40min boot/skin you have access to relatively safe slopes that hold the snow. Just pick a line. Touring paradise too, just hire the local guides to show you around. Lifts: not great. All but the gondola and central chair are slow by Alpine standards and if not blessed by good weather you will get cold and little return on time spent on uplift. They are also building a new Raddison Hotel complex at mid-level. Once that is finished they will really need to invest in lifts to compensate for increased numbers. Not crowded during the week but busy at weekends. Lift Pass £8 per day. Ski Hire: plenty of options and they looked good. We took own gear. Instruction: 1 on 1, just pick up your instructor at the lift. Didn't appear to be any group lessons or a need to book in advance. Equally as many Paragliding Pilots on hand too. Hotels: plenty of choice but would recommend the family run pensions for best service/value. We stayed at the "Good Inn" and could not have asked for a better experience. Even watched the 6 nations on Georgian TV. £35pppn Half Board. You will need to walk for 5-10 mins from hotel to base station but can ski back. Apres: mainly hotel based but Token Bar at the bottom of the base lift was our top pick. Beer £1.20 a pint and Wine £7-8 a bottle in bars and hotels. Transfers: about two hours from Tblisi. We arranged private transfer through hotel: $60 for a vehicle, not pp. If you're not touring or freeriding then a two day stay is enough. Otherwise, 5 days will satisfy your powder desires.
November 18, 2017
Peter Sodermans from Ski Luxembourg Luxembourg
We tried out Gudauri and Bakuriani in February 2017 (family trip). We rented a Jeep in Kutaisi (although we discovered there are many shuttle buses as well) to get to Gudauri. Quite a nice ride in an ever changing landscape. We discovered an unknown (for Western Europeans) ski area with some 55 km of slopes. It is above the tree levels but on top of the Caucasus. People visiting are Eastern Europeans as well as people from neigbouring countries as well as Israel and Dubai. Very interesting mix. The quality of the ski was excellent (lots of powder). Some waiting at the ski lifts, but nothing which really bothered us. Ski passes are really cheap (some 10 Euro a day), renting material was some 8 Euro per day. The skiing was superb with not too many people in the upper parts. There is no risk for avalanches, it seemed. The pistes were well prepared every day; quite nice. The main difference is the friendliness of the people; they were all so happy that we were coming over from Luxembourg. Such friendly people. Needless to say we enjoyed the location a lot, even although the whole is a bit rougher than what we are used to in Austria. I wil return with family and friends in February 2018, Strongly recommended without hesitation.
April 06, 2017
Dutch from Ski Netherlands Netherlands
Been in Gudauri a couple of days (last days of March 2017). A few things I noticed: - there was some fresh snow which melted every day. The higher slopes are the best. (as always) -the guests of Gudauri are an interesting mix of people, because Tbilisi is very easy to reach from Dubai. Most of the tourists are Russian, but the easy Visa regime of Georgia makes it that you see a mix of Filipino, Indian, Arabic and western tourists (most from Dubai). -the lifts: there are two faster lifts: 1 detachable chairlift (Soliko) and the gondola (Gudaura). But if you are an experienced skier, the two highest lifts (Sadzele & Kudebi) to the summits are the only red and black slopes. But these lifts are very slow. (15 minutes!) The higher lifts aren't detachable lifts and there are a lot of non-skiing tourists who are going to the summit as well, which means they slow down the lifts all the time to let the tourists get in and out. So you spend 15 minutes in the lift for 5 minutes skiing. For beginners it's great that you can use the 'magic carpet' and 'baby lift' for free. You can find teachers for about 50 lari an hour. For the next step there is a good and easy green slope (called Snow Park) with a chair lift at the top of the gondola (cabin). I never had to wait a minute during my days of skiing. - In my opinion, New Gudauri (around the base station of the gondola) the nicest place to stay. There are learning lifts and there are terraces around for a nice beer in the sun in the afternoon (5 lari for a beer). -the slopes are well prepared. Don't expect any sign. - a little warning: don't ski the two highest lifts when you are a beginner. -the road from Tbilisi is pretty good and it takes about two hours. All in all: it's quite nice for a couple of days. Of course it's not comparable with most resorts in the Alpes. You can't make tours. I will be back when the lifts are a little faster.
February 13, 2017
David from Ski Spain Spain
Gudauri is known because of its powder and wonderful snow. I was there April 2016 and it was plenty of snow but quality is really bad. You must go in winter, never spring. Otherwise, resort is modern, big, prices are low, people are nice and there are plenty of off-piste slopes, with or without helicopter. Descending to the Sadzele nort slopes and returning on a taxi is amazing and cheap. Highly recommended.
February 25, 2015
alon from Ski Israel Israel
THE best freestyle park in Eastern Europe! Great people and atmosphere! I love Georgia!
December 26, 2014
Giorgio Emmanouilidis from Ski Greece Greece
A lot of improvements since the first time I've been here in 2011. New gondola lift, full renovated chair lifts, more hotels, a 24/7 super market & cafe, gas station and the most important artificial snow for the really hard times without snow. More on piste skiing slopes and a wide range of free-ride slopes with good quality powder at its best. What else can a recreational skier ask for?