The Alexander, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Yerevan

The Alexander announced a new era for Armenian hospitality when it opened in 2018 a block from Republic Square, the pink-tuff heart of Yerevan. Behind a facade that nods to the city's stone tradition, the hotel is unabashedly opulent: book-matched marble, contemporary Armenian art, a soaring atrium and a level of finish that no hotel in the country had previously attempted. It remains the address of record for visiting dignitaries and the natural first choice for luxury travellers.

Rooms are quiet, generously scaled and dressed in marble and walnut, with deep bathtubs and city views towards the square or, on clear days, the distant cone of Mount Ararat from upper floors. Service is warm in the Armenian manner and increasingly assured, and the basement spa—with its columned indoor pool and hammam—is the best in the city.

The location is the clincher. Republic Square's singing fountains, the History Museum, the Vernissage market and the cafés of the Northern Avenue pedestrian axis are all within a few minutes on foot, and day trips to Geghard, Garni and Etchmiadzin start at the door. Dining runs from an elegant brasserie to a rooftop with views over the city's pink stone towards Ararat. For a first stay in Yerevan, this is where the city's story is easiest to reach.