Aparthotel units in Batumi: how the model works

What is an aparthotel unit?

An aparthotel unit is a room or small apartment in a building run as a hotel, sold to individual owners who then hand it to an operator to let to guests. You own the unit and receive part of the income; the operator runs reception, cleaning, bookings and maintenance. In Batumi the model is common in new seafront towers, sold to buyers who want income from tourism without letting a flat themselves.

In legal terms, the Civil Code lets a flat or a non-residential space in a building be owned individually, acquired by a written agreement and registered in the Public Registry. Your unit therefore appears on the extract like any other property. What makes it an aparthotel unit is the contract you sign with the operator, and, in many projects, the tax status of the company that built and runs the hotel.

How the model works, step by step

1. You buy a unit

   Often off-plan, sometimes with a furniture package, from a developer who plans to run the building as a hotel or has signed an operator.

2. You sign an operating contract

   Lease, management, trust or a similar paid contract, under which the operator lets your unit to guests.

3. The operator lets the unit

   Through booking platforms and its own channels, setting the prices and handling guests.

4. Income is shared

   Either a share of the revenue, a fixed amount, or a fixed annual lease, depending on the contract.

5. You pay the running charges

   Service charges per square metre, sometimes utilities and replacements of furniture.

6. You may stay yourself

   For a number of days a year set by the contract, usually agreed in advance.

Which kinds of offer are sold in Batumi?

Listings also quote service charges of about $1-2 per m² a month and furniture packages priced per square metre. Projected returns such as "up to 12%" or "up to 14% a year" are marketing figures, and the higher ones assume high occupancy all year. A fixed return written into the contract is a promise by the company that signs it, and it is only as strong as that company's finances.

The tourist enterprise status and why it matters

Georgian tax law has a special regime for this model. A tourist enterprise is a legal person that builds a hotel, transfers hotel rooms or apartments to other persons, and ensures under a paid contract with each buyer that they are used as hotel rooms. The Revenue Service grants the status for a specific hotel. The enterprise must designate fixed hotel space and, within ten years of the hotel being accepted into operation, reach a set level of VAT-taxable turnover from it, and the Revenue Service may ask for a guarantee of up to 18% of a calculated amount. The Government sets the minimum share of the building that must be hotel space.

For you as an owner, the status matters because of three tax rules:

• 5% at source. Payments that a tourist enterprise makes to an individual owner under the contract are taxed at 5% at source, and that income is not taxed again.
• Free stays. Up to 60 days a year of free accommodation in the hotel for the owner is exempt from income tax.
• VAT on resale. When an individual owner sells the unit and the new owner takes over the contract with the tourist enterprise, the sale is exempt from VAT.

Ask the developer in writing whether the hotel has this status and for which building, and ask to see the Revenue Service decision.

Tax when the operator is not a tourist enterprise

Many operators are ordinary companies without the status. Then the general rules apply. The reduced 5% rate for rent covers residential space let for living, and a hotel unit let to an operator for short stays may not qualify, in which case income is taxed at the general 20% rate. Property tax follows the usual rule: it is due only if your household earned more than GEL 100,000 the year before. Our guide to rental income tax explains registration and filing.

A worked example

An illustrative 30 m² unit costs $60,000. Suppose the operator lets it at an average of $50 a night, after booking commissions, for 180 nights a year: the unit earns $9,000. With a 60/40 split, your share is $5,400. A service charge of $1 per m² a month takes $360, leaving $5,040, and 5% tax at source under the tourist enterprise regime leaves $4,788, or about 8.0% of the price. At 120 nights instead of 180 the same unit leaves about $3,080 a year, or 5.1%. The price, the nightly rate, the nights and the split are assumptions for the arithmetic, not market data; use your own figures in our short-stay income calculator.

What the Batumi market looks like

Batumi is a seasonal market with strong summers and quiet winters. Galt & Taggart counted 17,478 apartment sales in 2025, up 15%, with a turnkey price of $1,865 per m², about 12,400 unsold units, foreign buyers at 52% of sales and gross yields on apartments falling from 8.8% to 7.4%. Completions reached about 13,000 units in 2025 and may reach 18,000 in 2026, and about 46,300 of the 58,000 apartments planned for 2025-2029 are aimed at short stays, so new aparthotels compete with a growing stock of flats let by the night. Across Georgia, Geostat counted 2,783 hotels and hotel-type enterprises in 2025, 21.3% of them in Adjara. Our Batumi guide covers the districts and the seasons.

Does an aparthotel unit count for a residence permit?

The law grants a short-term residence permit to the owner of immovable property, other than agricultural land, valued above $150,000 by an accredited valuer. The text does not distinguish between residential and non-residential property. Most single aparthotel units cost far less than the threshold, so the question arises mainly for large units or several units together. See our page on the $150,000 threshold.

What to check before you buy

• The unit is a separate registered unit Your own cadastral code on the extract, not a share in the hotel.
• Tourist enterprise status The Revenue Service decision for this building.
• Who the operator is A named company, its other hotels and how long it has run them.
• How the split is calculated From gross revenue or after which costs, per unit or across a pool.
• All charges Service charge, utilities, furniture replacement, the operator's fees.
• Reports and payments How often you receive statements and money, and your right to check them.
• Any fixed return Who pays it, what secures it and what follows when it ends.
• Your own stays How many days, in which season, booked how far ahead.
• Length of the contract and your exit Notice periods and what happens if the operator leaves.
• Resale Whether a buyer must take over the operating contract.

Selling an aparthotel unit later

Aparthotel units usually sell to other investors, not to people looking for a home, so the pool of buyers is smaller than for an ordinary flat. A buyer will look at the income statements of past years, the remaining length of the contract and the reputation of the operator. With thousands of unsold units in Batumi and more flats being completed, resale prices depend on how the building has performed, and units in buildings with a weak record can take a long time to sell.

Risks and exceptions

• Projected returns. High figures assume high occupancy all year.
• Fixed return offers. They depend on the finances of the company that signs them.
• Seasonality. Winter months can earn little after charges.
• Growing supply. New towers and nightly-let flats compete for the same guests.
• Operator dependence. Your income rests on one company's management.
• Exit. A smaller pool of buyers than for an ordinary flat.

Frequently asked questions

Do I own an aparthotel unit outright?

Yes, if it is registered in your name as a separate unit; the operator only has rights under your contract.

What is a tourist enterprise?

A company with a Revenue Service status for a specific hotel; payments it makes to owners are taxed at 5% at source.

Are fixed returns safe?

They are contractual promises by the company that signs them; check its finances and what secures the payment.

Can I stay in my unit?

Usually for a number of days set in the contract; up to 60 free days a year from a tourist enterprise are exempt from income tax.

What income can I expect?

It depends on occupancy, prices, the split and the charges; work it out from the operator's real statements, not from projections.

Can I let the unit myself?

Only if the contract allows it; in a hotel building the operator usually has the exclusive right.

Does an aparthotel unit qualify for a residence permit?

The law does not exclude non-residential property, but the value must exceed $150,000; the agency's practice is to be confirmed.

Can I sell the unit with the contract?

Yes, and if the buyer takes over a contract with a tourist enterprise, the sale is exempt from VAT.

Sources

1. Tax Code of Georgia (Articles 26.1, 82, 133.2 and 168), Legislative Herald of Georgia (accessed 14 October 2026)
2. Civil Code of Georgia (Article 208), Legislative Herald of Georgia (accessed 14 October 2026)
3. Government Resolution No 279 on the tourist enterprise status, Legislative Herald of Georgia (accessed 14 October 2026)
4. Law of Georgia on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons (Article 15), Legislative Herald of Georgia (accessed 14 October 2026)
5. Sector snapshot: Batumi residential real estate, Investor.ge, 20 April 2026 (accessed 14 October 2026)
6. Record housing completions expected in 2026: Galt & Taggart forecast, International Investment, 30 April 2026 (accessed 14 October 2026)
7. From housing to hotels: how investment in Batumi is changing, International Investment, 3 November 2025 (accessed 14 October 2026)
8. Hotels and hotel-type enterprises, 2025, Geostat, 26 August 2026 (accessed 14 October 2026)
9. Joy Hotel Batumi: valuation report, Public Disclosure Platform (KAP), 19 February 2026 (accessed 14 October 2026)
10. Batumi aparthotel listings (developer offers), Realting (accessed 14 October 2026)

Change log

• 14 October 2026 - Explainer published from the Tax Code (Arts. 26.1, 82, 133.2, 168), Galt & Taggart, Geostat and developer listings.