In the 1960s and 70s, Dombay, a small village that now has a permanent population of just over 650 people, began to develop rapidly as a ski resort. By 2021, 107 hotels of different comfort and cost of living have been built here for lovers of winter entertainment. Andersen is one of the new local hotels that have already proven themselves well.
Hotel Location
The five-storey building of the hotel “Andersen”,which began to receive vacationers in 2016, is located in the western part of the village on Alanskaya Street. Dombay – this name can be translated as “bison” – is located in the very south of Karachay-Cherkessia. The distance to the Abkhaz border is 4.68 km.
The village is located in a picturesque intermountain basin, which is often called Dombai glade. This picturesque place, lying at an altitude of 1600 m, is surrounded by glaciers, mountain peaks, dense coniferous forests and firn fields, which are layers of perennial snow cover. Distances from Dombay to other important objects:
- 210 km – to the nearest airport located in Mineralnye Vody;
- 120 km – to Cherkessk, the capital of the Republic;
- 20 km – to Teberda – a small neighboring town;
- 230 km – to the airport in Stavropol.
Near the hotel “Andersen” there are several hotels, a mosque, police and administration buildings, two grocery stores, a clothing market and several cozy cafes. The village is located in the south of the Teberda Reserve at the confluence of three rivers: Dombai-Ulgen, Amanauz and Alibek. Dombay is a compact resort, stretching from north to south for 1.82 km, from west to east – from 240 to 1230 m. Therefore, from the hotel “Andersen” you can easily and quickly get to any place in the village.
Pay attention! The distance from the hotel to the nearest cable car station, located on Rescuers Street, is 450 m. To the other two stations from the Andersen Hotel – a little more than 0.5 km. Not far from the resort there is a ski area.
Room stock
Hotel Andersen offers accommodation in 25 comfortable rooms of different capacities, equipped with everything necessary for relaxation. The hotel is designed for 46 people. In a small cozy hall you can sit on a wide sofa or in soft armchairs. The interior of the room, like other halls of the hotel “Andersen”, is decorated in warm brown tones. High ceilings and windows expand the space of a small hall.
The feeling of comfort is created thanks to the elegant caravages on the ceiling, a large round clock with a giant dial, as well as a decorative pattern of shelves with birch logs depicted on the walls. Hotel “Andersen” in Dombai offers guests rest and accommodation in six types of rooms:
| type | total area (sq. m)) | Bed |
| double | 20 | 1 double |
| Standard Double | 20 | 2 single beds |
| single | 14 | 1 single |
| apartment | 37 | 1 double bed and sofa bed |
| Deluxe | 28 | 1 double |
| standard quadruple | 38 | 2 single and 1 double |
60% of the rooms offer views of the mountain ranges surrounding the village. In the remaining rooms, from the windows you can see part of the slopes or buildings on the opposite side of the street. Each room is equipped with pieces of furniture and appliances that are required for a comfortable stay after skiing:
- round table;
- two chairs;
- wardrobe or hangers;
- bedside tables;
- flat-screen TV receiving several satellite channels of Russian television;
- bathroom with shower;
- mirrors on the walls of the bathroom.
Importantly! Check-in to the hotel begins at 14:00. If necessary, earlier settlement is possible. Departure from the Andersen Hotel starts at 12:00.
The corridors of the hotel are decorated with paintings in the style of fairy tales by G. Andersen. The hotel provides a range of services for vacationers:
- guests can book a transfer from the airport of Stavropol or Mineralnye Vody or from the railway station in Cherkessk, Nevinnomyssk or Pyatigorsk;
- to move inside the hotel from one floor to another equipped with a glass elevator, from where you can admire the surrounding mountain landscapes;
- guests of the hotel have the opportunity to store skis in special rooms;
- the staff of the hotel “Andersen” will gladly help in choosing and booking excursions to interesting places in the region;
- free Internet is available almost throughout the hotel;
- motorists can park their car in the compact parking lot next to the Andersen Hotel.
More information. Reservations can be cancelled free of charge at least one week before arrival at the hotel.
The cost of living depends on the specific month and room category. Booking is most profitable and safe to make on the official website of the hotel “Andersen”. Current prices for different months of 2021 in thousands of rubles for one day of stay:
- January: 7.0–11.5;
- February: 8.5–12.5;
- March: 7.0–10.5: 8.0–11.0 on holidays of the month.
Oleg Khokhlov, Krasnodar: We had a rest with the company at the Andersen Hotel in February 2020. To the cable cars, as they say, a stone’s throw. We booked two rooms on the 4th and 5th floors. The view is unrealistically stunning: snow-capped mountain slopes, pine and fir forests. Especially beautiful during sunset. Both rooms were clean. Pleased with the spacious bathroom. The staff is nice in every sense. We had breakfast in the hotel restaurant and lunch and dinner in different cafes on the slopes. The local cuisine did not disappoint. The rest as a whole turned out to be very intense.
Meals in the hotel and resort
Lovers of delicious dishes will not be disappointed with the food in the restaurant of the hotel “Andersen”. The gastronomic establishment provides a spacious hall, the interior of which is decorated in light and dark brown tones. On the walls hang paintings with scenes from the fairy tales of the famous Danish writer.
Note! The cost of breakfast, which is served in the restaurant, is included in the room price. Lunches and dinners are charged separately.
The decoration of the restaurant is a large electric fireplace, in the upper part of which the inscription “Andersen” is clearly visible. Thanks to the panoramic windows, guests can view the mountain and forest landscapes of the surroundings of the winter resort. Soft sofas, curtains, comfortable armchairs, plants on the windowsills – all this creates a cozy atmosphere in the restaurant hall.
The gastronomic institution offers visitors Russian, Georgian and European dishes. The wine list presents a fairly wide selection of a variety of alcoholic beverages. Vacationers can expand their opportunities and are not limited to the restaurant of the hotel “Andersen”. In Dombai for guests of the ski resort open the doors of dozens of small and homely cozy cafes. The closest to the hotel are several gastronomic establishments:
- Orion;
- “Alibek”;
- “Spring”;
- “Fortress”;
- “At Zuli’s”;
- “Crystal”;
- Edelweiss;
- “Pearl”;
- “Golden Fleece”;
- “Teberda”.
In the café of the resort, tourists are happy to get acquainted with the taste of local cuisine. In the gastronomic establishments of the village are served khychiny – large round cakes with meat or cheese filling – pilaf, pita bread, fried trout, lagman – a type of noodles – and much more.
Natalia Zueva, Stavropol: Rested in December 2020 with my son. The room is clean and quite spacious. I liked the fact that there was a balcony from which the surroundings were clearly visible. In sunny weather, the mountain landscapes looked especially beautiful, as if in a fairy tale. I loved the restaurant of the Hotel Andersen. First, friendly waiters. Secondly, delicious fish dishes. Thirdly, from the high windows are clearly visible mountain slopes covered with green coniferous forests.
Entertainment in the hotel and at the resort
In the hotel “Andersen” stay passionate fans of skiing and snowboarding. This category of tourists is not accustomed to a long time is inside the hotel. Therefore, leisure time in the hotel is limited to watching television programs, visiting a small sauna or surfing the Internet. Next to the hotel there is a cozy barbecue area with the equipment necessary for this popular activity.
Most of the guests of the hotel “Andersen” actively relax and have fun in the village. For tourists of different ages there are many exciting activities:
- walks on obedient horses in the picturesque surroundings; the nearest equestrian club is located on the street Rescuers about 400 m from the hotel;
- classes in ski schools located near the lower stations of cable cars; experienced instructors will help tourists who want to learn how to stay well on skis or snowboarding and conquer mountain slopes;
- relaxed rest in the Russian bath of the health center “Dombay”;
- visiting observation platforms, from where you can look at beautiful natural landscapes for a long time; most tourists seek to capture fabulous views of snow-capped mountain ranges with the help of smartphones, cameras or video cameras; the most popular observation decks are located next to two hotels: “Fortress” and “Flying Saucer”.
The ski resort opens its season in mid-December. Tourists ride on the mountain slopes until early April and longer. Not far from the hotel “Andersen” are the lower stations of three cable cars. Snowboard and ski trails are equipped on the southwestern slopes of Mussa Achitara, a mountain range where the active life of the resort is concentrated.
Steep elevation changes are characteristic of the lower part of the surface of the mountain. At the top of the track are more even. The ski area is located between two maximum heights: 1630 m (bottom) 3012 m (top). In terms of complexity, there are four varieties of tracks: green, blue, black and red. Their total length is 25 km. Skiers climb from the lower stations to the upper ones with the help of five complexes of cable cars:
- rope towing;
- Yugoslav;
- single- and pair-chaired;
- pendulate;
- new gondola.
More information. For beginners there are special training trails. Equipment for snowboarding and skiing can be purchased at rental stations scattered throughout the resort. Prices in those of them that are closer to the highways are noticeably higher than in the village.
For young guests of the hotel there are many interesting activities at the resort. Instructors of ski schools teach children of different ages skiing on special training slopes. After 3-4 classes, young amateur athletes already have a good command of technique, and at the end of the full course they are able to go down simple tracks no worse than adults.
No less interesting for children horseback riding. Instructors help young tourists learn to firmly stick to an obedient horse and control the animal during the trip. A few hours spent by young vacationers in the equestrian club, will give them a lot of delight and pleasant minutes.
Not far from the hotel there is a platform equipped for tubing. Children are happy to rush from a low slippery slide on an inflatable sled. Another entertainment that causes no less delight among young tourists is the “flight” on a hang glider. The aircraft moves along the rope to which it is attached. The attraction helps young daredevils to feel like real hang gliders.
More information. Parents can stay at the Andersen Hotel with children of any age. If necessary, for young tourists, you can install a crib in the room. The restaurant offers special high chairs.
Excursions and attractions
The surroundings of Dombay are rich in natural sites that are interesting for guests of the resort. In winter, most of the attractions are inaccessible to inquisitive travelers. To those natural sites that are located near the village, you can get on your own or as part of many hours of excursions organized by local and republican travel companies.
Almost all the natural attractions of the resort are located on the territory of the Teberda Reserve, which occupies a huge territory of 69.53 thousand hectares. Among the most interesting places there are several objects:
- Alibek waterfall, located in the gorge of the same name about 5 km from the village; its height is 25 m; in winter, the creation of nature resembles a frozen ice sculpture of a bizarre shape;
- cemetery of climbers, located 3 km from the resort; inscriptions and photographs on stone tombstones tell about the conquerors of the peaks who died in these places from 1960 to 2003 during avalanches or for other reasons;
- two lakes known for clear and unusually clear water: Tumanly-Kol and Turye; the first of the reservoirs got its name because of the misty haze hanging over it in the warm season; the second – because of the tours that come here for a watering hole;
- Alibek glacier, gradually melting and descending lower to the forest strip; its area is 900 hectares;
- “Devil’s Mill” – such a magical name is the canyon and the waterfall and mountain river located here; the natural object got its unusual name because of the rapid flow of water and a narrow hollow; tourists who get here can admire the miracle of nature from a small observation deck, equipped on the slope of the cliff above the valley;
- Sentinsky Orthodox Church, located near the Lower Teberda – aul 44 km from Dombay; a sacred structure, erected in the X century during the Alan state, rises on a hill above the picturesque valley; inside the building preserved part of the ancient frescoes.
Note! Entrance to the reserve is paid. The price relevant for January 2021 is 150 rubles for one visitor.
Experienced lovers of alpine skiing and snowboarding recommend that guests of the resort take with them or purchase during their holidays in Dombai a sunscreen that protects against sunbathing, as well as special accessories for skiers: gloves, jacket, mask and glasses. All this will help to avoid unpleasant consequences that tourists may encounter in the mountains in sunny weather, even if the thermometer shows sub-zero temperatures.
Accommodation in one of the rooms of the Hotel Andersen guarantees guests a carefree and comfortable stay. Friendly staff will take care of the rest of tourists who, without thinking about everyday issues, can enjoy snowboarding or skiing on snow-covered mountain slopes.
