Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide and Nurol Insaat ve Ticaret have announced the official opening of the Sheraton Batumi Hotel, Georgia.

The 203-room hotel is the first internationally branded property in the emerging Black Sea destination of Batumi and the second Sheraton hotel in Georgia, joining the Sheraton Metechi Palace in Tblisi. Situated within minutes of the center of Batumi, the white tower of the hotel has been designed in the style of the Batumi lighthouse of Alexandria, built by Alexander the Great in 290 BC. Batumi itself is Georgia's main port, located close to the Turkish border.

The hotel offers an all-day dining restaurant, the Sunflower, and a lounge restaurant and bar called Veronica. Its ballroom is the largest in Batumi at more than 10,000sq ft (929sq m) and for smaller meetings and conferences the hotel has six other meeting rooms and a fully equipped business center. Leisure amenities include an 8,000sq ft (743sq m) Shine Spa for Sheraton, plus indoor and outdoor swimming pools and the brand's signature fitness offering - Sheraton Fitness by Core Performance.

An independently operated casino, with a separate entrance, will be located on the ground floor.