In short
Ilyan Vladimirov is the founder, principal designer and majority partner of BAGHI Wellness Resort, a six-lodge retreat under construction in Erge village, Adjara, Georgia. He brings to the project a fifteen-year career in luxury hospitality in the United Arab Emirates — work that began in events production, expanded into venue operations, and culminated in his ownership of the Eleven Spa brand inside Marriott Al Jaddaf, Dubai.
BAGHI is the most personal of his projects — built slowly, with his own funds, on a single south-facing slope he found in the mountains of Adjara. He has been continuously on the land since 2023.
Career arc
Ilyan moved to the United Arab Emirates in the early 2010s and built a career producing the openings of luxury hospitality venues — restaurants, lounges, beach clubs, hotels — eventually managing a portfolio that crossed several emirates. By the late 2010s he had moved from production into operation, taking on the running of spa and wellness venues inside major hotel groups.
In 2019 he founded Eleven Spa at Marriott Al Jaddaf — a wellness spa that became one of the most-talked-about treatment menus in Dubai's hotel sector. He sold the brand and the operating company in 2023, the same year he committed to BAGHI.
He is the principal of Spark Digital UAE, the production company that continues to produce hospitality openings and editorial work for global brands. Spark Digital UAE is the editorial home of the BAGHI brand.
Events production for restaurants, lounges and clubs across Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Built a small production team and a vendor network that still operates today.
Led the openings of multiple luxury venues across the UAE. Portfolio crossed several emirates; specialised in soft-opening sequencing, brand voice and operational rhythm.
Took on running spa and wellness venues inside major hotel groups. First exposure to the day-to-day operations of treatment menus, practitioner teams, and nutrition protocols.
Founded and owned Eleven Spa, a wellness spa inside Marriott Al Jaddaf, Dubai. The brand and operating company were sold in 2023.
Found the BAGHI slope above Erge village in Adjara, Georgia. Began designing the project with the MESTO architectural bureau. Continuously on the land since then. Soft opening is May 2027.
Philosophy
A short collection of operating principles that recur in his work — drawn from the Dubai years and adapted for the slope in Adjara.
"A great stay is not designed for an average guest. It's designed for one — and the one becomes everyone."
"The room is the rule. If a room is right, the menu writes itself."
"Quietness is not a tone. It's an operational discipline."
"You can hear a place before you can see it. Build the sound first."
Public work
Selected speaking engagements and interviews. Some are public, some private — listed here for context, not for promotion.
A current list is shared on request via the concierge.
Why BAGHI
After fifteen years of producing openings and operations for other people's brands, Ilyan wanted to build one of his own — and to build it quietly, without the noise of a launch year. A single site, six lodges, twelve guests at a time, four programs shaped on arrival. The opposite of an opening.
Georgia was chosen for the air, the food, the safety, the short flight, and the long, slow rhythm of the Adjarian mountains. Erge was chosen for the slope itself — south-facing, forest on three sides, a bamboo grove behind, the Chorokhi river below, and the Black Sea visible at dusk. The waterfall at the top of the valley is part of the soundtrack. The mosque a short walk away gives the place its azan.
He has been on the land continuously since 2023, with his own capital — no bank debt, no outside investors yet. The project is currently in its soft-opening phase, and a small Exclusive Advance Reservation opens the property to first guests before May 2027.
