A family-run three-star guest house in Gjirokastër's UNESCO stone city, minutes from the old bazaar, with air-conditioned rooms, balconies, free parking, garden and free WiFi.
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Ahmetaj Guest House is a family-run, three-star property on Rruga Pertef Kokona, on the slope just below the old bazaar of Gjirokastër, the Albanian stone city protected by UNESCO. Guests rate it 9.6 across 710 reviews, awarding a perfect 10 for staff and 9.8 for both location and value for money — the highest marks in the set.
There are seven rooms, from 15 to 30 m². Every one has a private bathroom with a bath and a shower, air conditioning, heating, a flat-screen TV, a desk and a refrigerator. Most of the smaller rooms have parquet floors and a balcony facing the garden, the mountains or the slate roofs of the old town, while the two larger twins open instead onto an outdoor dining area.
Downstairs there is a garden, a sun terrace, a coffee house, a snack bar and a minimarket, plus a barber and beauty shop and an ATM. The tour desk arranges bicycle rental and walking tours. Parking is free on site, WiFi is free throughout, and pets are welcome on request at no extra charge.
Ahmetaj Guest House has seven rooms, and every one of them has a private bathroom with a bath, a shower, a hairdryer and free toiletries. Air conditioning, heating, a flat-screen TV, a desk, a refrigerator and a socket beside the bed are standard throughout. What changes is size and outlook: the Double Room with Mountain View is the largest at 30 m², the Twin Room and the Twin Room with Private Bathroom measure 20 m² and open onto an outdoor dining area, while the four 15 m² rooms have parquet floors, a balcony and a different view each — garden, mountains or the roofs of the stone city. Bed configurations are listed below.
For a family-run guest house the list of extras is unusually long. Parking is free and on site, which matters in a town where the lanes are narrow and steep, and WiFi is free throughout. Outside there is a garden, a sun terrace and an outdoor dining area. On site you will also find a minimarket, a coffee house, a snack bar and a barber and beauty shop, plus an ATM and a currency exchange, handy in a town where cash is still widely used. The tour desk arranges bicycle rental, bike tours and walking tours, while a shuttle service and car hire can be booked. Heating and air conditioning are standard in every room.
Ahmetaj Guest House stands on Rruga Pertef Kokona, on the slope below the old bazaar of Gjirokastër. The city has no airport and no passenger trains, so everyone arrives by road. The closest airport is Ioannina, across the Greek border, about 84 km by road and an hour and a half's drive; most visitors instead fly into Tirana and continue by bus. Coaches leave the North and South Terminal in Tirana through the day, roughly from 05:00 to 20:30, take about four hours and cost around 1,200 lek. From Saranda the trip is far shorter: buses and furgons run between about 06:00 and 17:00, take an hour and cost from around six euros. Buses set you down on the main road in the new town, below the historic centre, from where it is a short taxi ride or a steep walk. Free parking at the guest house makes driving the easiest option of all.
Gjirokastër is the stone city, a UNESCO World Heritage site of slate roofs and Ottoman tower houses stacked above the Drino valley. The old bazaar, about ten minutes uphill, is the natural starting point, with the Ethnographic Museum just beyond it. Two tower houses repay the entrance fee: Skënduli House, open daily from roughly 09:00 to 19:00, and Zekate House, from about 08:00 to 17:00, each around 300 lek. The castle above the town costs about 400 lek and holds a Cold War bunker, the weapons gallery and a captured American aircraft; it stays open until 19:00 in summer and closes at 16:00 out of season. Carry cash, because cards are rarely taken. Further out, the Blue Eye spring lies about 36 kilometres away, roughly an hour by car, with a two-kilometre walk in from the car park. Late spring and early autumn are the kindest seasons; July and August are hot and busy, and the cobbles turn slippery after rain.
