Inside Noosh, the Almond House of Ashnak
“My grandfather built our house in 1965. Today, that house has become Noosh, the place that brings me back to my childhood.”
A decade ago, traveling across Armenia and finding a place to stay in a village was difficult. Villages weren’t yet seen as ideal spots for tourists to rest and continue their journey. Now, with guesthouses springing up across the country, travelers increasingly look for personal spaces to connect with locals and create lasting memories.
While searching for such a place, I came across Noosh guesthouse in the village of Ashnak, Aragatsotn province. After exploring the website, I knew I had to meet its founder, Ani Hovhannisyan, and hear the story of her grandparents, her childhood and her dream of shaping village life. I picked Ani up in Yerevan, where she was visiting briefly, and we drove to Ashnak to revisit her past and explore the village’s future.
In 2019, Ani, along with her golden-haired friend Gayane, decided to transform her childhood home into “Noosh,” which means “almond” in Armenian. Almond trees still stand in the orchard like quiet lords of the territory. Ani appointed her aunt as kitchen manager and chef, and their journey — full of adventures, unforgettable guests and challenges — began.
When we arrived, the village was bustling with summer activity. Everyone seemed busy, and the main road was under repair. Ani’s presence was unmistakable: every few minutes, we stopped as neighbors greeted her and asked about her wedding preparations. “You can’t imagine how hard it is to make a guest list. All the villagers told my aunt they would come,” Ani laughed.
She now spends most of her time in France, where she graduated from Sorbonne University with a degree in tourism, and where her husband lives. From the start, she planned to turn the family house into a commercial venture, with her aunt and mother managing daily operations.
No visit to an Armenian village is complete without coffee. For the uninitiated, a cup here is never just a drink — it’s served with fruits, nuts, sweets, cakes and more. At Noosh, Ani’s aunt, Anna Hovhannisyan, greeted us warmly and began preparing lunch, starting with the most incredible fried greens.
“You won’t see me resting, because I enjoy doing something,” Anna said. “Sometimes, I climb trees, or we go foraging in the forest with local women. I collected these greens you’re trying now from our mountains.”
Though Anna graduated from vocational school, she never worked in her trained profession. She spent most of her life in the fields but is also a professional dancer of Armenian traditional dances.
“When Ani’s mom married my brother, we were skeptical because she was from Yerevan,” Anna told the Weekly. “But when she said she wanted to learn the dances of Sassoun and join the village’s dancing group, we understood she was strong and determined.”
Ani showed me around, and soon we ran into their neighbor, who lives alone and often stops by for coffee. Ani joked that she reads coffee cups, and we started drinking to encourage her to predict something good. The neighbor spoke fondly of the guesthouse’s impact: villagers who once believed there was nothing to do in Ashnak now see guests arriving from across the globe. At Noosh, visitors learn to make lavash (Armenian flatbread) alongside local women, climb nearby mountains and listen to stories about the village — gathering memories of Armenia to take with them.
“This is my village,” Ani explained. “I’ll be extremely happy if we help it flourish.”
Noosh resembles a graffiti gallery: even the restroom carries the same playful, artistic touch. The guesthouse is managed by Ani’s mother and aunt, who live there year-round, though the property operates seasonally because renovations are ongoing.
“Some people think that having a house in the village is enough to start a guesthouse,” Ani recalled. “But this business requires real effort to make everything comfortable for guests. Visitors who seek a family atmosphere with homemade food will definitely enjoy this kind of place. Those who look for luxury won’t find it here.”
Ani emphasized that she and her family try to help other villagers open guesthouses rather than view them as competitors. Their vision is collective: to make Ashnak a welcoming destination for locals and tourists alike.
There are countless places in this small country that can amaze you, but for me, Armenia has always been about its people. I once met a traveler visiting Armenia for the first time who told me he was in a village in Lori when he felt someone reach into his handbag. Thinking he was being robbed, he turned around and saw an elderly man he had met the day before slipping apricots inside so he wouldn’t leave hungry.
That same instinctive kindness lives in Ashnak, where hospitality isn’t performed for visitors but expressed naturally, in small gestures and everyday care — the very spirit that Noosh hopes travelers will encounter.
All photos are courtesy of Ani Hovhannisyan unless otherwise noted.
