Historic caravanserai turned into a hotel room

In Rize, the serenders that were mainly used in the past for storing food have turned into hotel rooms. Typically, these wooden serenders, which were built on four poles and had a room-like structure, with a round wooden piece intersecting the poles resembling a wheel to prevent rodents from climbing, were used to store food on the upper part to protect it from rodents, and to store hay prepared in summer for the animals raised mostly in the barn in the lower part. These serenders were also an indicator of wealth. The lower parts of these serenders, which were installed near many houses, were filled with hay stored for the cattle raised in the barn. This forgotten local architecture has become a source of inspiration for families in Rize.
Recep Kurtoğlu and his sons, living in the Ardeşen district of Rize in Fırtına Valley, bought a serender that was on the verge of decay and was an essential part of the past in the Eastern Black Sea region, but when they couldn’t place it on their village land, they relocated it to a different area. The family started using the serender mainly for drinking tea with close relatives and friends. Later, as the demand increased, they converted the serender into a hotel room. The family transformed the lower part into a bathroom, living room, and kitchen, while they allocated the upper floor as a bedroom. Responding to the increasing demand, the Kurtoğlu family increased the number of serenders they made to 5 while preserving their authenticity.
“We tried not to alter the original”
Recep Kurtoğlu, who stated that they started using serenders as hotel rooms without altering their originality, said, “Actually, I initially bought it to place it in front of my house. I love historical artifacts. When it didn’t fit there, we had to bring it here. The kids especially wanted this place. It wasn’t initially for commercial purposes. We did it just for ourselves. We are entirely in favor of naturalness. We tried to make everything authentic. These structures are at least 150-200 years old. We tried not to alter the original. We wanted to revive the past without compromising its authenticity.”
“We keep Rize’s life alive here”
Burak Kurtoğlu, stating that they introduce the life of Rize by distancing the guests from city life, said, “The biggest feature of this place is its complete naturalness. We have structures here that are 150-200 years old. We have 5 different serender houses. There is not even a single nail in any of them. Our ancestors put them together by interlocking the boards. Back then, these were used as storerooms. They were used to store food products to prevent pests like mice from reaching them when our ancestors ground products like corn. That was their main purpose of use. They were quite common in our region. Some owners started breaking them down to make firewood. Some of them started to decay. They lost their value. This incident happened haphazardly. The friend who actually led us into this business was rotting the serender. He sold it to us because he couldn’t take care of it. It was too big for our village, so we couldn’t use it there. We set it up on a flat area to have our friends come and have tea. Then, when there was a lot of demand, we thought, why not turn it into an accommodation. We started with one. Now we have 5 different serender houses. We bought serender houses from different villages of Rize and brought them here without compromising their naturalness. We designed the interiors in a way that can provide hotel services. The biggest feature of this place is its naturalness. Anyone who comes here, even for 2-3 days, gets away from city life. We keep Rize’s life alive here.”
“Sleeping here is an indescribable feeling for me”
Kaan Kurtoğlu, drawing attention to the history of serenders, said, “The serender is about 150 years old. The moment you enter, you smell the wood. Especially on rainy days, sleeping here is an indescribable feeling for me. People who come here also think the same way. These serenders were used as storerooms in the past. Since there were no refrigerators, people used to store food products here. Because they were elevated from the ground, animals like mice couldn’t reach the food. They were used in this way.”