Tbilisi - Post Report Question and Answers
What is the availability and cost of household help, and what types of help are typically employed by expatriates?
I didn't use household help, but several members of the community did and were happy with the experience. - Aug 2024
Household help is plentiful, but I recommend going outside of the embassy pool as there is a "nanny mafia". They overcharge Americans and fight amongst one another if they find out that someone new is offering lower prices. The most ideal situation is get someone local to find someone for you, so you don't get foreigner prices. The challenge is that you have to either speak Georgian or Russian to communicate with them. - Aug 2024
When I left most housekeepers were asking for $6-7/hour, whereas locals pay $18-25 for a full day. I did not think the quality of services provided by housekeepers was commensurate with cost or worth the headache. - Aug 2023
Help is fairly inexpensive. Housekeeper, nanny, driver, errand runner, gardener are typical. - Sep 2022
You can get good household help, although you pay a bit more for someone who speaks good English. I had a difficult time finding someone who both cooked and cleaned. - Jun 2020
Many people have housekeepers, and a few have drivers because driving is a bit crazy in Georgia. Generally fairly cheap. - Jan 2019
Widely available. We pay 50 lari for a cleaning lady once a week (approximately $20 for 7 hours of work). She's fantastic. - Apr 2017
House help can be very cheap - $4 to $5 an hour. - Feb 2017
Cost is low, many seem to be available. - May 2016
The cost of domestic help was quite low. - Jul 2014
Not particularly inexpensive, but available. Domestic help needs to be told explicitly what you would like done and how; initiative is severely lacking, so be sure to be clear on your expectations. - Oct 2011
Not cheap, but available. - Sep 2011
Readily available and very cheap. - Apr 2011
Available and very affordable. - Jun 2010
Fairly available and not TOO pricey, but not as cheap as some other places. Hired help generally lacks training, though, and you will need to be VERY explicit about what you want. Expecting domestic help to see and take care of a problem with their own ambition will probably lead to disappointment. - Oct 2009
About US$15/day. Another poster suggested getting someone new rather than an "expat retread."I disagree. It all depends. There is something to be said for getting someone who has already been trained in U.S. ways of doing things, knows expectations, etc. If they are lazy, then fire them. We did. - Jan 2009
