Prague, Czech Republic Hotels and Apartments

Located between the Charles Bridge and the Castle opposite of the U.S. Embassy this 500 years old Palace is all you look for! Even an Asian Spa with ladies from Bali! Very friendly staff. Perfect stay.

My wife and I stayed at the Alchymist 6 nights. Our very first impression of the hotel was through it\'s car service pick-up at the airport. We had arranged to be picked-up by their Jeep Cherokee. What a surprise it was when the driver who met us in the arrivals hall told us that we were in for a very special ride. It turns out that the Jeep was in for servicing and our \"ride\" to the hotel was to be in a 1952 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud. We felt like celebs as we were driven through central Prague to the hotel, where we were greeted by two hotel staff awaiting our arrival.

The hotel, owned by an Italian company, is an exercise in opulent Barogue-on-steroids style. Over-the- top would be an understatement. But it was a delightful treat to be staying in such overstated luxury.

The front desk staff were friendly and accomodating and handled our requests for dinner reservations and cultural performances tickets with great effiency. The room, at 240 Euros per night including breakfast, was well maintained with ample closet space and bathroom facilities. The absence of a tub in the bathroom was a disappointment, as was the bed, which was rock hard. Our room accessed a small courtyard which contained a fountain with no water and no seating area.

The breakfast, while served in a very lovely on-premises restaurant, was very sub-standard re quality and variety. Everyday was the same thing and I questioned the freshness of food because of it\'s sameness. The salmon was not as pink and fresh as one would like to see. Cheeses never varied from the very bland offerings, and the American-style eggs and sausages was very overdone - to such an extent that we never tried them. Coffee was cooked to long and tasted burnt. We even skipped breakfast all together twice in order to enjoy coffee and croissants at local cafes.

The Alchymist, directly next to the US Embassy, is in a very desirable location in Mala Strana. Remote enough to escape the mass of people in Old Town and Charles Bridge areas, but close enough to walk to all major areas. It\'s also very close to public transportation.

The Alchymist tries very hard to be a player in a crowded field of luxury hotels buts comes up a bit short. It\'s a solid three-star now in our opinion but has a way to go to become a four-star, particulalry in the area a breakfast service and consistency of room attendance.

If you are looking for something very different re style and close to all, but off the beaten path, then a short stay at the Alchymist may meet your needs.

I stayed in Alchymist Hotel with my wife for honeaymoon for 3 nights using their honeymoon package, when we booked it on last minute. It was really unforgettable experience for us since we arrived to hotel and meet very friendly staff and domestic atmosphere of this beautiful mansion, just few minutes from the famous Charles Bridge and with romantic view on Prague Castle. A Junior Suite was offered to us. We wanted to go outside to see Prague immediately upon our arrival, but actually our room was so nice and comfortable, that we stayed couple of ours in there finally...All this place has unforgettable atmosphere, feeling like in some fairy tale. Part of our honeymoon package was also dinner in Aquarius Restaurant where we met with professional service and food was actually fantastic as we could choose from rich offer of Italian/ Mediterean cuisine. Our 3- course menu was delicious.
We can only recommend this magic place altogether with their underground Balineese Spa treatment, which was also part of our package.
Already looking forward to spend there nice time on next year...
Barbara and Mike