Prague, Czech Republic Hotels and Apartments

My wife & I stayed at the Hotel Jeleni Dvur in Prague from Aug 12 to 17. The hotel is only a short drive from the airport, taxi cost was 600 - 700 CK (£15 - £17). The hotel is situated just outside the city centre & 2 minutes walk from Prague Castle, there is also a tram stop right outside the hotel with two services running either way every 5 minutes to & from city centre, the tram journey is only 10 minutes. The hotel is clean & tidy & offers an excellent continental breakfast to get your day started, the hotel staff are extermely helpful & all speak good english. Rooms at the front of the hotel do suffer from a bit of noise from outside traffic but nothing exterme, as the area is more suburban. I would recommend this hotel as a good budget hotel for anybody as it offers good value for money as well as being a very good hotel.

I stayed at this hotel for 5 nights with my partner and my first response was that it was immaculately clean. We had a double room at the front of the building which was spacious and the bathroom was tiled and impeccable. However, there were a few problems...

Firstly, they do not give you complimentary soap (only handwash) or shampoo, so we had to go and buy some. However, towels and showercaps (if you need them) are provided. Also in terms of the bathroom, a potential problem is that the shower is placed halfway down the wall at waist height and there is no shower curtain. This means that you have to keep taking the showerhead off to wash, unless you sit down to shower (you can of course, bathe) and as a result, the floor can become wet and slippery. This could be quite dangerous and for us, the floor sometimes took a while to dry.

There was no air-conditioning and when it\'s 20-30 degrees centigrade, it\'s very hot in the room. We were caught in a catch-22 situation, as to stay cool, we had to have the windows open, but the noise from the road was unbearable and as a lightsleeper, I couldn\'t sleep and had to buy ear-plugs. In the winter, with the windows closed, it would probably be okay.

There was no tea or coffee machine in the room, but they provided 2 glasses. There was no mini-bar, but you can purchase drinks (and cosmetics) from reception. We almost had a problem with this, as we\'d paid for our room and needed a drink, but when I offered the receptionist money, she asked for something smaller, which we didn\'t have. She wanted to charge it to the room, which there was no point in doing as we\'d paid, and said giving her 200CZK didn\'t help her. Well, when we refused to charge it to the room, she managed to get us the change, but I wasn\'t impressed that it seemed too much trouble. Plus the bottled drink I bought was out-of-date.

Breakfast was okay. It was buffet style with cereals, yoghurt, herbal teas, coffee, cold meat/cheese, a variety of bread rolls and 2 hot items each day. The bread selection was very good, but it got boring after a few days, as scrambled egg was there every day, smoked frankfurter sausages for 3 days and what tasted like warm ham (I originally thought it was bacon) on bread for 2 days. If you like your hot breakfast, the variety is thus limited. There was also a lot of shell in my egg on one morning, which put me off slightly.

The location is out of the main hustle and bustle of Prague, although the road outside can get very busy and noisy. The tram stops outside across the road and it takes 10-15mins to get into the main centre. This was a pleasurable experience.

I don\'t think I\'d stay here again.

I have just came from 5 days in Praha and I stayed at Hotel Jeleni Dvur. It\'s an old building, which won an architectural award for its reconstruction. The hotel is located in a top of a hill, but has a tram stop right in front of the main door. From there you can take trams 22 or 23 and in 4 stops (5 minutes) you get out at the beginning of Charles Bridge. If you want to go to the castle, you leave the hotel and turn right on the first street, it\'s about 5/10 minutes walk.

Pros: It\'s very easy to get the city centre from the hotel and vice-versa; staff is helpful and provides the help you need; rooms are very comfortable and clean; decoration is nice; very good breakfast; lots of information and maps about praha, every day in the morning you can get a leaflet with tips and the weather conditions; no noise at all, you can have a peaceful night sleep;

Cons: From or to the airport, if you don\'t want to take the bus and a tram, you should pay for a taxi (more than € 15,00); you should take tram 22 or 23 to go and return from the city centre (but they are so punctual and fast, I don\'t think it\'s negative).

I recommend this hotel