Prague is one city that doesn’t have to persuade tourists to put it on the map. To list its well-documented attractions – architect’s dream, the “100 spires”, cobblestoned streets, that bridge, that clock, that castle – is to state the bleeding obvious; in fact a statement about as self-evident as this one we noted recently: “The Dear Leader’s pronouncements were greeted by ecstatically cheering crowds in Pyongyang.”
From Hungary, Prague’s similarly central European location makes it a short flight or a longish but uncomplicated seven-hour train journey. By car it’s a couple of hours quicker than rail but consider that this is a place where, if you go on a budget, the car could end up in costlier accommodation than you do (probably EUR 30-35 a day to park near the city centre).
However, ever willing to look austerity squarely in the eye, The Budapest Times eschewed one-, two- three- and four-star hostelries on a visit this month and settled in as guests of the five-star Kempinski Hotel Hybernská Prague, only 100 metres from the imposing Powder Tower, one of Prague’s most important medieval monuments (AD 1475), and thus virtually on the border of the Old Town and the New Town (which is, in fact, quite old too).
It is an interesting choice of hotel because in their way the Kempinskis – 79 worldwide and climbing – are a kind of chain, albeit an ultra-luxurious one, but then again they aren’t; because they’re really a collection of individuals, if you will. The joke about regular chain hotels is that you might be staying at a particular one in Manila, Melbourne, Mauritius or Miami and they all look much the same. Sitting in your identikit surroundings, you could forget where you are for a moment.
You can’t say that about the Kempinskis, whose mostly individual owners pride themselves on unique locations and attributes that set them apart, from rivals and even from each other.
So, as said, it’s not a chain in the strict sense, and at the Kempinski Hotel Hybernská Prague, for instance, they like to consider themselves to be much more a boutique hotel, a sector sometimes called “lifestyle hotels” or “design hotels”, namely focusing on being distinctive and offering their up-market services in a comfortable, intimate and welcoming setting. You can scrub all that stuff about the homogeneity of large hotels.
One thing that immediately strikes the eye at the Kempinski Hotel Hybernská Prague and reinforces this feeling is the display of paintings and wooden sculptures by Czech artists that are on display (and sale) near the Lobby Lounge atrium (pictured below) with its fireplace and home-made cakes and afternoon high-tea.
The bigger sculptures are mostly in the private courtyard garden (pictured right), a point of pride at the hotel, covering as it does some 1,800 square metres and containing a baroque fountain and much greenery-topiary around the tables and chairs.
Facts and figures: the Kempinski Hotel Hybernská Prague has been moulded out of a completely reconstructed baroque mansion from the 17th century. The hotel opened in 2008 and the 75 rooms on seven floors are apparently a unique concept in Prague because they include 62 suites, a much higher than normal percentage and giving it the most spacious rooms in the city. At an average 55 square metres it’s difficult to argue.
The two-bedroom Presidential Suite is rather spectacular, as such places usually are, and is a cool 190 square metres, including its own terrace with jacuzzi overlooking the magical skyline of Prague and the courtyard garden. There’s a fireplace plus dining space for up to 20 people. Stay there if your income is in the same bracket as Woody Allen, Julio Iglesias or Ivana Trump, some of the “A-listers” who have been in occupation.
Less-well-heeled types can opt for the Bohemia Two Bedroom Suite, average 140 square metres, Premium suites averaging 70 square metres, Executive one-bedroom suites 54 square metres, Grand Deluxe rooms 44 square metres or Superior rooms 28 square metres.
In our Grand Deluxe there was a commodious living area, kitchenette with microwave and coffee machine, and separate loo. Up a twisting staircase is the king-size bed, office area, second TV and smart bathroom. There are as many cupboards and drawers as any visitor could need.
A little more to chew over: Le Grill Restaurant with international and Czech delicacies (directly above), Two Steps Bar (above and left) with its vaulted Neo-Baroque ceilings and cocktails, and the adjoining Winter Garden annex, a warm and sheltered corner of the garden.
Austerity, what austerity?
Kempinski Hotel Hybernská Prague
Hybernská 12, 110 00 Prague 1
Tel. (+420) 226 226 111
Rates and special offers: see reservations.prague@kempinski.com
www.kempinski.com/prague
Getting there:
By car: Basically one road all the way – M1 motorway Budapest almost to Bratislava and from there straight on to Brno and Prague. About five hours.
By train: Many a day starting at 5.25am from Keleti and finishing with overnighters from Nyugati and Déli stations. Quickest just under seven hours. www.mav.hu/english/index.php