Arriving Prague & the Hotel

Everyone was excited to finally arrive in Prague, as that seems to be the place most talked about these days in traveling circles and the place everyone wants to visit.  When we arrived at the hotel, we were surprised to find the front desk on the front side of the square bar in the middle if the room.  The restaurant was just beyond the bar on the right side with tables extending along the bar both on the back side and across the front.  The lobby, what there was of it, was on the left side and opened to a nice gathering area and lounge with sofas, chairs, and low tables.  With our bus full of people and carry-on luggage arriving at one time, and other people in the area at the time, everything was jammed and confused.  It was the oddest design we have ever seen.

Our second surprise was in the corridor leading to our room, as the corridor was painted black or a very dark color, and there was sparse lighting.  It felt very much like a dungeon or prison.  Since we had been immersed in the experiences of our guides with Communism in Budapest, we all seemed to feel like this was a throw-back to that era.  However, this hotel is newly decorated we were told and it is definitely a very modern, urban, "edgy" style.  The rooms were fine but done in a minimalist style, very modern and simple.  The lounge was actually very nice and we enjoyed sitting down there a couple of times.  In general the decor put off most of our group.  You can check out our room in the photo album with this post.

Prague (pronounced PRA-ha in Czech) is the largest city in the Czech Republic and is the capital.  It is also the historical capital of Bohemia.  Prague has a long history dating back 1100 years to the Romanesque period, and was the capital of the Holy Roman Empire.  Today it is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world and is the 6th most visited city in Europe.  To learn more about Prague's rich history, see Prague in Wikipedia.