Review: the new Andaz Prague hotel, part of World of Hyatt (Part 2)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

• Matt says:

  9 Jan9 January 07:24

  Free afternoon tea seems to be an Andaz brand thing, it’s served in the lobby at the one on Liverpool Street but isn’t something they advertise very openly (otherwise I’m sure they’d get a few more outside visitors popping in!)

• DevonDiamond says:

  9 Jan9 January 07:38

  Would like to know what Czech Benedict is!

  • AJA says:

    9 Jan9 January 08:06

    At a guess, it’s eggs benedict. I’m not sure whether that’s a typo or a play on words. I rather hope the latter.

    • Rob says:

      9 Jan9 January 08:08

      Not a typo!

  • aseftel says:

    9 Jan9 January 08:12

    Some sort of czech bun, topped with pickled cabbage, Prague ham, poached egg and hollandaise. It was great, ordered it twice. The pickle was a perfect counterpart to the richness of the hollandaise.

• jason says:

  9 Jan9 January 08:18

  Is there any sensible way to get amex MR points into Hyatt’s scheme (or IHG one for that matter)?

  • Rob says:

    9 Jan9 January 08:35

    Amex to Virgin to IHG, but it is basically 1:1:1 which is poor value.

• Tim J says:

  9 Jan9 January 08:50

  Stunning hotel. We stayed 60 metres away at the also excellent Boho hotel in April 22 and popped in to look at the Andaz which had just opened. Although we only saw the ground floor areas, we were totally blown away with the design.

• RussellH says:

  9 Jan9 January 10:29

  I do not think that anyone should be surprised at how good this hotel appears to be. The Czechs have always been excellent at designing things that matter, and very good engineers. (One needs to forget the soviet inspired decline of Škoda designed cars).
  Remember that one of the main reasons Hitler wanted to invade Czecholovakia was for access to Škoda engineering, even if it did not tally with his ideas on Aryan superiority.

  • DevonDiamond says:

    9 Jan9 January 13:03

    Also produced some quite impressive cold war era fighters IIRC

    • Dev says:

      9 Jan9 January 13:40

      And high quality firearms!

      (Probably the only country in Europe that also has a constitutional right to bear firearms a la America!)

      • RussellH says:

        9 Jan9 January 15:09

        Nowhere is perfect!

        And Czechia is also (quite unlike the USA), by a long way, the least religious country in Europe (not at all surprising, when one looks at their history).
        I was once with a group of tour operators literally on the border with Poland (the border being a stream about 7cm deep and 1½ m wide – one our group waded across it just to be able to say she had visited Poland too).
        Our tour guide, who was also an English lecturer at Charles University was asked how much interaction there was across the border. “Almost none”. he replied. “They are terribly pious, and we just are not like that.”

  • Londonsteve says:

    9 Jan9 January 19:05

    No need to mention the decline of Škoda during the Warsaw Pact years. Merely highlight what incredible cars they’re making now, in many respects they’re the most desirable products in the VW Group portfolio. Always beautifully assembled, completely reliable, they drive with a comfort orientated plushness often lacking in other VW Grp products, are usually slightly bigger in any given segment and are filled with intelligent touches.

• Simon says:

  9 Jan9 January 10:41

  Good review, thanks Rob. Definitely adding it to the list.

• Chris W says:

  9 Jan9 January 11:14

  For 300 Euro a night in Prague for a base room, I would expect perfection!

  I recall Prague being one of the cheapest cities in Europe before the pandemic but it sounds like this has now changed.

  • Rob says:

    9 Jan9 January 11:16

    Much of this is down to the £/CZK of course, and I’m sure if you head outside of the Old Town then things are cheaper. That said, I had a (table served) coffee in a cafe on the fringes of the city when I went to buy some glassware my wife wanted and that was still a couple of £. If you want a crepe or similar in the Christmas Market in Old Town Square you are literally looking at Hyde Park Winter Wonderland pricing.

    There has also been a move by the city, of course, to discourage the sort of stag and hen tourism that used to blight Prague in the Summer and encourage those looking for bargain basement breaks to go elsewhere.

    • Chris W says:

      9 Jan9 January 12:27

      Where do they now go elsewhere though? Further east in Europe? Poland? Hungary?

      I thought Prague was happy to be a cheap and cheerful European destination!

      • Carol says:

        9 Jan9 January 14:55

        Amsterdam doesn’t want cheap & cheerful any more, either.

      • Londonsteve says:

        9 Jan9 January 19:15

        Prague has emerged as a paid-up member of the global tourism A-list, it’s not cheap and hasn’t been for some time, the last time it was bargain basement for a western visitor was probably in the year 2000. It may surprise you that local salaries and property prices are about 70% of UK levels. It’s a downright wealthy country as far as European averages are concerned and that’s reflected in the local prices. For VFM Budapest is arguably unbeatable in the EU right now with lagging wages and a weak currency making even the weak pound go far. It’s bigger and arguably more interesting than Prague albeit with less of the chocolate box quaintness. Pretty much half price compared to Prague, now’s an interesting time to visit as it still retains a touch of exoticism without feeling ‘unfamiliar’ like Istanbul or Sofia, whereas Prague largely feels like western Europe.

        • RussellH says:

          9 Jan9 January 19:57

          I would argue that Prague and Bohemia has always been “western Europe”. It only came to be seen as being in the “east” because it was in the soviet area of influence after 1945. Prague is well west of Stockholm, very slightly east of Berlin, well west of Vienna, about the same longitude as Rome + Naples.
          However, Slovakia is arguably “eastern Europe” – it was never part of the Holy Roman Empire, while Bohemia was always was.

        • Carol says:

          9 Jan9 January 20:46

          Have a look at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austria-Hungary#/media/File:Austro-Hungarian_Monarchy_(1914).svg – and the file.

          Austro-Hungarian empire – all of it was Western European in outlook. Including Slovakia.

        • Londonsteve says:

          10 Jan10 January 21:38

          I use east and west Europe in the way it’s commonly deployed in the UK. My parents hail from central Europe so I’m intimately familiar with the region. I agree, Czechia always belonged in the western sphere of influence, but for WW2 most of what’s commonly called eastern Europe today would be considered either western Europe or at least, ‘the west’ when it would come to levels of economic development and living standards. Some of the most culturally rich, architecturally beautiful and industrially advanced countries/societies in Europe before the war ended up becoming imprisoned behind the Iron Curtain.

  • RussellH says:

    9 Jan9 January 15:13

    Prague centre stopped being cheap years ago, but prices will be much lower away from there.
    The one time I was in Brno, a tram ticket was about 15% of the cost in Prague.

• Carol says:

  9 Jan9 January 11:38

  Somebody once said U Fleků to me and they weren’t being at all rude 🙂

  Still a great place to get beer and cheap eats.

  https://en.ufleku.cz

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.