Editor Pick
Prague (Atrium) Hilton
- February 11, 2007
- Rated 3 of 5 by
Wasatch from heber ctity, Utah
The Prague Hilton is a very comfortable, but expensive, hotel. No problem with our email request for a non-smoking room, confirmed by email by the hotel and provided. The room was large, with a table, two comfortable chairs, plasma TV, a fascinating array of lights and switches, and, except for a somewhat noisy mini-bar, quiet. There was no on-off switch on the mini-bar, but a call to the front desk and some baffling conversations in three languages got it promptly disconnected by the maintenance staff. Staff was pleasant and efficient. Good room darkening curtains. On our first stay, our room, on the 8th floor, overlooked an expressway, the Vlatava, and the green hills across the river. Nice view, and the traffic noise was well blocked.
On our second stay, our email request for a room on the side of the hotel facing Prague Castle was granted– they even emailed back offering us a choice of types of rooms– but, in the intervening year, and insurance company had built a new building directly across the street from the Hilton which blocked most of the view. Phooey on Alliance.
The mini-bar had a good dark Czech beer for $9. We bought the same at a grocery store a block down the street for $1. Lesser beers were as little as 40 cents, and quite good. (Note: Like most European beers, Czech beers are best not refrigerated, but there is the mini bar if you must.) Even if you aren’t after beer, a visit to the grocery is an interesting glimpse into Czech life. The grocery is beside the metro station entrance. Further down the same side of the street as the grocery store is a little ice cream and clebichecky(sp?) shop. Chleb-ee-check–ee(phonetic) are little open face sandwiches eaten as snacks. They are a treat, and one of the do not miss foods of the Czech Republic. Point to what you want in the display case.
An expansive buffet breakfast, included with the room, and a few snacks during the day, carried us until diner time. Food quality was first rate, but not as good as the remarkable breakfasts we had at the Berlin Radisson-SAS Hotel.
Located near the old town, the Hilton is about 10 blocks from the Old Town square. Although walking it was on our list of things to do, we never got around to it, riding the metro, one block from the hotel, instead. With a little study and some interference from drunks panhandling at the metro entrance, we were able to figure out how to get the fare card machine to issue an all day metro-tram-bus pass, a good way to get around town. To get to the metro, go out the front entrance, turn left. Cross two streets. There you are.
From journal Prague Deserves at Least a Week