Posts Tagged ‘Czech Republic’
It’s been a long while since I stayed in a hotel in Prague. Four and a half months, to be exact, and regular readers will remember my review of the 987 Prague Hotel from back in July. Furthermore, I’ve never had the chance to stay at a Jurys Inn (Map | Book), the bright and beaming little Irish hotel chain that is dotted all over the Emerald Isle and the U.K., so I was delighted when the General Manager of Jurys Inn Prague invited me for a behind-the-scenes tour of his 4-star property.
Sitting on a quiet corner in an quaint Baroque building that is, by Prague standards, simple, the 987 Prague Hotel (Map | Book) is a refreshing clean space in an increasingly crowded city. Especially if you visit Prague during the summer, you will find the city near filled to capacity with admiring visitors all clamouring to get a good look at just what makes the Golden City so golden.
Run by 987 Hotels, the 4-star Prague 987 has a sister hotel in Barcelona, and there is another in Prague, confusingly called the 987 Soho. It’s not surprising that we’ve been hearing a lot of Spanish around the breakfast area each morning, and the clean design seems to have attracted plenty of Scandinavian guests, as well.
The theme here is an incredibly modern, almost-space age atmosphere, complete with white bubble furniture and an orange, plastic, see-through lift, but all is done in autumnal hues of orange, brown, red and grey, lifting the warmth of the place over its incredibly stylised aesthetic.
A double room here is spacious enough by European standards and comes as a fully remodelled space within an older room, so you still benefit from the tall Central European windows and lofty ceiling. An outer sink is situated between the shower and toilet, which are very conveniently located in their own separate water closets.
Downtstairs, the lobby is punctuated by a long breakfast nook-slash-bar, where you can take in your free morning fare (which is quite an impressive spread of cold cuts, cheeses, fruits, breads, pastries, muesli and beverages) or eat a later meal or have a drink. The 987 Prague also offers room service.
Being that this is Prague, it is difficult to escape the familiar rumble of the street trams that constantly chug through the city, and indeed there is a tram line that runs adjacent to the hotel. The sweet sounds of trams running into the night is not enough to bother but the most sensitive sleepers, though, and has not even remotely been a problem for us.
The 987 Prague Hotel’s location is also quite convenient, as it is not entirely in the middle of the city, but on a less congested corner a few streets away. It takes about 5 minutes to walk to the gaping Wenceslas Square, and perhaps another 10 to make it to Old Town Square and the Charles Bridge. All things considered, they could not have picked a better locale if they tried.
The hotel’s free wifi service (in-room and lobby) has been an incredible convenience, as well, and the room has perhaps the largest number of outlet plugs of any hotel room I’ve ever stayed in.
To find a fault in the 987 Prague Hotel, for the first 24-hours we were staying here, our keys had to be re-coded at least four times, which was only a slight inconvenience, and the staff has been more than helpful with the process each time.
A night’s stay in the most basic of rooms at the 987 Prague Hotel (which still comes with wifi, flatscreen TV and minibar) runs an astonishingly cheap £71, while the Junior Suite, which has its own living room, is only £129 per night.
987 Prague Hotel
Senovážné náměstí 15, 110 00
Praha 1
+420-255-737-200-4
www.987hotels.com
Today is Earth Day, so here at UK Hotel Map we decided to round up a few of the best eco-friendly hotels in Europe into one blog post. As environmental awareness is becoming the norm worldwide, so many hotels have jumped on the green bandwagon, utilising eco-friendly practices that range from water-saving techniques to solar power, among many others.
Hotel Kursaal & Ausonia - Florence, Italy
Official site | Map | Book
This eco-hotel in the heart of Florence (pictured above) has recently remodelled to use energy-saving infrastructure. The central heating and air con units also produce hot water, rooms are installed with energy-saving lightbulbs and water-saving faucets and all of the cleaning products used by the hotel are biodegradable.
Hotel Gavarni – Paris, France
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Just a few steps from the Eiffel Tower, this Parisian delight was the first hotel in the city to be awarded the European Ecolabel. 100% of the hotel’s electricity comes from renewable energy sources, bathrooms are equipped with flow-control showers, they implement a stringent recycling regime (including recycling options inside each guestroom) and offer organic breakfasts to guests. They also subsidise their staff members to take public transportation to work.
Ariston Hotel – Milan, Italy
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Hotel Ariston was the first hotel in Italy to be designed according to “bio-architectural” criteria. In the breakfast room, guests are presented with a “bio” corner that offers a selection of organic and green options, and they serve purified water.
Hotel Alexandra – Copenhagen, Denmark
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This design hotel is the only one in Copenhagen to have received the “Green Key” for its eco-friendly facilities, which includes an allergy-friendly floor (where all furnishings, bedding and products are sensitive to allergies). The hotel is completely CO2 neutral, and they are fully committed to avoiding unnecessary waste and the disuse of harming chemicals.
Chateau Mcely - Mcely, Czech Republic
Official site | Map | Book
This forest retreat is considered one of the greenest hotels in the world. All of their energy comes from renewable sources like wind and solar. They use captured rainwater to hydrate the forest park that surrounds the hotel, and they meticulously sort all of their waste, including hazardous items such as electronics and printer cartridges, as well as all of the waste collected in guestrooms.
Photo by hotelkursaal&ausonia.
