Where to Stay

Since the Velvet Revolution in late 1989 and the opening up of its borders, the Czech Republic - and Prague in particular - has seen an enormous explosion in tourism resulting in major building and renovation programmes to accommodate the influx of leisure and business visitors.

With its luxurious 5-star hotels, one-room apartments in private houses, country houses and converted castles, budget accommodation and botels, Prague can now begin to rank itself as one of the best cities for people to visit with accommodation available to suit a wide variety of tastes and budgets. With the great increase in the number of rooms available, there is now accommodation to be had at any time of the year - even at the last minute (although, as always, it is advisable to book in advance).

Over recent years, major Western hotel chains have established themselves in Prague, including familiar names like Hilton, Marriott, Radisson, Best Western, Quality/Choice, and more. The hotels generally offer excellent facilities and efficient service.

Prague has become a popular place (with its Central European location along international transport routes) for major companies and organisations to hold their annual conferences and conventions as well as major meetings. Most major hotels have business centers within their building, offering fax and e-commerce communication as well as secretarial, translation and interpreting services, conference and function rooms of varying sizes with full catering and modern business technology (e.g. audio visual equipment).

Nearly all of Prague's hotels offer 24-hour service and accept major credit cards, and English and German are widely spoken - it is only in the smaller guest houses that language may be a difficulty. Parking in some areas can be a problem and it would be a good idea to check on this prior to a definite booking. In the Old Town for example, space is limited and the only parking available may be on the street.

While the more luxurious hotels cater to the wealthy and offer their guests just about everything they could possibly need, Prague also has a range of accommodation for travelers on a budget. Due to its compact layout, the majority of Prague's hotels and tourist accommodations are located within a very short distance of its attractions, which can also be reached using the city's fast and efficient transport system. It should be noted however, that there are one or two districts of Prague which are in the hills and which could therefore be fairly inacessible to the disabled and the less physically inclined, e.g. the area around Prague Castle (Hradcany) where public transport can be further away and where accommodation is sometimes situated on a steep incline.

Prague also has a number of recognized camping sites and although these tend to be situated outside the city, they have the advantage of being extremely cheap and are usually clean and well looked after. The location of these sites is no real disadvantage as public transport is always available and it is cheap and fast to get anywhere in Prague.

Corresponding with the increase in the number of rooms available, a number of accommodation agencies have been established: some are located at the airport and the main railway station, Hlavni Nadrazi. The largest travel bureau in the Czech Republic is Cedok(formerly the state travel agency). It offers accommodation at all prices and last-minute bookings can be made at their offices. At the airport, Cedok can be found at the arrival hall, and their main office in Prague is at Na Prikope at the bottom right of Wenceslas Square.