The Emblem Prague Hotel

The Best Hotels in Prague

"This is where the Times foreign correspondent stayed in 1989 when the Iron Curtain was corroding, and Czechoslovakia’s Velvet Revolution was approaching. White-gloved waiters would bring Champagne while he sent his reports by telex, and the world waited. A different era. The Alcron was built in 1932 and its Art Deco design was inspired by the classic ocean liners of the period; the ceiling of the low-slung lobby a mirror image of the black-edged squares of white marble floor—the sort that look as if they might light up when you step across them. The lifts are Klimt-golden, and the bar is a beauty, a warm embrace of Cubist geometrics in hand-hewn wood, stone, and fabric; the cocktails riff on historic anecdotes from the hotel’s history—the counter stools here deserve to have Lauren Bacall sitting on them. Chaplin and Churchill both stayed and then Prague was submerged into the Eastern Bloc. The Alcron has been through several reincarnations since, but in 2023 reopened under the Barcelona-based Almanac banner, keeping the vintage bones but refurbishing the bedrooms—clean-cut with modern chaise longues, glass pendants, and marble ‘eye’ floor lamps—and showcasing local artists in the lobby and up the incredible marble-and-brass staircase. (Just a little niggle: The original Deco mural off the lobby, quite Tamara de Lempicka in looks, is now concealed by a curtain; do ask to take a look at it.) A coffee shop has recently opened at the front; the restaurant, meanwhile, is a game changer. Unusually for Prague, it’s plant-forward, mixing local ingredients such as dill, pumpkin, mushrooms, and wild trout with kohlrabi, popping buckwheat, and fermented apple for what feels like a primer in the Czech terroir, accompanied by really good Czech wines. Wenceslas Square is just down the street, while the fabulous Lucerna concert hall, with David Cerna’s playful statue of King Wenceslas on an upside-down horse, is opposite. Book now at Booking.com Book now at Expedia This article was originally published on Condé Nast Traveller UK." - Rick Jordan