Cerny Slon Hotel by Jamie Dunford Wood

A recent find, this hotel opened in December 2000 with just five guests. It is a renovated former 14thC townhouse just outside the side door of the church on the old town square, right in the heart of the old district, a warren of pedestrianised streets. It doesn’t come much more convenient than this. Small, with just 30 rooms, all painted white but with rather heavy Czech furnishings and tasteful paintings and prints. Bathrooms are simple but spacious. All rooms bar one have matrimonial beds. The price for the area is good, but the one major drawback is the lack of air-conditioning - the hotel will be stifling in summer, when you won’t want to open the windows at night unless you are happy to have the nightlife of Prague right in your bedroom. Come and be romantic here in winter. It’s also worth spending a liitle extra on the one ground floor vaulted suite, which can accommodate 4 beds. Not much in the way of pampering comforts, but this is a hotel to book if you really want to be in the thick of things, a town lodging. Small bar, and restaurant for breakfast and eating in - but you’ll want to go out. 50 metres from the old town square, a great place to stagger back to at midnight after one too many dcuk roasts or shots of plum brandy. Noisy neighbourhood, but the windows are double glazed and the traffic is all pedestrian.