GrizShel

Yes I know I could bank the miles first, but I want to see which airline account I am going to have to deplete for this trip before deciding where I want the miles.

florin

I just got back from Prague and I thought I'd post some info on the hotel experience. The Flora CY was GREAT! It's the best CY I have stayed at so far.

I pretty much agree with what CVO 1K 2 Million posted above. Some additional points:

• the room was nice and clean; the bathroom was MUCH nicer than the regular CY bathroom
• The breakfast (free for a Plat!:- bouffet was good with plenty of offerings. I didn't like the coffee all that much, but it wasn't bad either.
• I found the staff to be very nice, polite and eager to help. ^
• The cleaning staff did a very good job. I often encounter sloppy, inconsistent cleaning. E.g. at a Ren in Vienna they washed the wine glasses sometimes, while other times making sure they leave me something to do when I return to the room - probably out of concern I would get bored. Not at this CY; I always found the room spotless and everything where it should be. ^
• The restaurant downstairs, called Purple Basil, was a pleasant surprise. I usually steer clear of hotel restaurants (for obvious reasons). I gave this one a try and I'm glad that I did. The food was good, the presentation was good and the service was impeccable. The price wasn't bad at all!

French toast only has 2 ingredients: bread and eggs. I think it's safe to assume that the eggs are pretty much the same everywhere. The differnece is in the bread. Almost all the restaurants in the US use regular crappy grocery store bread, which is FAR inferior to the bread you can find in Europe. Even simple sandwiches taste much better in Europe because they use better bread.

Boooma

Is the Breakfast free for Gold?

iztok

I don't know about CY but I would recommend FS in Prague. Nice and helpful staff and yes CL was available for Gold.

GrizShel

Any more experiences at the Courtyard Prague Flora property?
For example:
Upgrades to Junior Suites for Platinums?
Not sure how many suites they have, but there are both Junior Suite and Suite room types listed.
In general are the breakfast offerings superior to US Courtyards? (I hope so, not to trash US CY breakfasts, but they are very boring).

Thinking about doing a split stay between this property and tne Prague Marriott in old city because there's a great rate available for earlier in the week at this property and an even better rate later in the week at the FS Marriott.

Also surprised to see how cheap the Longin Marriott Executive Apartments are during my dates - any comparative experiences there?

astanley

Spent one night there early last week.

Plusses:

Nice hotel literally RIGHT in the city center. A 2 minute walk to the Tyr Church and the central square of Prague 1/Old Town.

Check-in was a breeze, with a personal handshake and enthusiastic welcome from the General Manager of the hotel, who was on duty when I arrived. She personally introduced me to the concierege, who offered to help with cars and anything, both giving me a business card with a direct line. I did not use their services, and some may find the treatment over the top, but I was amazed at the level of treatment personally.

Nice bar and restaurant with decent food, excellent by most Marriott standards, but middle of the road compared to what we procured outside of the hotel. Prices were slightly steep but understandable.

We had a late (9:00pm) flight on to our next destination and had nothing to do for the afternoon. They graciously extended the rooms until 4:00pm local ("because you are Platnium, we can gladly extend your room until 4:00pm"), a courtesy they extended to my co-traveller, who is barely a Silver. Then, when we told them we wanted a 7:00pm car to the airport, they extended our executive club access until 7:00pm.

Hotel had good car service available, although it was a little expensive compared to a cab: about $10 US more expensive, but the cars are nicer and the driver doesn't talk on his cellphone, with the radio on, racing trains up and down hills like the cabbie does. I guess you get what you pay for...

Rooms were nice but standard Marriott rooms.

The minuses:

Cost, cost, cost. Internet was $33 a day. The rooms were $300 a night. While the local market may support this, I had a hard time understanding what that $300/night got me. $33 for internet and poor wireless service just felt like a ripoff.

Cheers,

-Andrew

CJKatl

There are two computers in the (very, very nice) CL with free Internet. When we were there, we were able to connect a laptop in the CL, too, although we did this without asking.

The nightly rate seems to have gone up considerably. Wonder if this is because the dollar has fallen so much?

slowly

Or because Renaissance Prague is now a Hilton.

astanley

I wish I had thought of that. $33 USD my budget will never see again.

It's a nice hotel... just not $300 nice. I do plead ignorance to the Prague market, though.

Cheers,

-Andrew

Saint Christopher

I stayed there last November at the rate of $119 USD. Probably because it was off season. I was upgraded to a suite room and received couple cold bottles of Pilsner Urquell, although they were also free in CL during my stay there. Really nice hotel!

GrizShel

Bump.

Although leaning towards just staying through the weekend at the Prague Marriott, thinking possibly about movng from the Prague Marriott during the week to the courtyard Flora for the weekend.

P.M. manager told me the lounge their is closed on weekends but they have breakfast at the Brasserie on the weekends (hope she meant free breakfast for Platinums.)

nissan motor

I am not sure which hotel to take in Prague (Czech Republic)

Courtyard Marriott Airport
for 1'300 CZK
Breakfast included

Marriott
for 2'100 CZK
Breakfast not included

I am gold member and I would like to get some complimentary food and probably Internet. Location is important but not the most important thing for me.

I know that there is a lounge in the Marriott, and I also know that the lounge is closed from Friday evening until Sunday late afternoon. Thus, I would have no lounge on my stay!

Any advice is appreciated

cova

You might consider the Courtyard Prague Flora.

Nice new hotel, across the street from a shopping center which is on top of a train station. Get a train pass and you can go back and forth to old town part. Only about 4 stops. Plus I find the location best for going out later at night in the residential/business neighborhood.

Easy from airport too. You take the airport shuttle bus from the airport to the train station and go on the same train to the stop where the Courtyard Flora is. Cheap, easy to travel from airport. Nice hotel. Food not included. Not sure about the internet.

I have also stayed at the Longin Exec Apartments - good location, but up the hill a few blocks from a train stop. But no real benefits at the apartments - washer/dryer in hall -but does not work too well. But you get a kitchen.

TuxTraveller

I stayed at the Marriott last weekend and they offered me free access to the Business Centre to use the internet in lieu of lounge access. I would definitely stay at the Marriott as it is in a great location with easy walking access to the old town or any of the other tourist areas. The staff are great and super friendly and the general service as you would expect from a (full) Marriott ^

hjboudre

We stayed at Prague Flora and thought it was ok, but it was inconvenient from a tourist perspective. There was a great little restaurant nearby on the corner of the main street, wish I could remember its name.