Mandarin Oriental Prague

The Prague we’re used to reading about in the travel press is one thing: youthful, edgy, affordable, bohemian (as well as literally Bohemian). Like any real-world city, though, it’s got other dimensions, one of which is inhabited by a hotel that’s pretty far from backpack/hostel territory: the Mandarin Oriental.

While most Mandarins are shiny new-build high-rises, this one does its best to blend in to Prague’s cobblestoned Mala Strana. The hotel is carved out from a row of historic buildings, including a 19th-century print shop and an old Dominican monastery, whose chapel provides space for the spa — perhaps as close to spiritual transcendence as the typical luxury traveler will get.

Inside it’s a bit more what you’d expect — as contemporary as can be, luxurious yet restrained, with enough period architectural details and locally-inspired furnishings just to remind you where you are. Bathrooms uniformly are as decadent as they come, and some rooms have impressive views of local landmarks like Prague Castle; some others overlook the courtyard of the old monastery, which is not exactly a bad view either.

Perhaps best of all, it’s if not exactly cheap, then at least reasonable, for a high-end luxury hotel in a European capital — that may change when they finally get around to ditching the koruny for the Euro, but until that date (still probably years away) the Mandarin Oriental Prague is possibly the best value in the chain.