Three Storks

Prague is a city so steeped in history that even the brand-new high-design boutique hotels have stories that reach back centuries. This one is no different — it started its life as a monasterial brewery some time in the 14th century, lived through several reconstructions (in Renaissance, Baroque, and Neoclassical styles), some expansions into neighboring buildings, and now, finally, begins a new life as the twenty-room Hotel at the Three Storks. Inside, now, it’s as new as tomorrow, re-designed with the help of the Czech-born and London-based architect Eva Jiřičná.

Rooms come with parquet floors, platform beds, curvy modern furnishings, and all the technological bells and whistles — LCD televisions with DVD players, wi-fi internet, even high-tech indirect lighting. Eighteen doubles of varying sizes are joined by two of that rare beast, the single room, perfect for the business traveler who’d rather not be reminded that he can’t fill a king bed on his own. Still there, albeit in a new incarnation, is Valdstejnska Hospoda, serving traditional Czech cuisine with a pronounced '30s ambience — and just outside, as ever, is the old city, the ancient streets of the Lesser Town, in the shadow of Prague Castle.