After reading plenty of good reviews on trip advisor, I booked this hotel for my wife and I for 5 days. My daughter and her boyfriend liked the sound of it and came along. Having stayed at other comparable hotels ( Meridian, Crown plaza etc) frequently, I knew what to expect. As previously said by others, the location is not central but right across the road from the undererground and we used it everyday to travel the 3 stops to the town centre, which takes around 15 minutes. The Flora shopping mall is right next door and very useful to have for essential purchases at a fraction of hotel prices.
The staff on reception were excellent and our room was fine except it was 2 queens instead of a double but everything seemed brand new and the empty fridge where you could put your own reasonably priced purchases, as opposed to the usual extortionate mini bar was great. The breakfast room was bright and pleasant with a good and varied choice of food to suit all tastes and no queueing. One particular member of breakfast staff was obviously very proud of his city and went to great pains to assist us with information. We never ate dinner at the restaurant as we wanted to spend our evenings in town. The gym was quite small and a bit basic and the only other downer was the internet charge which I am used to getting for free. The bar was a bit bland and the hotel in general lacked any character but that is what you expect in a business hotel.
Prague is a beautiful city with lots to see and a great choice of restaurants and bars, where you can take a break from the seemingly endless gothic and baroque architecture that is all around. For a capital city, Prague has a relatively small population and never feels oppressive in the way that others such as London can. There were quite a few tourists braving the icey cold and I imagine it would be very packed with tourists in the summer months. Prices around the Old Town square in some of the bars and restaurants are ludicrous, particularly in the open air seating opposite the astronomical clock where hoards of people gather in front of the clock every hour, on the hour, with all the enthusiasm you would expect from people awaiting the return of Elvis, only to be presented with a short, mundane group of carved figures popping their heads out of tiny windows as they pass by ready for for the next hour. I still can't figure out what all the fuss is about. Most eastern European cities are well used to western travellers and know what our threshold of pain is for the price of a pint etc but If you get into the side streets, food and drink is available at a fraction of town square prices. We had a great meal in a very smart restaurant called Casa Argentina just a short walk from the square where there was a superb menu, great surroundings and. no horrendous shocks at the end-well worth a visit. We also took time out to visit the huge museum, where they appear to have every living creature on earth stuffed and on display and that includes spiders and sharks. The massive (the amount, not size) rock collection is only for the seriously nerdy.
If we go to Prague again I would probably stay closer to town centre, not because anything was wrong with the hotel but it can be a pain having to go up and down endless escalators and have to get the last train back at midnight as well as trying to get change for tickets. If this doesn't bother you then the Marriot does exactly what it says on the tin i.e. you won't get any nasty surprises and was very good value at around £60 a night including brekkie, on the internet.










