No place like home

Written by: David Friday
Photo by: Věroslav Sixt, Tomáš Kubeš (P. Esckerstorfer photo)

The four-star Anděl’s Hotel Prague opened in June. It is one of the two newest portions (along with Village Cinemas) of Anděl City, a 100,000 m2 – and growing – development by Austria-based UBM. The bold, unequivocally modern design of this five-storey, 239-room hotel immediately sets it apart from anything currently offered in Prague. It is operated by Vienna International Hotels and Resorts, who run a total of six hotels in Prague, including the well-known Savoy and Le Palais, the latter also newly-opened by UBM.

The lobby, accessible through a wall of glass, is fresh and bright. The reception desk, a monolith of hewn stone, is set deliberately low to break down the traditional formal and physical barriers between guest and staff. Inset writing blocks are of stacked glass.

Conference facilities, located on the first floor, are flanked by pre-conference area and a restaurant. Glass-walled private dining rooms offer further meeting possibilities. The conference area is divisible into nine rooms, while the adjacent cinema offers further opportunities for conferencing.

Lobby bar – quiet corner under the stairway to the first floor.

The rooms, like the lobby, are flooded by light thanks to floor-to-ceiling windows. The furniture is simple in polished laquer and glass – eg, a cube holds mini-bar and multi-media system including DVD. Wall-high sheets of glass instead of the usual ceramic tile in the washroom are both a functional advantage and an aesthetic gesture.

from the outside Peter Eckerstorfer co-managing director of UBM, project developer What was your goal in creating a new four-star hotel to serve Prague in the burgeoning Anděl district? “Anděl City as a whole has contributed a great deal in changing the character of Smichov from an industrial quarter to a modern, high-standard business district. Our ambition with this hotel was to get a product which represents something new for Prague and in the same time remains in line with the great tradition of high quality in architecture. We tried to realize our vision not only with a reference to the past but also as a mirror of today’s design trends. With this in mind, we chose D3a-Studio from Prague for the exterior and Jestico and Whiles from London for the interior design. It was important that the hotel be a symbiosis of the highest aesthetic quality, ideal functional needs and practicality of construction – and both ateliers have succeeded in creating just such a product.” from the inside Roman Ray Straub general manager Anděl’s Hotel Prague How do you, as operator of this hotel, feel about its distinctive modern design? How does that design suit its function as Anděl’s Hotel? “It is a minimalist and state-of-the-art design that fits the business person and business traveler, as well as the tourist with a sense of adventure. The unique design is very practical and versatile, yet with its bold look and striking colors, is never boring. In short, it is timeless, yet hip.”