Reviewed by James Alexander
 |
|
THE GOLDEN WHEEL - REVIEW
Guests of the Golden Wheel (U Zlateho Kola in Czech) can be forgiven feeling a little smug. The hotel is small, sleek and wonderfully placed, while its interior reads like an architectural timeline. More to the point, the hotel remains relatively unknown, which is a real bonus in a city as popular as Prague.
Originally a medieval blacksmith's, the hotel stands in a row of handsome Baroque houses on the main drag up to Prague Castle. Crisp, modern rooms are scattered higgledy-piggledy about the building, and yet there's something artful about the layout; little stairways link different levels, while medieval nooks and crannies are transformed into bijou exhibition spaces for modern sculpture. Period features, such as decorated beams, Baroque stucco ceilings and a medieval well are set against modern design statements in glass: a new central atrium, glass-walled lifts and a tiny glass-floored balcony.
Prague Castle looms above a small walled garden to the rear. If the flag flies at full mast, you may even catch a glimpse of the Czech President himself, whose quarters overlook the hotel.
|
