Carlo IV

Hotel description

You may find yourself phoning the front desk just to hear a Czech voice reminding you you’re not in Rome or Milan. The Boscolo hotel family has expanded, and this newest offering brings a touch of Italian style to downtown Prague.

Italian and international, really, given the involvement of celebrated hotel and restaurant designer Adam Tihany, alongside the Italian architect Maurizio Papiri. The Carlo IV’s inventive design has left some traces of the 1890 bank building it calls home, alongside a few ultra-modern and rather masculine touches-expect gold leaf and frescoes alongside sleek glass and metal surfaces, with severe, muted colors and some Prague classic Art Deco thrown in for good measure.

Public spaces are especially impressive; the Box Block restaurant is all geometric lines and patterns, while the Inn Ox Bar is retro-futuristic, in alabaster and nickel, a modern nightclub with a Space Odyssey feel. The Cigar Bar is more like what one expects to see in Prague, a traditional, even classical space; here, in the old bank vault, you’ll sample cigars in the presence of the city’s best collection of cognacs and liqueurs.

Guest rooms live up to the same high standard-calming beiges, browns and whites, with modern pieces alongside 19th-century desks or beds, and more frescoes; the Presidential Suite, in fact, features a painted Sistine-style ceiling. Prague hotels can be a bit poky in the amenities department, but not so this one-broadband internet and air conditioning are standard, and the bathrooms are as modern as they come.

It’s a highly functional luxury hotel, and a showcase of modern hospitality design. If you miss the funkiness of Prague’s aging old quarter, take a walk through the scenic city; by the time you get back, you’ll appreciate the modern flourishes (like the mosaic-tiled indoor pool) that much more.