One of the side trips my wife and I made while staying at my parents’ house in Slovakia for a month earlier this year was a weekend trip to Prague.
After considering a couple of different hotels in the city including the two Hiltons that can be found there, I found an offer for a two-night stay at Prague Marriott Hotel through a Slovak shopping deal site. The two-night stay cost about 240 USD – roughly the same as the rate on the hotel’s website. Unlike the official rate, though, it included daily breakfast, one “afternoon snack,” public transportation tickets, parking, and a 20% discount at the hotel’s F&B establishments.
Continue reading to see what the stay was like.
Prague Marriott Hotel Location
The hotel is located right in the city center and so is easy to access no matter how you are getting into Prague.
In our case, we arrived in Prague on RegioJet train from Bratislava – from the main railway station, it was just a ten-minute walk to the hotel. Masaryk railway station is just a two- or three-minute walk from the hotel too, and so are Namesti Republiky metro station and bus/tram stops. Florenc bus station is about a ten minute walk away.
The airport is about 20 to 30 minutes away by car and about an hour away by public transportation.
Prague Marriott Hotel is also well within walking distance of many of Prague’s historic sights. Its Old Town is just around the corner and Charles Bridge is less than a twenty minutes’ walk away.
Prague Marriott Hotel Check-in and Lobby
Arriving at the hotel, we were checked in by a friendly receptionist. In addition to handing us the room key cards, she also gave us the public transportation tickets and a piece of paper which served as a voucher for the “afternoon snack” and a 20% discount coupon.
When I mentioned that we would be checking out before breakfast time on our last day, she mentioned that we could get breakfast packs prepared if we notify the reception the evening before.
As for the lobby itself, there were a few reception counters. Across from those, there was plenty of seating for guests having to spend some time waiting in the lobby for one reason or another.
There were some lounge chairs arranged around coffee tables, larger sofas, and even a table with a chess set.
In addition to the seating above – which doubled as extra seating for the hotel’s bar/cafe – there were also the F&B establishments themselves on the lobby floor. More about that later, though.
Above the lobby area was also an area with conference space. Aside from the conference rooms, etc., there was also some seating in the public area. That included some counters with bar chairs as well as coffee tables with chairs. There was even a piano.
Prague Marriott Hotel Deluxe King Room
With the hotel consisting of two adjacent rectangles with rooms around all of their sides, the layout was a bit confusing. That said, it didn’t take us long to get from the reception to our room 552 – one of the hotel’s Deluxe King Rooms.
The hallways, while nothing to write home about, looked nice with their off-white walls and darker accents.
Entering the room, there was a short entryway. On its left was a bathroom. On its right was a closet with its doors doubling as a mirror and a minibar area.
In the minibar area were an electric kettle and some complimentary coffee and tea.
There was also a refrigerator with some cans of Pepsi, bottles of water, and cans of beer. The water and Pepsi cost 39 CZK (about 1.7 USD) each and the beer 49 CZK (about 2.1 USD). More selection was available upon request. While, of course, more expensive than regular retail prices, the items were decently priced for a hotel minibar.
The bathroom had a large counter with a sink in the middle on the right and a shower on the left. In the middle, there was a toilet. Interestingly, rather than having adjustable water pressure, the shower had a simple on-off button. With the pressure being just right, that was not an issue, though.
Unfortunately, there was no bathtub. If that is a must for you, then choosing a Superior room – one category higher than the Deluxe room – should do the trick.
A set of single-use amenities including soap, shampoo, conditioner, and lotion among others by ACCA Kappa was provided in the bathroom too. Other amenities including toothbrushes were provided upon request.
The main feature of the room itself was, of course, a king size bed which was comfortable to sleep on. On either side of the bed were a lamp, a reading light, a nightstand, and a power outlet. On the bed’s right side was also a phone and a pair of USB charging ports.
Above the bed was a photograph of Charles Bridge.
Across from the bed were a luggage bench and a long and narrow counter. Above the counter, a TV was mounted.
Further down, there was a workdesk. On the counter above the workdesk were a lamp, a pair of USB charging ports, two standard European power outlets, and one US/Japan-style power outlet. The last one of those was something that I really appreciated having as it saved me the need of having to use an adapter. There was also a bottle of water that was restocked during room cleaning.
There were some pieces of art hanging above the desk too, adding to the room’s character.
Lastly, behind the bed (next to the windows) was a sofa chair with a side table.
While the design of the room itself was nice and the room was very pleasant to stay in, the view through its windows was uninspiring as one could only see rows of windows of the hotel’s other rooms.
Prague Marriott Hotel “The Artisan” Dining
All of the hotel’s F&B establishments were on the lobby floor. While there were multiple separate outlets, they were all run under the same brand – The Artisan.
To the left of the hotel’s entrance was a cafe called The Artisan Corner. There, a variety of hot and cold drinks was offered together with light bites to eat. Those included cakes, pastries, sandwiches, etc. The menu was reasonably priced and can be found here together with the menus of the other establishments.
Seating in this establishment consisted of a large counter with chairs facing a TV which, at the time of our visit, was showing the Beijing Winter Olympics; some small round coffee tables with lounge chairs; and larger coffee tables with sofas. Some of the seating options provided a view of the street in front of the hotel.
The Artisan Corner was also where the “afternoon snack” that came with our package was served. Essentially both my wife and I could pick one item to eat and one drink. We decided to have a cake and a cup of peppermint tea each.
Further down in the lobby area, behind the reception area was The Artisan Bar. In addition to about a dozen bar chairs along the bar counter, there was also a standalone counter with a few chairs.
Additionally, there were some tables for two and four, booths, as well as tables with sofa chairs and sofas.
The bar was where – in addition to a wide variety of drinks – dinner could be had. On one of the two nights, we decided to dine there. Both my wife and I had pumpkin soup. For main, my wife had pasta pomodoro and I had The Artisan beef burger. Before the dishes we ordered were brought out, we were also provided with a bread basket.
All of the dishes tasted good and were very reasonably priced (for details see the menu I linked to earlier) – especially so with the 20% discount that our package entitled us to.
To the left of the bar was the main restaurant area. In addition to breakfast being served here (more about that in the next section), the hotel also offers brunches and lunches there.
Naturally, this area consisted solely of dining tables, mostly for two and four. Some were just equipped with chairs while others were placed along benches.
In addition to establishments on the lobby floor, there was also room service with a menu to a large extent mirroring that of The Artisan. With the hotel being right in the center of the city, there was also plenty of places to eat and drink within walking distance.
Prague Marriott Hotel Breakfast
As mentioned earlier, our package included daily breakfast. The first morning, we were able to enjoy a buffet breakfast at The Artisan. This was by far the highlight of the stay for me. The second morning, we got a snack pack to go since we were catching our train back to Slovakia early in the morning.
Arriving at The Artisan in the morning, we were seated at a small booth with a bench on two sides of the table and chairs on the other two. Immediately after settling down, we were offered a hot drink. Both my wife and I decided to go with fruit tea.
Cold drinks were self-service.
There were cranberry, apple, orange, and grapefruit juices, as well as still and sparkling water. There was milk too. Lastly, there was a selection of smoothies and freshly squeezed orange juice.
As for things to eat, there were several different types of cereals together with toppings including nuts, dry fruits, etc. and a number of different types of milk.
There were whole fruits including bananas and apples too.
Then, there was a substantial bread and pastries section. Everything ranging from toasts and baguettes through pretzels all the way to croissants and traditional Czech donuts and cakes was available. I found it nice that some of the pastries came in both full size as well as small size.
There was a large selection of condiments including a variety of jams, Nutella, butter, etc. to go with the above too.
For those preferring a cold breakfast, there were some cold cuts including cheese, regular ham, Prague ham (I had a lot of that one…), beef, and smoked salmon. There were also some vegetables, hummus, etc.
Additionally, there were some sweet cold items including cut fruits, yogurts, and Bircher muesli.
Hot items included, among other things, pancakes, potatoes, sausages, bacon, beans, grilled tomatoes, and grilled vegetables.
Lastly, there were egg dishes including boiled eggs in the buffet and made-to-order omelets. It’s also worth noting that the hotel grows its own sprouts.
As far as the snack pack we received on the second morning, its contents were way simpler, of course. That said, it was still a nice touch that the hotel provided those. The pack included a couple of baguettes (one with ham and the other vegetarian), some juice and water, and a packaged muesli snack. There were also an apple and a banana.
The one thing I have to note here is that, unfortunately, even though we were told on the first day that we should tell the reception to prepare us the snack packs the evening before our departure, things didn’t go perfectly smoothly. Instead, the receptionist told me first that it wouldn’t be possible as I came too late (it was about 6PM or 7PM).
Very reluctantly, she called the restaurant to ask if it might still be possible to prepare the packs and sure enough, it was. It would have made for a much nicer experience if, instead of making a deal out of it from the beginning, she first called the restaurant and then only if it weren’t possible apologized.
Prague Marriott Hotel Gym
The hotel’s gym was underground, a floor below the lobby.
In front of its entrance was a small seating area. The gym itself was fairly large and equipped with a good amount of both cardio and strength training equipment.
Prague Marriott Hotel Summary
The room was large enough and well-equipped (that said, it would have been nice if the room also had a bathtub), the staff was mostly friendly and helpful, the hotel F&B establishments offered a decent selection and were reasonably priced, and the breakfast buffet was excellent.
The only negative thing about the stay was the interaction with the front desk staff on the second day where she seemed bothered that we were asking for the breakfast snack packs. While I understand there might be a cut-off time, if that is the case, it should have been communicated clearly on the first day.
All in all, in spite of the little issue, we really enjoyed our stay at the Prague Marriott Hotel and will keep the hotel on our list of options when we go to Prague again.
Good trip.