Hotel U Hvezdy - Prague, Czech Republic     

When we booked this hotel we were under the impression it was very close to the main prague attractions. Little did we know that we were slap bang in the middle of a residential area which was quite run down to say the least. Abandoned buildings left to rot and vandalism everywhere. The hotel itself is very clean and sticks out like a sore thumb from its very poor surroundings. The room we were give was right next to the reception on the lower floor which we at first thought was very convenient until 3.00 am in the morning when we were awoken by the 24 hour reception doorbell (you have to leave your key with reception when you go out). This then carried on until about 7.00 am with the last revellers returning from their night out. This plus the noise of the traffic and trams outside did not make for a good nights sleep! Also be warned to travel into old town square is a good 30 minutes travel on the tram (make sure you get tram 22) and try and get the tram back as the taxi drivers will try and charge you 600 to 800 ck to travel back (which is over £15.00!). All in all it is a clean hotel and some where to get your head down for the night but I would advise you look somewhere closer to Praha 1 (this hotel is Praha 6).

When I decided to book this hotel, there was no review on this site and as I find these helpful myself, I hope this will be of use to another traveller. This hotel has a very impressive website and rates itself three star, however I do not think lives up to either. Although the rooms are fine – clean; reasonable bathroom – I found that during my stay the towels were changed daily and the room serviced, but it was not actually cleaned. The bathroom floor was dirty on occasion. In my room the shower holder was broken and the sink had no plug. Despite asking for this to be looked at, it was not fixed during my five night stay. When the temperature dropped the heating did not come on automatically and again I had to ask about this. One night I had a positive response, the other I didn’t. The hotel is located near a tram line and has direct access to the Castle – and stops near the Strahov Monastry and Loreto. However the time taken to the centre is not ten minutes but twenty. Added to this the proximity to the main road and these links means it is very noisy – constantly. One of my greatest disappointments was the breakfast and the food as a whole. The former was repetitive and bland – cornflakes and UHT milk, with bread and cheese/jam. In addition to this I thought it would be advantageous to have a hotel with a supposedly good restaurant, in case there was any evening I could not eat out. It wasn’t until the last evening that I decided to eat in the hotel. First of all I had a time restriction, as the hotel, on certain nights without notice, had large parties for folkdancing etc. This meant that the restaurant closed early. On the night I had to eat, it closed at seven. Although I ordered before that, I was still eating after seven and the waitress was far from pleased. The food was anything but Vietnamese. It was a complete letdown. The reception staff were on the whole positive and helpful.