Hotels from which you will never want to go home. We select fashionable novelties as well as original timbers across the country - CZECHDESIGN

The first place we recommend is located in Kutná Hora. One of the most visited tourist towns waited a relatively long time for a decent place to stay. But now you don't have to return home when you visit GASK or the Church of St. Barbara. The newly opened Apartments Dačický promise several experiences. Behind their opening is the local Cikler family, which has been running a typical old Bohemian restaurant, Dačický, for several years. Their third project, Café Dačický, is also named after a local native, Mikuláš Dačický from Heslov, which is located in the same building as the apartments. Just like the entire center of the city, which is rightfully included in the UNESCO list, you will be excited here above all by the touch of history. The house, whose roots go back to the period of the Hussite Wars, was in an unsatisfactory condition for years. Thanks to the new owners and the sensitive intervention of the architect Tereza Komárková, it was possible to create a modern, effective place, which, however, does not give up even on the original historical elements.

Garden accommodation Apartments Dačický | Source: terezakomarkova.myportfolio.com, photo: Jiří Lízler

The pride of the interior is a 15 meter long wooden beam from the time of Charles IV. or a time-tested rustic front door. However, Tereza Komárková mainly brought a number of contemporary motifs into the interiors, whether it is impressive graphics on the walls referring to the history of the place or the choice of colors, which is a contrast of gold and black in the cafe, and a noble shade of dark green in the apartment. The three-story house also bears a reference to the time of normalization, when there were city apartments here. The pavement in the corridors here is an admitted memory of the period when we treated our own monuments worse than motherly. Paradoxically, it doesn't look out of place at all. On the contrary, it completes the resulting impression of a journey through time. Through the baroque, communism until the 21st century.

Apartments Dačický | Source: terezakomarkova.myportfolio.com, photo: Jiří Lízler

If anywhere new projects are growing at breakneck speed, it is the Czech mountains. And it is doubly true on those bordering Poland. Prim is currently mainly held by Pec pod Sněžkou, which has opened itself up to investors and is receiving both applause and criticism. We wrote about the apartment hotel Svatý Vavřinec in our last report, now we will focus on one of the newest additions in a town with less than 1,000 inhabitants. The Grand Hotel Hradec opened in the summer of 2020. Right in the middle of an unfortunate year that became synonymous with the word pandemic. The ambitious and generous hotel will satisfy even the most discerning clientele. Its owners do not hide their inspiration from the Swiss mountain five-star complexes, and that is why they reached out to the proven architect for the "demanding" Barbora Škorpilová and her Mimolimit studio. The multi-storey, distinctly minimalist building stands on the site of the original Hradec hotel. According to the current owners, it was in a deplorable condition and therefore went to the ground completely intact. Nostalgia is not played inside the hotel and everything is tuned to modern colors and materials of Czech provenance.

The interior of the restaurant in the Grand Hotel Hradec | Source: grandhotelhradec.cz

Here you will come across Sliven marble or wood from South Bohemian oaks. Common interiors and rooms are generous, fine-tuned to the smallest detail, with an emphasis not only on effect, but also on functionality. In the rooms oriented towards Sněžka, the huge window is particularly impressive, which will connect you with the beautiful Krkonoše nature. There is also a deck chair from which you can watch the Giant Mine or the crowds of tourists heading to the cable car. Unlike a lot of other hotel projects, the Grand Hotel Hradec's rooms are nice because the architect didn't just think about making the room look beautiful in photos, but above all, user-friendly. The imaginary cherry is the hotel wellness. Just like elsewhere in the hotel premises, no expense was spared in the location and design, and you can fall into the feeling for a moment that not Sněžek is rising near you, but the Matterhorn.

View from the room in the Grand Hotel Hradec | Source: grandhotelhradec.cz

If you don't like classic hotels and prefer an atmosphere of home comfort, you're in luck. Recently, more and more places have been created in the Czech and Moravian countryside that combine cottage romance with modern design. One of the recent additions is a place called Cottage with the adjective. It is located near Liberec in picturesque Podještědí and is an exemplary example of how to deal with the reconstruction of an old building with feeling and taste. Step number one: work with the experts. The owners did not want to leave anything to chance, so they approached interior designer Adéla Lipár Kudrnova to renovate the building. Her eclectic handwriting is evident in each of the rooms. And although not all parts of the house underwent a radical construction modification, Adéla's interventions move the interior to a cozy and tasteful timelessness. After all, the lesson that "the devil is hidden in the detail" applies universally.

Country buildings A cottage with the attribute | Source: amazingplaces.cz

In addition to textile accessories, small decorative items or perhaps visually impressive wallpaper, the main ace of Chalupa is the children's corner. It is full of toys from the Czech toy store Hugo goes barefoot, products from UTUKUTU, Lavly or Chic by Pig, but above all it is functionally and generously designed. Enough space for playing and storing things. A detail that will become the alpha and omega of your home when your first child arrives. The cottage with the attribute is a successful example of the fact that even without radical modifications you can conjure up a fresh and tasteful object from an old building. And enjoy the right combination of nostalgia and design.

Children's corner in Chalupa with the attribute | Source: amazingplaces.cz

However, we have another tip for radical old-timers. The original log house in the romantic village of Chřibská, which has been a famous gastronomic paradise for years thanks to the Na Stodolci company. The Vejminek 1843 cottage, which the current owners bought after the renovation, is a nice example of how to treat original regional dwellings. Having a log cabin may seem like a dream at first glance, but of course there are several risk factors. From insensitive interventions in the name of comfort, to a number of complications associated with traditional, more susceptible materials. Vejminek did a great job with the conversion and now lets you experience a balanced dose of old-world aesthetics with modern comfort. The contrast of more than 100-year-old beams is a feast for the eyes, especially in a modern bathroom. The entire building can accommodate a large company of 12 adults and is also child-friendly. After all, a similar experience with the original village architecture can be beneficial for them. Hopefully, there will be no shortage of similar places that will sensitively pass on the relationship to old house building techniques to future generations.

Accommodation in a log house Vejminek 1843 | Source: amazingplaces.cz

Our last tip will take us to a completely different world. Prague's luxury hotel Mandarin Oriental is probably associated with celebrity visits and high spending bills for most of us. Nevertheless, it is a place that deserves the attention of any design lover. The building is housed in a former monastery building from the 14th century, and you will come across historical traces here very often. The revitalization of the local wellness area, where the preserved remains of the original chapel are visible, is particularly impressive. However, you will also come across the centuries-old history of the place in the corridors, where the owners have displayed in display cases old artefacts found during construction work - and there are a respectable number of them. The hotel underwent a major transformation in 2006, and architects Jiří Hůrka and Vítězslava Rothbauerová won the title of Building of the Year 2007 for it the following year.

The interior of the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Mala Strana | Source: mandarinoriental.cz

The whole complex was faced with a series of disparate and insensitive interventions from the past, and thus creating a compact unit that would not disturb the character of Malá Strana on the outside and provide guests with the high standard of a five-star hotel on the inside was not easy. After all, a printing press operated here until the mid-nineties, and the demanding operation took its toll on the condition of most of the interiors. Modern pavilions, located in the hotel courtyard, have recently been added to the original buildings. Disrupting the respectable atmosphere of the ancient streets near Kampa is not difficult. Fortunately, Mandarin Oriental is a good example worth following. And visits. It doesn't even have to be directly in the famous presidential suite, which, according to the media, was also enjoyed by Madonna in the past. You will experience a sublime feeling of extraordinaryness in every room here.