Two Nights in Praha

June 7, 2007 8:57 AM

Suggestions for a fun, relatively cheap hotel/area to stay in for two nights in Prague in August.

I'll be staying in Prague for two nights with three friends in August before heading to Bucharest for a Habitat for Humanity gig. I was wondering if anyone had suggestions for a hotel in a fun area for late 20s/early 30s types who like to hit the town and do some drinking/hanging out. I've never been to the city before so I don't know what other details to offer about what I need other than I don't want to be stuck in the periphery or outskirts of the city.

Also, if anyone has any information on trains from Budapest to Bucharest re: how long it takes, how often they run, how much it costs, etc, that would be helpful too.

posted by spicynuts to travel & transportation (9 comments total)

How about a hostel?

I've stayed at Arpacay, and a friend of my enjoyed Sir Toby's.

Arpacay was a little out of the way, if I remember correctly. My friend highly recommends Sir Toby's:

"Very good times, but it might have been the people."
posted by stungeye at 9:56 AM on June 7, 2007

http://www.andelshotel.com/

Slightly out of town, but in a nice up and coming neighbourhood with plenty of bars/shops etc. A 10min walk to the centre, or 2 mins on the metro. You will always get cheap rooms at Andels via expedia/lastminute and it is of a much higher standard than other similarly priced hotels.
posted by fire&wings at 10:14 AM on June 7, 2007

As long as your hotel is in the Praha I, Praha II, Praha III or Praha VI districts, you shouldn't have any problem hitting the town. Unfortunately, August is peak travelling time in the Czech Republic so you'll most likely have to pay a small fortune wherever you do stay.
posted by cmonkey at 10:16 AM on June 7, 2007

You can pretty much stay wherever you want in Prague--you can walk across the entire town in 20 minutes.
posted by gramcracker at 10:26 AM on June 7, 2007

you can walk across the entire town in 20 minutes.

Walk across old town, maybe. If his hotel is in Střížkov or something, he'll face a long hike to get anywhere fun.
posted by cmonkey at 11:08 AM on June 7, 2007

I stayed in this place Pension Prokopka in Zizkov a good many years ago. If that particular place isn't for you [It was a fine place when I stayed there, but it has been so long I can't exactly recommend it]. The neighborhood of Zizkov or Olshanska is a good compromise, you can get to the city center on the tram, but it's far enough out that prices on everything are cheaper.

I personally would avoid anything on/adjacent to Wenceslas square. Mala Strana or Old Town are probably the most desirable places to be.

A Map of the Metro system will help you out. You want to me no more than 3-4 stops from the city center, which is most quickly defined as the area between the river and the red metro line, around Mustek [where the yellow and green lines connect]. The tram system is also great, but adding it to the map makes it complicated, if you search I'm sure you can find one. If you are no more than 3-4 stops from the center, that also means you only have that far to go to change to another line and go someplace else. For reference, the pension I mentioned above is best served by tram, but you could also use the FLORA metro stop on the green line.
posted by Mozzie at 11:38 AM on June 7, 2007

Castle Steps is great value and in the heart of old town. I stayed there last Spring and their apartment-style accomodations are clean and well-maintained - they book up real quick though...
posted by phoenixc at 1:18 PM on June 7, 2007

The Eurostars David Hotel just opened. It's a four star hotel, but it's still less than 100 Euros a night. Not to knock the hostel scene, but it may no longer be your scene if you're in your early 30s.
posted by B-squared at 4:06 PM on June 7, 2007

Oh, and I forgot to point you to the Hungarian railways timetable search, ELVIRA, where you can find out that a train from Budapest to Bucuresti will take between 12 and 18 hours overnight and you should email [e-mail] to find out how much a ticket will cost.
posted by cmonkey at 11:31 AM on June 9, 2007