Review

A huge edifice dominating the skyline of Bubenec in northwest Prague and seen from most high points in the city, the Crowne Plaza hotel was inspired by Moscow’s famous Lomonosov State University and was originally topped by a huge Red Star (it was recently painted green). Built in the early 1950s to cater for the Soviet Union’s top Party Officials and sportsmen, it was designed by two architects from Prague’s Military Project Institute in the style of Art Deco and Sorela, the latter being that of ’Socialist Realism’ - a euphemism for communist architecture. Unique outside the USSR, the Crowne Plaza’s historical status was confirmed by its recent addition to the Central List of Historical Buildings of the Czech Republic.

Entering the massive Art Deco lobby, passing beneath the stone bas-reliefs on the hotel’s façade that depict communist idealism, is a step back in time to the glorious 1950s - hammered copper, stained glass, chandeliers, mosaics and wrought iron. Of most interest is the Lobby Bar that occupies most of the lobby’s north wing; the bar itself - two pumps, lots of bottles, a coffee machine - is situated in a large alcove that overlooks Koulova and the tram terminus in front of the hotel.

If you’re staying in the correct part of the hotel, you will be lucky enough to find yourself descending into the bar on your room’s nearest staircase, which is an ideal excuse for a quick, expensive beer (80Kč - £195) before heading into Toytown...sorry, Prague. Built into the staircase is a recess used as a small cloakroom, and the hotel’s refinement is evident by the broadsheet newspapers that hang nearby.

Prague is renowned for its cubism - geometric, abstract art and design based around cubes and cones - and the original furniture of the Crowne Plaza follows this trend; the sofas in the Lobby Bar, which sit on a marble floor below ornate cornices, have large chunky feet that suggest the feet of a golem, a man made of clay from Czech legend. Hanging on the wall and overlooking the Lobby Bar is a huge tapestry depicting an aerial view of old Prague, including the bridges, castle, Vltava, churches and cathedrals. What are anomalous, however, are the violin and oboe flying overhead; surely the Luftwaffe or Soviet Air Force would be credulous, but not a violin and oboe!

In your mind’s eye it’s Gimn Sovetskogo soyuza (the Anthem of the Soviet Union) that would be playing over the bar’s sound system, yet in reality it’s the big O, Roy Orbison, singing his posthumous hit You Got It, one of the highest-charting songs of his career. If you fancy making your own music, the centrepiece of the Lobby Bar is a grand piano topped with flowers, on which you could park yourself and play some plinky-plonky tunes before being forcibly ejected from the hotel, luggage and all!

Review by mr_psm