Review: Prague Marriott Hotel

I made the decision to spend 30 hours in Prague before heading to Munich during my recent trip to Europe. 17 years after my first visit to the city, I decided that a quick tour of the city was worth the extra hassle of moving between countries in a short amount of time. 

When I looked up accommodation, I was happy to find the Prague Marriott Hotel as one of the options. It hit a few of my criteria, including location, price, and amenities, so I decided to give it a shot.

I didn’t spend a whole lot of time in the hotel, as I was out enjoying the city, but it turned out to be a very comfortable experience.

Prague Marriott Hotel – Booking

I have to admit that I was on a bit of a roll for finding excellent travel agent rates for my trip. Indeed, this was the fourth night in a row where I’d been able to score a great rate.

Regular cash rates for the Prague Marriott Hotel hover between 5,000–7,000 CZK ($274–383 CAD) in the off-season, and between 7,000–10,000 CZK ($383–548) in the high season. The hotel is a very popular destination for river cruise passengers, which I noticed during my stay.

If you’re booking on points, the cost should fall somewhere between 40,000–60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points throughout the year. Should you find that the cash rate is high but the points rate falls below 50,000 points, it could be a good use of a Free Night Award. 

This hotel is listed as an eligible Marriott Luminous property. By booking a Marriott Luminous rate with a travel advisor from Prince of Travel, you’ll enjoy extra perks such as free breakfast, upgrades, early check-in, and late check-out (subject to availability) at the same or lower rate than booking online.

Prague Marriott Hotel – Location

The Prague Marriott Hotel is located in the north-east quarter of Prague’s Old Town.

The hotel is ideally situated to enjoy much of what Prague has to offer. Furthermore, its proximity to the closet metro station, Náměstí Republiky (Republic Square), makes accessing other parts of the city very easy.

It’s a very short walk northward to the riverbank, where you can find a host of boats that function as floating restaurants and bars in the evenings. 

Similarly, it’s an eight-minute walk to Old Town Square and a few minutes more to the Astronomical Clock. The hotel is only 17 minutes to the iconic Charles Bridge, which serves as an access point to Malá Strana on the other side of the Vltava River.

Accessing the hotel from various transportation hubs is also very easy. Prague’s main train station, Praha hlavní nádraží, is a five-minute drive or a 15-minute walk. 

The airport can be accessed by public transportation in less than an hour. Otherwise, it’s about a 20-minute drive at the best of times.

Prague Marriott Hotel – Check-In

I arrived at the hotel in the mid-afternoon following my flight from London. I opted to save some Czech koruna by using public transportation, which involved a short bus ride to the nearest metro station, which then took me close to the hotel.

The hotel’s facade leaves a lot to be desired, and at first glance, it doesn’t really inspire you. 

Luckily, this perception changes as soon as you walk into the hotel. After passing through the revolving doors, you’ll arrive in an open lobby lounge with a large seating area in the middle, and the check-in desks to the right.

After a brief wait, I was waved over by an associate. She pulled up my booking, and acknowledged my Marriott Platinum Elite status, offering me a choice of welcome benefits.

Furthermore, another associate came out to greet me, thanked me for my loyalty, and introduced herself as a point of contact for anything throughout my stay. I’m pretty easy to please, but this gesture was much appreciated, and it was above and beyond what any other Marriott I’d recently stayed in offered during check-in.

I booked into a base-level room, and had attempted to “suite-talk” my way into a better room prior to my stay. While my advance efforts proved to be fruitless, I was delighted to be informed that I’d been upgraded to a suite in the recently-renovated wing of the hotel.

Even though it was a Family Suite, and not one of the higher-end suites, it proved to be a very nice space for one person to enjoy for a quick stay. 

As I headed to the elevators, I was greeted by yet another staff member, who offered his name and assistance throughout my stay. I didn’t really have any special requests or issues, but it was nice to know that there were people around if I needed anything.

The hotel finished a major renovation in 2021, which is apparent throughout the hotel. I’ve found that with Marriotts, the newer renovations can really make the difference between a solid stay and a pretty bland one.

Indeed, as I arrived in Room 655, I was pleasantly surprised by how new the hotel was.

Prague Marriott Hotel – Family Suite

The entrance opens up to the living room part of the suite. As I walked in, I was met by a large desk with a flat-screen TV against the wall, a grey couch with another armchair next to it, and a pantry next to the door.

At the desk, I found a welcome gift of an apple, baked good, and some berry compote on a mini wooden cutting board.

At the pantry, there’s a coffee maker on the counter, and a mini-fridge nestled below. Inside the mini-fridge are a number of soft drinks and a couple of cans of Pilsner Urquell.

A doorway separates the living room from the bedroom. Right after passing through the door, there is a large walk-in closet on the right, with a luggage rack and the oh-so-important bath robes.

The bedroom is a fairly compact area, and the king bed took up most of the space. There are simple lamps and bedside tables on either side of the bed, as well as another flat-screen TV on the wall at the foot of the bed.

Both windows from the room look out over the rooftops in the neighbourhood. It’s not the best view I’ve ever had, but at least it was of rooftops and not just of windows.

From the bedroom, you can access the room’s bathroom, which is adorned in marble tiles. It was very spacious, and I thought it had a great layout.

On one end of the bathroom, you’ll find a gorgeous bathtub. 

Right beside the bathtub is the toilet, which is next to a small black vanity with a single sink. In the other end of the bathroom, there’s a walk-in shower, which had excellent pressure from the rain shower head.

After a long run in the morning, I thoroughly enjoyed a soak in the bathtub. I also did some work throughout my stay, and I found the layout of the room to be conducive to easily separating a workspace with a sleeping space.

I don’t know what the hotel was like before the renovation, but I imagine that it resulted in some great improvements to the hotel. 

Prague Marriott Hotel – Executive Lounge

The hotel’s Executive Lounge is located on the main floor of the hotel, just behind The Artisan restaurant. I wound up spending some time here in the evening for hors d’oeuvres, as well as in the morning after my run for breakfast.

You can access the Executive Lounge as a Platinum Elite member or above. Furthermore, if you are staying in an eligible Club Room or Suite, you can also get access to the lounge.

The lounge is open 24 hours per day, and you just need to flash your room card to get access.

The Executive Lounge has two main seating areas, with what appears to be additional seating outside. It rained for most of my stay, and I didn’t notice anyone sitting outside.

Immediately upon entry, there is a large seating area to your left. You’ll find bench seats against the wall, and a number of armchairs set around circular tables.

After passing through the buffet area, you’ll arrive in the rear seating area. The first part is more of a dining area, and tucked behind that are three sets of four chairs surrounding tables. 

Breakfast is served in the morning in the Executive Lounge. I managed to catch the tail end of the service, but there was still plenty of food that was being restocked.

The offerings range from hot buffet items, such as sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs, and beans, to a variety of cold cuts, cheeses, cereals, baked goods, and fresh fruits. 

There’s also a made-to-order eggs station, which was a nice feature in this smaller space.

There’s an automated coffee machine in the Executive Lounge, as well as a selection of tea and soft drinks.

I enjoyed a light breakfast here before heading out to explore the city prior to my train to Munich.

In the evenings, the Executive Lounge is host to an evening hors d’oeuvres service. After exploring the city for a while, I popped in to spend some time here.

Similar to breakfast, there were several staff members in the area, who were happy to assist with orders, clearing tables, and offering to top up drinks. I enjoyed practicing my Russian with a few Russian-speaking staff.

The evening hors d’oeuvres spread had a few hot items, as well as a number of cold items.

Aside from the food, there was a very solid selection of beverages available. Most importantly, there was a Pilsner Urquell draft beer tap, which everyone was making frequent use of.

If you’re into beer, you’ve come to the right place. There was also a fridge stocked with a number of Czech beers and a non-alcoholic beer.

Aside from beer, there was sparkling wine, red wine, and white wine.

Overall, I was pleased with the Executive Lounge. I felt that it offered good value to my stay, and that it was a nice benefit for anyone with Platinum Elite status or higher.

The staff were also fantastic, and I enjoyed getting to know a few of them over the course of my brief stay.

Prague Marriott Hotel – Other Facilities

On the main floor, the hotel’s main restaurant, The Artisan, occupies a large swath of the space. There is an open-concept kitchen against the wall, as well as a wide variety of seating options available.

I had a food and beverage amenity to use up before I left, so I quickly popped in for one last taste of Pilsner Urquell before I rushed off to the train station.

Closer to the lobby lounge, you’ll find The Artisan Corner, which is the hotel’s coffee shop. There are also a number of grab-and-go items available, such as pastries, if you’re in a bit of a rush.

Lastly, the fitness centre is on the floor below the lobby. I’m not sure if this part of the hotel had also been renovated, as it appeared to be slightly dated.

Nevertheless, if you’re in the mood for a workout, you’ll find some treadmills, strength-training machines, and free weights at your disposal. I opted for a long run along the Vltava River instead.

Conclusion

The Prague Marriott Hotel is a solid place to base yourself from in Prague. It’s centrally located, with close access to sights and transit, as well as far away enough to be nice and quiet. 

Furthermore, I felt that the hotel offers good benefits for anyone with Marriott Bonvoy Elite status. The Executive Lounge is certainly a strong point for the hotel, and I would be happy to return back for another stay next time I’m in Prague.

All of my interactions with the hotel’s staff were great, too, which made what was an otherwise solid stay even better.