Hotel Biskupsky Dum – Prague

Located at the foot of the Charles Bridge in the historic city of Prague Hotel Biskupsky Dum is a four-star hotel in a great location that offers many modern comforts but misses the mark in several key areas.

Prague is a beautiful city rich with history, if you are going to stay in Prague being right next to the Charles Bridge gives you instant access to both the old and new parts of town. Located only about 15 minutes from the Prague castle it is easy to get-in all the best sights the city has to offer without having to walk too far.

Hotel Biskupsky Dum is a four-star hotel, however this does not equate to a four star hotel anywhere else in the world as there are a few key amenities this hotel lacks. My main complaint about this hotel is the lack of air conditioning. In the summer Prague can be quite hot and without air conditioning it is easy for your hotel room to become an intense sauna making you want to spend your time in the much much cooler hallway on the other side of your door. I am yet to find a four-star hotel anywhere in the world where travelers come-back after a long day and have to come-back to a piping-hot sauna. This makes coming-back to your hotel a nightmare and difficult to sleep. The hotel does provide one tiny fan for the room but this isn’t enough to get the job done.

One the plus-side the hotel does have Internet access and it’s lightning fast, unfortunately the staff does not know how it works. The only instructions I could get was, “Type qwertyuiopqwe on your keyboard to access the Internet”. Luckily – if you are a bit resourceful you can find an Ethernet jack (not guarantees for all the rooms) on the side of your wall. Once connected the Internet is very fast and it is nice to have a dedicated hard-wired connection. Bring a long Ethernet cable if you don’t want to sit on the floor or ask downstairs as they have a few extra.

The television in the room is tiny and a bit difficult to watch from the bed. Most frustrating is the volume-limiter that prevents you from turning the volume past 50%. This means you have two options, use your fan and stay cool but hear nothing on the TV or watch TV and pretend you are enjoying an ancient sweat-lodge – it’s your choice but either option is far from relaxing.

The bathroom is a very nice size and everything in it worked properly. The only very odd thing about the bathroom is that if you want to have power for your room to charge your laptop, watch TV, etc. you must keep the bathroom light on. This means at night if you’d like to let anything electronic charge you have to have the bathroom light on! This is because they have a switch labeled “Central” that activates all the outlets in the room as well as the lights in the bathroom. While not a huge deal it wastes an incredible amount of electricity to keep the light on all night – you’re not paying the electricity bill but still just another thing you’ll have to get used to.

The front-desk staff is very friendly and happy to help you find your way around town. They alternate staff about twice a day and everyone I encountered was very friendly and helpful. The breakfast in the morning leaves something to be desired as you’ll have to get used to cereal with warm milk and cold-cuts or cheese to start your day.

My one final grip about the rooms is the lack of an iron. It’s hard to feel you enjoying a four-star experience when you are sweating like crazy wearing wrinkled clothes and trying as hard as you can to hear your unbelievably quiet television.

You know what they say in real estate, Location, Location, Location. Hotel Biskupsky Dum is in a great location in Prague. While definitely not a four-star hotel I’d bring this hotel down to a nice even three stars and say that if you can get a good deal on this hotel – go for it – otherwise there might be better options for the four-star traveler.