Experiencing Prague is more than just staying here. It’s a profound experience of the place, a journey into the soul of the city, its old stories, and romantic corners. Into the labyrinth of narrow streets where one can still hear the rattling of old carriages on cobblestones, fading away in dark passageways. These are the same places, the same walls that welcomed travelers five centuries ago. This authenticity is offered to its guests by the sensitively renovated Hotel BOOKQUET, a literary hotel on Prague’s Smetana Embankment near Charles Bridge.
Hotel BOOKQUET is part of the UNESCO heritage site, located in the heart of Prague's Old Town. This makes it exceptional with its architecture, atmosphere, and unusual charm, which has been appreciated by many notable personalities with similarly long histories, such as Swedish Princess Christina Magnuson.
The long story of the bourgeois houses “U Kuchyňků” and “U Naplavačů”, where Hotel BOOKQUET (formerly Leonardo) is located, dates back to the 15th century. The three-winged corner house “U Kuchyňků” is Gothic at its core, Renaissance in its rebuilds, with its current late Classicist appearance dating to around 1846. The two-story three-winged house “U Naplavačů” is a late Classicist new building by Josef Tredrovský from 1846. The latest chapter began in 2018, when the hotel, situated in a block of historical buildings between Karoliny Světlé Street, Betlémská Street, and Smetana Embankment, was purchased by Bohemia Properties a.s. They incorporated it into the JAN HOTELS group and initiated its sensitive and careful renovation, during which the original hotel operation is changing its overall concept and name.
Bookquet: A Neologism Concealing Books and Flowers
Books are omnipresent in Hotel BOOKQUET. They are available in libraries and shelves throughout the hotel. Guests can settle with them in their rooms by the fireplace, in reading nooks, under mature trees in the green patio, or on the newly renovated galleries. The present meets the past through the presence of world bestsellers and historical books from antiquarian shops.
Books throughout the hotel are accompanied by flowers. They bring intoxicating scents to the interiors and contribute to the pleasant atmosphere of the hotel. The thoughtfully arranged bouquets of fresh flowers are taken care of by the hotel director, Martina Čermáková, herself. The unique concept of a hotel filled with books and flowers is reflected in the new name "BOOKQUET", a neologism created from the English words "book" and "bouquet".
Reading Corners and Meetings with Authors
The hotel regularly organizes author readings in collaboration with the BeCharity foundation of writer Bára Nesvadbová. By attending meetings with interesting Czech and foreign writers, listeners can contribute to rehabilitation for disabled children. And if there aren’t enough books? The hotel BOOKQUET is barely a few hundred meters from the main building of the Municipal Library and renowned bookstores, some of which the hotel has partnered with.
Last year, Hotel BOOKQUET became a partner of the Book World Prague 2023 festival and provided accommodation for several participating authors. It also became a venue for social and cultural events, featuring renowned literary-themed refreshments.
Boutique Hotel Offers a Home Away from Home
Staying in the world’s most beautiful hotels often means uniform luxury in super-modern but impersonal buildings for hundreds of guests. In the cozy Hotel BOOKQUET, housed in heritage-protected buildings, a guest will experience not only what the new boutique hotel concept promises, a “home away from home”, but literally touch history. From the first stone step one ascends at the entrance with a replica of medieval massive doors, from the first touch of its brass handle, one finds oneself in interiors that, like books, could tell the stories that took place here over the centuries – from a former coaching inn, a tavern with stables, through a soap maker’s workshop and other craft operations to today’s boutique hotel. An architectural gem, where every arch, every cornice, simply every detail of the former houses “U Kuchyňků” and “U Naplavačů” has been carefully renovated under the supervision of conservationists. And mainly preserved, so for example, a newly revealed fireplace with a chimney will be incorporated into the new reception. The concept of an authentic home environment is also supported by the more recent history of the buildings, which housed apartments with charming galleries, now available to hotel guests. Every piece of furniture here has its place, its story. The structure’s layout offers romantic views of Prague’s streets, but also breathtaking views of the Vltava River and Prague Castle.
New Rooms Meet the Requirements of Today’s Demanding Clientele
Most of the rooms have already been renovated, with common areas on the ground floor, such as the relaxation patio, being completed. The patio is the heart of the hotel. In good weather, guests can have breakfast here, relax with a book under an umbrella during the day, or meet friends over a glass of wine in the evening. “In the patio, we are preserving the existing fountain, which will be complemented by trees, bushes, and flowers. It will be a green oasis of calm amidst the hustle and bustle of the city, available not only to hotel guests but also to visitors and residents of Prague,” explains the hotel director Martina Čermáková. This space can also host cultural and social events or even weddings.
The renovated rooms are more open, spacious, and brighter. Each one is unique. Some have their own sauna, others perhaps a fireplace. In all, there are books, which also serve as decoration. There are a total of 82 rooms in various categories. Guests particularly appreciate the hotel’s location: near Charles Bridge, with views of the Vltava River and Prague Castle. “For our guests, who largely fall into the middle age category, comfort is especially important,” says Martina Čermáková. From a certain age, you don’t want to lug souvenirs all day before you get back to the hotel. Thanks to the location, guests can change clothes, rest, and find a moment of peace in the midst of the city, perhaps with a book. And it is this idea of peace in the middle of a big city that Hotel BOOKQUET manages to perfect.
The Story of the Houses “U Kuchyňků” and “U Naplavačů”
The story of the hotel, which occupies former bourgeois houses that are part of a heritage reserve and UNESCO world heritage, could itself be the subject of a book. The history of two of them, no. 323 “U Kuchyňků” and no. 324 “U Naplavačů”, can be traced back to the 12th century when the area was part of an important transport artery. This route ran along the Vltava River between Prague Castle and Vyšehrad to the south. Thanks to its strategic position, the house U Kuchyňků was already a flourishing coaching inn in the 15th century. Around 1730, there were spacious stables for 20 horses in the courtyard behind the large house passage. It was probably bustling here, and guests could also appreciate the warm company of women. At the turn of the century, the property was already two-story with a spacious tavern on the ground floor and a coach house in the yard.
At this time, the neighboring house U Naplavačů, the second of the buildings of today’s Hotel BOOKQUET, got its name. Whether a naplavač, or raftsman, who floated wood down the Vltava River, lived in the house is not yet known. At the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries, however, a soap maker operated in the house. After his death, the widow did not pursue the soap-making trade but instead tapped 31 barrels of beer per year. In the early 1840s, work began on the construction of a new exhibition embankment. At this time, the house passed into the hands of official engineer and adjutant to the provincial construction directorate, Ing. Tomáš Vala, who co-authored the embankment and adjacent spaces project. The house with a shop on the ground floor was used for residential purposes. Since 1934, locksmith workshops operated in the house.
In 1846, the house U Kuchyňků was rebuilt. Two additional floors were added to the existing first floor. Three living rooms on the first floor were reserved for guests of the functioning inn. In March 1893, the inn was already called “U Kuchyňků”, and the tenant was Mr. Vojtěch Nejedlý. At that time, the hotel part of the house operated separately, and a special stone staircase was installed in 1912. In the 1950s, the house served as a dormitory. The dim rooms overlooking the gallery were heated by solid fuel stoves. Water and toilets were located on the gallery, shared by nearly twenty tenants of the dormitory. The ground floor spaces were occupied by locksmith workshops. After reconstruction, the restaurant “Ambrosia” was opened in the early 1990s on the left side and the pub “U Kuchyňků” on the right side of the ground floor of the house. The combined houses U Kuchyňků and U Naplavačů have served as accommodation since 2006.
