A flawless biking adventure through the Czech Republic!…read more Our experience with Czech Bike Tours was nothing short of incredible. From start to finish, everything was so thoughtfully organized. The detailed maps, the excellent written guides, and the easy-to-use mapping app on our phones meant we never got lost (a miracle for us, since we usually do!). Each day's route was carefully planned, highlighting local sites so we didn't miss a thing along the way from Prague to Cesky Krumlov. The scenery was breathtaking, the food was delicious, and the four-star hotels were super comfortable and welcoming--an ideal mix of adventure and relaxation. What truly sets Czech Bike Tours apart, though, is their outstanding support team. When we faced the nightmare of a lost passport, Petr and Adam went far above and beyond to help resolve the issue. Their kindness, patience, and dedication turned what could have been a stressful experience into just another story from an otherwise perfect trip. We've traveled a lot, but this was honestly one of the most seamless and enjoyable adventures we've ever had. Czech Bike Tours earns our highest recommendation--a true 5-star experience in every way!

2 1/2 hours from Prague, 3 hours from Vienna, and 4 hours from Munich lies what is basically the…read moremost gorgeous city I've ever been in, and this is a review for where you should (without a doubt) stay when you come here. And you should come here. You've probably never heard of Český Krumlov. Lord knows I hadn't and lord knows I'm too lazy to give you the full historic rundown on this now UNESCO-protected city, so you'll just have to do the research on your own damn time, but just take my word for it. You need to get here. We were only planning on spending two days here, but after seeing the town for just two hours at night, we decided to scrap our Amsterdam plans and spend the extra time here... which ended up being really affordable given we were visiting in the off-season in mid-late November and that our absolutely beautiful inn not only felt more home-like than my actual home, but was also a steal at only $70 a night. Now, I'm sure it costs a pretty penny more in the warmer months, but this place could easily charge 4 times that amount and still rank as 5 stars in my book. All hardwood floors, recovered barn-wood beams, modern and minimalist design, Egon Schiele artwork, towel warmers, and best of all- HEATED BATHROOM FLOORS. You better believe I turned that sh*t up to a hot-coal level burn... and it burned sooo good. They only have 5 rooms, and we ended up occupying 3 of them during our stay... each one was our favorite in their own way. Most rooms had multiple step levels, a desk, couch, tv (with many a pornographic channel... apparently comes standard in the Czech Republic basic cable package because that was the case everywhere). Some rooms had those really nice rainfall showers, another had a whirlpool bathtub. There's free wifi and the toiletries were the good kind and if you look in your room's armoire you'll find an umbrella, slippers, first aid kit, and a few other niceties to have handy while traveling. The woman who works/owns the Inn was basically a retired supermodel (maybe not for real, but she could have been) and can give you plenty of suggestions for places to eat, sightseeing, entertainment, etc. The location is prime being just a 4-5 minute walk to the town center and just minute from a convenience store that I believe was open 24-hours and sold some pretty fantastic and affordable wine and chocolate and chips... all the basics you'll want for a spending a night in with your travel mates, laughing, joking, drinking, and watch the funniest full-nude phone sex ads you've ever seen until the sun comes up. If you want, they can make you breakfast as well, but we always opted to go out and get our grub since the entire city is beautiful and so walkable. The area is really safe and though it appeared to be mostly a quiet getaway or quiet sight-seeing town, we never ran out of exciting things to do. Penzion Athanor (or Athanor Apartmany, as it was called on some brochures) is THE place for you if you enjoy leisure, beauty, fun, and free soft core, and also happen to be traveling throughout the region. **They also operate two other Inns in the area that I'm sure are just as nice. Do a little research and it'll pay off ten-fold.

Lovely hotel and very centrally located in Cesky Krumlov! Front desk staff were very accommodating,…read moreallowing me to check in early and storing baggage while my room was being cleaned. The room itself was pleasant and warm, with a view overlooking one of the cobblestoned streets. The breakfast buffet was also so yummy! A great selection of eggs, fruits, yogurts, porridges, and juices/teas among other things. Would definitely stay again.

Front desk was usually busy with tourists from people being bussed into the town. When making the…read morereservation, we were told we didn't need to make dinner reservations. Upon arrival, we were told all three nights we were staying, the restaurant was completely booked with large groups. They are more interested in catering to the busloads than with individuals or couples traveling. I killed three spiders in the room while we were there. Ceske Krumlov is a charming town and the Egon Schiele Museum there was terrific. But it's lost most of it's charm due to the hoards of people and their selfie sticks, at least when we were there in September 2018.

Booked online through Hotels.com and got a nice rate for this heavily touristed city at Hotel Grand…read moreright in the heart of the city square. Location was excellent. The hotel messaged me before arrival exactly where to park and what to tell the parking attendant which made arrival a breeze. Check in was smooth, and because Hotels.com for some reason booked me into a 3 bedroom suite (at the price of their normal sized room) and the hotel needed to use our room to accommodate a large family, my daughter and I were happy to accept their offer of $20 euros to use at their restaurant in exchange for taking a smaller room. Worked out perfectly. The staff at the front desk (two guys) were extremely professional and courteous. They had maps showing where to go and even let me use an iPhone charger for the night. The room was very clean and modern and had excellent amenities. Probably the best part about the stay was their free breakfast buffet. They had very high quality food from eggs Benedict style cooked eggs to bacon and meats and cheese and sausages, to fresh fruits and drinks and an Espresso machine. Will absolutely stay here again and recommend them to anyone.

Ok so me and two friends go to the Grand Hotel Restaurant for some pre-drinks before dinner. We…read morewere seating immediately and the rest went downhill from there. First the bartender was extremely rude because we were only drinking wine. We picked a $35-$37 bottle of wine and two bottles of water. The white wine was served hot and was not properly chilled. Next the server brought the wrong kind of water we asked for still not sparkling. The final straw was when we asked for the bill. Immediately the serve said they do not take credit cards! We went to the hotel and they said that wasn't true. We paid in cash, but telling patrons you don't take credit cards when you do is just a crappy scam. The server was rather rude. I suspect because they are in the tourist center they don't really care about the quality of service. I gave them two stars because the place is nice looking and convenient; however, I do not recommend giving this your business if you are looking for a great experience go elsewhere.

AWESOME! My first two nights in the Czech Republic was great! It was off season and weekdays, so I…read moreonly paid $173 for two nights. I can't believe how much I got for this low price! PROs: -Easy self check in since I arrived later in the day. -Friendly staff -Large, clean room and bathroom -Comfortable king bed -Fridge with a complimentary 1 liter bottle of water, yes! -Coffee/Tea in room -Complimentary bottle of prosecco!!! It was a lot drink by myself, but I did! -Nice breakfast buffet with eggs, sausage, breads, pastries, cheeses, fruits, coffee, juices. -Quite area of Cesky Krumlov, but still walkable to everything. -One of the easier hotels to reach if you're coming from the bus station...the cobblestones make the wheels on your luggage cry! Best take a taxi or uber/bolt! CONs: -None, I would absolutely stay here again!

We came here because we were starving while we were in Cesky Krumlov and this was the first place…read morewe saw. Nice selection of traditional Czech food and touristy prices. They also have a really impressive dessert menu. A lot of ice cream shakes, ice cream sundaes, etc. I ordered the banana cocktail which was basically just a banana milk shake which was actually not terrible. It wasn't an American milkshake by any means, but it's also the Czech Republic so what was I to expect? I ordered the gnocchi which was alright, but nothing special by any means. My friend got a really impressive chicken with goat cheese and double cream which I would recommend because it looked way better than my gnocchi (which was definitely the safe option). The staff speaks good English so that's always good. tldr; not bad, but I would wander around and explore some of the other options before settling on this one

Our Viking Danube River Cruise land excursion guided walking tour ended in the town square. We had…read morealmost 2 hours of free time for lunch, shopping and more local sightseeing. We picked the restaurant right next to the fountain. We ordered local beer and traditional Czech dishes as well as latte. They were all quite nice and very reasonable priced (two entrees, a large local beer and a latte cost 18 euros!) and we got to use the restroom in the basement which was convenient ( otherwise we had to convert euro to Czech currency just to use WC). The outdoor patio was a great place to watch the tourists (many large Asian groups) milling around.The fountain itself was a bit old looking.

Passing by the ugly Czech-Austrian borders from Vyssi Brod to Studanky, you might be a bit…read moredisgusted by cheap Chinese mini-markets and brothels, but once you will get into Austria, a lovely piece of farmlands will be waiting for you, with a cozy historical town of Bad Leonfelden. And if you decide to turn right just one kilometer before the town, suddenly and surprisingly, you will appear in a very small and pretty nice ski resort of Bad Leonfelden - Sternstein. It is not a ski resort where you could spend the whole skiing week (unless you have really small kids, otherwise, you might get bored quickly), but for a one-day, half-day, or even a two-hour skiing, you could hardly find a more friendly place! The two-hour skiing pass costs 17 Euro and you could ski on the resort's three ski slopes, which are 1550 - 1850 meters long (red Slalomhang 1550 metres, blue Standardabfahrt 1600 metres, red-blue Lifthang + Familienabhfahrt 1850 metres), and take ten rounds in two hours! The trick of this resort is that it has so little skiers, that you could ski there as on the marry-go-round, yay! Just be careful to come when the ski conditions would not be ideal (the altitude is 814 - 1102 meters above sea level). Summary in the Czech language: Jakmile prekonate hnusne hranicni pasmo Vyssi Brod-Studanky, ocitnete se v hezkem rakouskem pohranici, a brzy dojedete do malickeho lyzarskeho strediska Bad Leonfelded - Sternstein (814 - 1102 metru nad morem), ktere vas nadchne svymi sluzbami (dobre restaurace, parkoviste zdarmo, Detsky park Kralovstvi) i sjezdovkami, na kterych je velmi malo lyzaru. Ano, maji tu pouze tri sjezdovky (jednu cervenou a dve modre), ale pokud si koupite permici na dve hodiny (za 17 Euro), melo by se vam povest udelat tech sjedovek deset! Z Lipna zde budete za pul hodinky. Takze doporucuji vyzkouset.

When traveling you are always looking for that experience. That magical, memorable experience. For…read morethose traveling to the Czech Republic even more so. The desire to submerge into a fairy tale of history, romance and wonder is a must for anyone visiting this enchanting country. Most will go to Prague but anyone worth their weight in travel research will find that Czesky Krumlov is where it is at for Story book inspiration. Digging a little deeper you will find Hotel Restaurace Svambersky dum and the charming friendly staff there. It's welcoming warm and transports you to the heart of Krumlov. The rooms are good sizes, clean comfortable and secure but you should wander downstairs to the restaurant and be lost in memorable conversations with locals, other travelers or the charismatic and friendly owner Radek Janouch. My Czech Republic vacation was perfection and Hotel Restaurace Svambersky dum is the place I will remember always Order a bottle of wine and indulge in older times and the wonderland that is Krumlov.