If you want to be Bohemian (hee hee!) in Bohemia, this is a great choice for the adventurous…read moretraveler who wants to experience Prague in an authentic and meaningful way while staying safe and comfortable in a beautiful building.
Located in historic, architecturally magnificent, and slightly seedy but not dangerous, artist-writer-student stronghold Zizkov District (Prague 3), it's a quick downhill trot to the tram that will take you in just one stop to the main train station that is one of the crossroads of Europe.
This is a deceptively terrific location. Right around the block is a street famously packed with affordable restaurants and pubs catering to a surprisingly wholesome European artist and student trade. You are far from the throngs of camera-dripping tourists from newly rich countries elbowing away your serenity, yet can be in the heart of Wenceslas Square in minutes. If, like me, you are happier in the Greenwich Village, Haight-Ashbury, and Montmartre corners of the world, Ziskov is for you.
The pension itself is truly lovely. It's an immaculately clean former mansion, with high ceilings, tall, Parisian-style casement windows through which gentle breezes blow, and a small but fully functional kitchen with a table, stove, small refrigerator and a full set of housekeeping amenities like plates cups... And a real espresso machine complete with steaming nozzle. Woohoo! Very helpful after the hangover that may come from your pub crawling in the neighborhood.
You will be greeted with a basket of sweets, plenty of espresso pods, and a liter of the delicious Czech milk, so that you can set right to the business of perfecting your cappuccinos and lattes.
Be mindful to complete all your arrangements ahead of time, as this is a residential pension and not a hotel. The front desk is staffed during business hours Monday through Friday. You can arrive at any time but you'll have to make arrangements in advance so that if, like me, you arrive, rumpled and hopeful, at 6 a. m. on a Sunday morning fresh from a train from Budapest, you know where and how to find the key. Fortunately, this establishment is owned by the same people (Oikes) who run a 24/ 7 hotel right around the block on Borivojova Street, so you can go there for any help that you might need at any hour.
This sister establishment is the City Crown hotel at Borivojova 94, where are you are welcome to enjoy your free breakfast each morning while staying at Vlkova Palace.
Here's my clarification of the directions they provide on their website, just in case like me, you arrive at an off hour by train:
From the main train station Hlavni Nadrazi, exit on the lower level, which goes out to a long walkway alongside and through a park. In the train station, be sure that you have money or other means to pay for the tram. I bought a very useful device called a Prague card, which covers all public transport and many museums for predetermined number of days. You buy it in daily increments.
Anyway, exiting the main train station on the lower level, turn right out the big glass doors and walk alongside and through the park for about a block-and-a-half to where the walkway through the park ends at a tram stop. Take either tram 2, 5, 9, or 26 heading uphill, for one stop, which is Husinecka Street. There is a somewhat decayed looking football stadium there on the right side of the street. March resolutely up the steep hill on Krasova street behind the football stadium, where you will find Vlkova Street. Turn right on Vlkova, and the residence is in the middle of the block on the right at number 25. Don't be appalled by the graffiti on some of the buildings that you pass, just keep looking up at the gorgeous architecture. Well, do look down from time to time, there's a bit of dog poop.
If you have any problems getting in, continue one more block up Krasova Street and turn right on Borijojova and go to #94, the City Crown Hotel, which is owned by the same company, and they will take care of you.
The room was perfectly clean, the beds comfortable, you could have eaten off the floor in the bathroom, and the basket of treats and welcoming packet of info was lovely. They even marked up a map with recommended points of interest. The price was beautifully affordable and perfect for people like me who have more of a sense of adventure and wonder than money. I'm only taking off one star because of the awkwardness in getting in during off hours and the weekend. Everything else is really wonderful, and highly highly recommended.
I would return in a heartbeat.
