After a decade of extensive renovation, the iconic Hotel Evropa is set to reopen its doors in September. Nestled in the heart of Praha, on Václavské náměstí, the grand hotel has been under reconstruction for the past ten years. The refurbished hotel will emerge as a luxurious lifestyle hotel in Prague, part of the Marriott international hotel chain.
The revitalized hotel will boast 161 rooms and suites, including the presidential Extreme Wow suite. The original hotel, famed in the First Republic era due to renowned restaurateur Karel Šroubek, had only 90 rooms. The new building, however, has sparked some controversy due to its size. The nine-story structure constructed in the hotel courtyard has drawn criticism for not respecting the urbanism of Nové Město.
The hotel’s secessionist appearance, created during renovations between 1903 and 1905, has a rich history. It has housed many notable names, such as Nicholas Winton, the savior of Jewish children before the war. A fun fact about the hotel is that in 1912, writer Franz Kafka had his only public reading of his texts there.
The hotel’s original secessionist interior was last seen by the public at a Designblok show a decade ago. It was otherwise closed, and it was assumed that it would reopen in 2020.
It is still unclear if all renovations will be completed by September. “We’re supposed to finish in June, but we have enough work until September,” one of the workers told Novinkám. The hotel has already started taking reservations, with the first available date being January 2025, not September 2024. According to the reservation system, a room and night for one guest will cost more than 8500 korunas.