I had visited Prague before, however this was for a lads holiday that only required us to get a bed for a night with all the drinking and high jinx that would be taking place, so when I returned with my partner I decided I required somewhere much more classy than a cheap apartment.

This is where my love for Mandarin Oriental or ‘MO’ as it is fondly known by it’s guests comes into play.

After reviewing trip advisor I discovered that there was a very good selection of five star properties within Prague and lone behold there on the list was ‘Mandarin Oriental Prague’.

You are probably wondering at this point what is so special about MO and why am I raving on so early in the review. Well please stick around and read on and you will hopefully begin to see why my love affair with Mandarin Oriental is as strong today as it has been for many years!

Booking

After I had discovered the hotel’s existence I looked at the selection of online deals. There were certainly plenty of rates available, however I prefer to deal with Mandarin Oriental over the telephone. Usually there are other promotions available direct that can be more suited to your needs. I called the hotel directly and lone behold there was a perfect deal for us. They arranged for us to pay for the first two nights and they would award us the third night complementary. This was inclusive of breakfast. They would also provide us with 100 Euro of credit to use within the hotel restaurant or bar should we wish. So for £300 I was getting three nights of five star luxury. I was sold. The final thing to arrange was the transfer from the airport to the hotel. Now last time I was in Prague we took a rather scruffy taxi to the city. Making this holiday special required a little bit more than that, so I booked the Mandarin Oriental limousine. For 100 Euro return the chauffeur would meet us in arrivals and then return us to the airport on our departure. Not bad I thought!

Arrival

Once we had cleared the baggage reclaim at Prague airport we met a pleasant gentleman holding up a ‘MO’ sign with my surname on it. After introductions he carried our luggage to the car which was a sumptuous Mercedes-Benz S Class with plenty of room in the back. There was also complementary champagne arranged by the reservations team for us to sip whilst we drove into Prague. The driver was most friendly and polite and gave us great information on the history of the city and the best things for us to look out for. He also advised us of the great facilities of the hotel. We drove through the city to the old town and bout twenty minutes into the journey we swept into the courtyard of the hotel to a brilliant sight.

The hotel was formerly a monastery and they have done an excellent job of retaining the original character of the property. From the outside it oozed sophistication and I was extremely excited to finally be here. The hotel is situated in the Mala Strana area of the city and is more peaceful than the New Town side of the river. Once we had taken in the view of the hotel it was time to check in.

Check In

Check in was exactly what I have come to expect from Mandarin Oriental. As I had arranged a limousine transfer the duty manager was awaiting our arrival at the front door. After being greeted personally he took us straight to our room. On the way we were given more history about the monastery and the refurbishment before we arrived at our room. I had originally booked a superior room, however due to low occupancy I was advised by the manager that we had been upgraded to a deluxe room at no extra cost. We soon arrived at our room and after taking in the detail of the room we completed the check in. I had to sign the obligatory paperwork, there was no credit card required as they had already taken care of the ‘pre-authorisation’ for any incidentals and we were left to relax in this huge room!

The Room

The excitement had already started to build as we walked through the corridors towards the room, even more so when I was told we had been upgraded. The doors to the room gave off a sense of grandeur with huge double doors that made me giddy as to what was on the other side.

Once inside I was in heaven. The designer had done a fantastic job of turning what I imagine to have been a very minimalist monks room into a room that was warm and full of luxury, whilst retaining the original features. They had combined the traditional architecture with beautiful far eastern silks and fabrics and kept it all in keeping with the property history.

As you first opened the door you walked into a hallway. The bedroom was to one side and the bathroom to the other. There was a wardrobe area and a place to store your luggage.

As you walked through to the bedroom you were greeted by two large windows looking out over the city, a huge double bed with bedding to die for, a writing desk and finally a sideboard with a large LCD TV and DVD player.

After you had gotten over the beauty of the bedroom came the bathroom. It was huge and was designed with masses of marble and slate and filled with the finest toiletries from Elemis. The towels were made from the finest Egyptian cotton and it was all so comfortable.

Sleeping was a dream. The bed was so massive it was hard to find my partner as it felt as though we each had our own bed! It was oh so comfortable I never wanted to get up.

Restaurant/Bar

Throughout our stay we experienced all three of the hotel’s restaurants and bars and can say that they all lived up to expectation!

Essensia is the hotel’s main restaurant. This serves traditional European cusine with a far eastern flair to some of the dishes, owing to the heritage of ‘MO’ from Hong Kong and Bangkok. Food is of a very high standard and great value too. We both experienced a three course dinner with wine with the bill totaling around 70Euros. Not bad for a five star hotel restaurant and some of the finest fillet steak you could possibly hope for! The service in the restaurant was also fantastic. Discreet but efficient. Exactly what you want for a romantic dinner in my opinion.

Barego is the hotel’s cocktail bar and is situated next door to Essensia. Again is has been styled in a dramatic way that makes it a pleasant place to relax for a drink and had a great atmosphere with people coming in and out on a regular basis. Compared to many hotel bars it actually had a soul to it and we enjoyed spending time here without feeling like we were surrounded by boring traveling salesmen,(apologies if you are one of these). The cocktail and drinks selection was extremely wide and we enjoyed the best amaretto sour we have had on this planet to date. Go try it!

In keeping with the tradition of the hotel’s original use there is also the Monastery Lounge which retains the original architecture and is extremely minimal in it’s design. The lounge serves afternoon tea on a daily basis and is a fantastic place to sit and relax. The tea costs around 10Euro per head and includes a choice of teas, cakes and sandwiches. The staff also provided a library of the latest magazines and newspapers should you wish to read whilst you eat. Our afternoon spent here was extremely relaxing I didn’t want to leave!

Facilities

The hotel can cater for conferences, banquets and events and has a selection of rooms of which can be used to host these events, however I would say this is more suited to the boutique hotel category that the Asian powerhouse properties you will find in the far east. The atmosphere of the hotel would not lead it to be the typical conference hotel and I feel a surge in conference guests would somehow ruin the atmosphere that the hotel has on a day to day basis.

There

is a fully fitted gymnasium, which has some of the best equipment I have seen in a hotel gym. Not having the chance to use it doesn’t allow me to say much for it, however it looked very sufficient for a good work out!

The hotel is also home to a Mandarin Oriental Spa being one of the signature items of any MO property. The Spa was housed in an outbuilding of the hotel which is reached by an interesting underground tunnel from the main hotel. As you walk along the tunnel there are artistic pieces and archaeological finds from when the tunnel was built. Telling you a story of the monastery from back in the day. Once you reach the spa you can appreciate the level of relaxation you will no doubt get to as the scents of the treatments and the music takes you into another world. We did not experience any of the treatments at the spa, however the menu was extremely comprehensive and was competitively priced.

Breakfast

Each morning we would return to Essensia for our breakfast. You would find one of the best continental spreads ever before seen in a hotel combined with a table service English option. The selection of pastries, yoghurts, fruits and cereals was fantastic and the English option left you feeling full. Breakfast lived up to the same standard of everything else about the hotel and I was in no way disappointed. The only thing that did disappoint me was a group of American tourists who felt it right to make their own sandwiches from the breakfast buffet to take out to lunch with them and not even be discreet about it. I mean asking the waiter for some cling film in a 5* hotel as you don’t want to buy lunch. How cheap!

Check out

Eventually the time came for us to say goodbye to the hotel and return back to the UK. I had enjoyed my experience of Prague and everything about the hotel and even to the last point the staff kept delivering. As we were departing in the evening the hotel provided us with a complimentary late check out so that we could use the room until the last minute. Once we were ready to go the porter took our bags down for us and we settled the bill at reception. Everything was once again effortless and they charged the bill to my card without hassle. As a departure gift we were given a thank you letter from the manager for staying at the property and also issued a gift voucher for us to return within the next twelve months and if we paid for a night we would receive a free night. A perfect parting gift and one we would pass to a friend to use later that year. The chauffeur greeted us at the door and took us safely back to the airport ready for our flight. Our Mandarin holiday was over ;-(

Summary

My stay with ‘MO’ Prague was everything I expected it would be. Mandarin Oriental aim to deliver a ‘Moment of Delight’ to all of their guests and I can say for sure that they delivered on each and every transaction we had from booking, staying and leaving.

The Asian values that this hotel chain put across the design of their properties and the service that their staff deliver is what makes the chain so special. From sending a member of staff out to purchase me a new charger for my Nintendo DS or to rent a DVD for us, to arranging fresh flowers for the room every day they just do these things with no argument. Forget about other hotels where the corporate jargon aims to deliver your total satisfaction etc, with MO they deliver each and every time!

As this was now my fifth MO property to have stayed at it reassured me that this has to be the best hotel chain in the world. No doubt.

Stay completed July 2008. Booked via the hotel direct or you can look at www.mandarinoriental.com and book online.

Enjoy your stay!