Luxury Design Is Good for Tourism (Portal of Prague)

Luxury Design Is Good for Tourism

Yet another luxurious hotel in Prague opens. It is the Prague Kempinski Hybernská Hotel, which is part of one of the oldest chains of luxury hotels in the world.

Oskar Exner

This hotel, at No. 12 Hybernská Street, grew out of the former Věžník Palace, which used to be the property of several noble families in the past. However, the last owner was “Obvodní ústav národního zdraví”(the District Health Organisation). Afterwards, the building was bought by a private company and towards the close of the 90’s, discussions about its transformation into a hotel started.

Also for a president

The company, Kempinksi, opened its first hotel in Germany in 1897, and currently they own the finest and most luxurious hotels in Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia. Their Prague hotel has got 75 rooms, of which 62 are suites, and one barrier free room. Suites and rooms are on average 51m2 in size, the presidential suite (including bedrooms, dining room, a private terrace and whirlpool) is 186 m2. The rooms are furnished in an elegant and practical style with air conditioning, several telephones, a television, a radio, a mini-bar, a hairdryer, dressing gowns, a safe and a fast and reliable wi-fi connection. There are carpets on the floor in the bedrooms, parquet flooring in the living room, built-in kitchenette, separate WC and a dressing room.

A favourable location

The hotel is located nearby the historic centre, not far from all cultural and historical sights such as the Powder Tower, Municipal House, Old Town Square, Wenceslas Square, and at the same time, is near shopping and business centres. It is designed both for short term and long term stays and provides the full service of a 5 star hotel. Besides luxurious rooms there is a garden with an area of 1800 m2, all at the guest’s disposal. It aspires to become the most unique place for social events in Prague.

A group of highly recognized interior designers created a style, which reflects a timeless elegance in all the rooms of this historic hotel, quoted Sedat Nemli, General Director of the Kempinski Hybernska Hotel. Above the portal of the main entrance, in the middle of windowless facade, there is a bust of Mercury. In Roman mythology Mercury is the god of trade and travelling, I firmly believe it will bring us good luck. Therefore, I do not believe that a current drop of customers in Prague hotels should in any way affect the running of our hotel. On the contrary, it is a lucky twist of fate that we are opening just before the Czech Republic takes up the chairmanship of the EU. It could be a good prosperous start, he added.

History and modernism

We are excited by the Prague project which connects both historical architecture and the new way of metropolitan life directly in the middle of the city. This building is a beautiful connection to our cultural heritage and traditions. We have made something unique in Prague, says Rito Wittwer, the President of Kempinski Company. We run 59 hotels around the world and Prague is one of our best acquisitions. The company is going to open another 52 hotels. We want to present to our visitors that Kempinski is indeed the prominent brand providing such high quality international service and are very ambitious regarding the plans for this hotel. Our rooms and suites are very big and of a superb quality. We do not have a huge building, but we have exceedingly sumptuous rooms located at a great address in the city. Prague is a pearl among other European cities and we are in no doubt that the Kempinski Hybernská Hotel in Prague is a shining pearl among the gems of Kempinski. added Sedat Nemli

hotel Kempinski Hybernská Prague

23. October 2008
23. October 2008

(average rating: 3.04; 95 ratings)

Responsibility:: Editorial Office

History of the house “U Věžníků”

The house No. 1002, in the original Na Dláždění Street (since 19th century renamed Hybernská Street), which dates back to the 15th century, used to be two blocks of flats originally. In the 17th century they were joined into one Baroque palace.

It had many famous owners such as: the Earl Felix Vršovec Sekerka from Sedčice, and the Earl František Věžník from Věžník, the house was later renamed “U Věžníků” (Věžníkovský Palace) after him; it later passed on to the Earl František Josef from Vrtba. The Earl Vrtba did not have any heirs and bequeathed the house to the family of Lobkowitz, who then sold it to “Gremiální nemocniční pokladny” (GNP – hospital register) in 1922. In the 20th century the building was used as a hospital and has been a national monument since 1976.

Nowadays Hybernská Street, which was originally called Horská Street, connected Prague with Kutná Hora. When New Town was founded in 1348, it started to be called Na Dláždění Street (Paved Street). It was the first paved street with cobble stones in Prague. Most people from Prague know it due the fact that the Irish Franciscans (the Hyberns) used to plant the so called “soil apples” (potatoes) in the first half of the 18th century. Also, in the street there used to stand big apartment buildings on the same site in the 15th century.

Aleš Ferdinand Vratislav from Mitrovice connected both buildings to form an aristocrat’s palace and between 1658-1662 he bought two more houses on the other side of the block at Senovážná Square. In this way, he created a large palace area, a farm and a big garden with a Baroque entrance between Na Dláždění Street and Senovážné Square.

In 1690, the whole complex was bought by the imperial valet, Felix Vršovec Sekerka, from Sedčice. His passion was collecting Baroque art. On his initiative it was rebuilt according to design of an unknown architect and so united the Baroque palace with medium-sized and small side gable ends. You can see the Earl Vršovec’s coat of arms above the entrance to the palace from the garden. It has two crossed axes together with so called “vrší, which was a wicker basket for fishing. This coat of arms is one of the oldest parts of the building. A part of the garden was also an artificial cave with stalactites, sala terrena and a bird cage. From the Baroque reconstruction only some fragments such as Baroque stucco embellishment of the vault in the current bar, the illusionist Baroque fresco and the Baroque fountain in the garden were preserved”, says doc. PhDr. Václav Ledvinka, CSc. Director of archives at Prague Town Hall.

Afterwards, the palace changed hands several times, of which the most famous owner was the Earl František Věžník from Věžník in the 18th century. Likewise the Earl Felix Vršovec was also an art enthusiast; another famous art collector was the Earl František Josef from Vrtba. He is remembered for his generous act of lending of 132 paintings of German, Dutch and Italian masters from his collection. It served as a base of a new exhibition of “Společnost vlasteneckých přátel umění” ( National Gallery).

As previously mentioned he did not have any descendants and bequeathed the property to the Lobkowitz family. A hundred years ago the house belonged to the Prince Ferdinand of Lobkovitz, the Duke of Roudnice. The Lobkowitz family used to have wine cellars here at the back; they brought in quality wine from the Roudnicko region, which had already a 400 years old tradition. At the end of the 19th century the Baroque palace changed into the neo-classical apartment building with shops on the ground floor and apartments and offices on the upper floors. In 1922 Ferdinand of Lobkowitz sold it to GNP, their emblem is still above the main entrance to the hotel. The modern reconstruction of the building was the work of the architect František Kavalír from 1928. In the 20th century it was used as a hospital.

In 1996 the building was bought by the company Ballymore Properties which, in accord with the design of Ian Bryan Architects, reconstructed the building for the oldest European luxury chain of hotels Kempinski.

Source: Kempinski