While there’s nothing fancy or particularly luxurious about the Lindner Hotel Prague Castle, I found tremendous value, comfortable accommodations, and a superb breakfast spread at this Hyatt JdV property.
Lindner Hotel Prague Castle Review, A Hyatt JdV Property
Hyatt has many brands within its portfolio of hotels. Its JdV (joie de vivre) brand is described as:
The JdV by Hyatt brand is a collection of original hotels with a deep respect for the neighborhoods that make up each destination. Each hotel is uniquely inspired by its surroundings and is a story about the communities we call home.
In 2023, more than 30 Lindner properties in Europe joined the World of Hyatt program, most in the JdV brand (including the “Me and All Hotels”). The Lindner brand was founded by Otto Lindner in 1973 and is mostly concentrated in Germany, but has properties across the Continent, including Prague.
I am very loyal to Hyatt and had a choice in Prauge: the Andaz at 290EUR or the Lindner Hotel Prague Castle…for only 73EUR. Granted, I was traveling in shoulder season, but I’ll just say here…the value of the Lindner cannot be beat. I spent one night here and one night at the Andaz and I loved everything about the Andaz…such a nice hotel. And yet the Lindner Hotel Prague Castle also was excellent, but at a fration of the cost.
The hotel’s location is not exactly convenient to the city center, though located adjacent to Prague Castle and on he top of Petřín Hill…so it’s an easy walk down into central Prague but a bit of a grueling walk back (which I quite enjoyed, but others may find tedious).
The hotel had a very German feel, with a courtyard and outdoor terrace.
The lobby had a coved roof and a separate seating area with a dome. One end of the lobby was check-in and concierge and the other was the hotel bar.
Check-In
After arriving from Copenhagen at 9:45 am, I checked into the hotel at 10:30 am and my room was already ready…and I was upgraded to a suite (upgrades for Hyatt Globalist members continue to impress). The staff was very friendly and welcoming.
Guest Room
Room 119 was a dated but very comfortable suite with a living room, guest bathroom, bedroom, and large bathroom with a separate tub, shower, and dual sinks.
The room included a Nespresso espresso machine and a minibar.
The room had standard EU 220-volt sockets and no USB ports.
The only thing that might keep me from coming back here is that it felt like the hotel does not use a 100% cotton comforter in the bed. A problem I’ve run into at more budget European hotels is the synthetic material in the comforter makes me sweat like crazy…I wake up drenched in sweat without a cotton comforter or sheets and that was true here.
Standard rooms have one king, one queen, or two twin beds.
Fitness
The hotel’s fitness center, located on the ground level around the corner from the lobby, was underwhelming. It included a multi-position strength resistance machine, a treadmill, and a punching bag.
It was accessible via a small locker room with four lockers.
Wellness
Through a side door in the fitness center, I found a wellness area with chairs and another door connecting to a co-ed sauna. I used the sauna three times during my stay and always had it to myself, though you must alert the hotel if you want to use it so that they can turn it on for you (I found the hard way the first time…it was off!). Allow 45 minutes for it to heat up.
Breakfast
Breakfast is served in the hotel restaurant (simply called “restaurant”) and offers a wide selection of European, American, and British breakfast items including eggs, bacon, sausage, baked beans, breads, sliced meats and cheese, fresh fruit, yogurt, overnight oats, pastries, juices, and coffee.
On weekdays, breakfast is served from 6:30 am to 10:30 am (until 11:00 am on weekends).
Tip: There’s a proper coffee machine at the bar…you can request your coffee be made there.
If you’re not a Globalist, breakfast is about 25 USD (children under age 13 are half off).
Lobby Bar
The bar is open from 9:00 am to 11:00 pm and, in addition to coffee, offers a variety of beer, wine, spirits, and cocktails.
CONCLUSION
While not a luxurious hotel, the value at this hotel was excellent. I appreciated the kind staff, generous room upgrade, and large breakfast spread. As a loyal Hyatt member, as much as I loved the Andaz, knowing I could stay four nights here for every night at the Andaz makes it hard to choose elsewhere. I would happily return to this hotel.
Useful review for your fellow Globalists, but it would be helpful if you also included notes for non-elites, who don’t get suite upgrades or free breakfast.
Here it is for non-elites – no free breakfast or a suite upgrade but same experience as above *shrug*
How were the views from the room?
Coincidentally I stayed there last month in the two rooms next to those (connecting). There wasn’t a view unfortunately, facing a walkway but no one ever passed by it.
This is the reality of 3-4 star hotels in Prague and in most of Europe. Prices are dramatically lower if you don’t stay slap bang in the middle of the historic centre, although American chains sometimes do manage to charge a fortune even in the suburbs. Last time I visited Prague, I stayed in the NH in Andel, the duplex suite was about €85 per night.
I don’t have shabby chic or even vintage if the decor is nice and elegant to the period. However, the room looked basically original to the late 1990s or early 2000s. Basically, whenever that hotel opened. I don’t understand why they didn’t make an effort to have a more classic European or vaguely vintage feel to the decor. The furniture, carpet, etc. in the room looks like an airport Holiday Inn from 2001. The TV looks like it’s from about 2005-2010. It looks like Hyatt forced them to update the hallways as the hallway carpet is new and the door frames look new.
I can relate to the sweaty duvet problem. Polyester pillows and recycled fillings trap moisture overnight. While I travel with my down pillow, I have resorted to using the bathrobe as a replacement comforter until housekeeping brought an acrylic blanket from their stash.
Did the air conditioning work well?
It took a while to get ours to work while there last month but once it did it worked fine.
“The hotel had a very German feel”.At the end of ww2,three million ethnic Germans were brutally expelled from Czechoslovakia,some 20,000 died in the process.The German imprint still today on Czech culture is undeniable.