Prague- Part 1

We returned home last night from our trip to Prague! This trip was an adventure to say the least.  We are all exhausted....

To start with, we booked a loft apartment with Prague Residences off of a recommendation of other American travelers vs a hotel for the reasons I discuss below.

The loft was on the 5th floor of this building. There was a very small elevator taking you to the top, but most of the time we took the stairs.

This building was in the old Jewish part of Prague and was situated among little restaurants and bars. It was beautiful inside, the architecture in Prague is amazing.

We found the location was great and easy to get to, and easy to find using the GPS.  It was also across the street from the Intercontinental Hotel, which visually was very nice.

We found that this loft gave us pretty much everything we needed in terms of space/functionality for a family of five. The problem we often find is that European rooms are SMALL.

In deciding whether to book in a hotel or a loft, we choose this option based on some reviews of Hotel rooms.  Some issues noted were heavy cigarette smell, which none of us can take.... Another issue was how small the family rooms were, but you pay a  much bigger price.

Overall, I think this was the best choice for our family, with a few changes that were simply out of our control.


The below pictures are from the rental site, because I did not even think about taking pictures inside.

Where Nicky slept, and straight across thru the doors is a bathroom and where Zachary slept

This is a view from the top of the loft.  It was a fully functional kitchen, with a washer, microwave and dishwasher.  The long door to the right is the fridge.

This is where Eric and I slept, on the bottom floor. On the other side of this room, was a small sofa lounge, where Avery ended up sleeping. Off of this room was a bathroom, and the spiral staircase leading to the upstairs.

This was staircase to the loft area and you can see just past the staircase is the entry doorway.

This is where Zachary slept

This loft turned out to be quite an adventure for our family, thanks in part to some crazy drinking Chic's from Denmark next door.   Lets just say, they contributed to our being exhausted.  This was probably the biggest damper on our trip, because in general this loft was so cool and met all of our needs.

Unfortunately for us, and the two other neighbors on this floor, these girls had no clue about co-habituation with others on this floor.  This was completely out of our control, and unfortunately, it is something you deal with in Europe. 

Many of the hotel recommendations claimed the noise at night in the hallway was a big problem.  Prague is a party city, and I would say the nightlife IS NOT family friendly.  However, I thought we may be safe at the lofts because of the recent reviews from Americans staying there weeks at a time.  

Eric and I came to Europe for the first time when we were 22 and 23.  We have our share of "good times" to say the least, but never have we ever acted the way these girls did.  They slept all day, and starting partying about 10 pm, right about the time we were all getting ready to get sleep for the day ahead. I have never heard Bobby Brown's "That's my Prerogative" and Brittney Spears "OOPS, I did it again" so many times in my life......and I hope never to hear these songs again.

In an odd coincidence, I do think it taught my kids a little about common courtesy and I feel pretty safe in saying I don't think one of my kids will ever be an obnoxious young adult like these girls were, just by how perturbed they were with their behavior.

However, the management did refund our two night parking fee of $70.00 for the inconvenience of these crazy girls.

Overall, the pro's outweigh the con's.

***Pro's***

*Large enough for family of five

*Was able to cook dinner in the crock pot all day both days, had fridge, stove, microwave and dishwasher

*Was able to wash laundry on day 2

*2 Bathrooms / 2 showers

*Wireless

*Centrally located in city

***Cons***:

*Beds were bricks, both of our backs are killing us, but kids thought they were fine

*No soap (luckily, I brought liquid soap) 

*Sat TV was in Armenian only

*No control over other people staying in the lofts on your floor

*Parking in alternative slots at 25 Euros a night (this is common in Prague, parking is an issue)

I have a ton of pictures to go thru, and will be posting them as a I get them organized.

For Lenten Laundry:

Organized our office drawers and kids school supply drawers, and have Nicky working on organizing/separating his Lego's.