Almanac X Alcron Prague

Alois Krofta built the Alcron in 1932 and named it after himself, more or less: AL for Alois, KRO for Krofta, and a mythical Greek ship of that name to lend it some dignity. Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald stayed. Around midnight on 20 August 1968, Petr Rehak of the Associated Press heard the roar of aircraft, ran down to reception and used the hotel's teletype to send the world its first news that Warsaw Pact troops were occupying Czechoslovakia. The redesign that reopened it in 2023 kept the old wood panelling and the fireplace, and set a curved cream sofa between the green marble columns of the lobby. Brass rails wind down a white marble stairwell, and in one room under the roof, a window in the slope is filled with Prague Castle.

Recommended for grown-ups who would like their hotel to come with a past and a proper cocktail bar, and for families, who get connecting rooms and suites that sleep three. The tram stops a few steps from the door and Old Town Square is ten minutes' walk. In winter the hotel arranges an ice rink on Wenceslas Square and gives guests the tickets. Brasserie 1932 does French cooking with a Czech twist and no white tablecloths, and guests speak well of its breakfast buffet, served until eleven at weekends. That is a mercy, since the Alcron Bar keeps going until two on Fridays and Saturdays. Miloš Forman was a regular there, and the hotel says the idea for Loves of a Blonde came to him watching the other guests: something to bear in mind at one in the morning.