Communist Retreat Is Now a Capitalist Bargain

PRAGUE, Czechoslovakia â€”  At first glimpse, the Hotel Praha looks something like the Battleship Gallactica hovering over the rooftops of this bustling capital of Eastern Europe.

The ultra-contemporary structure high on a hill overlooking Prague’s embassy area was for eight years a secret hideaway guest house for Communist leaders. Last January, the Praha opened its doors to the public for the first time.

The deluxe hotel still has an aura of mystery. It’s not listed in the Prague telephone book nor is it mentioned in tour brochures. When I visited, few guests were in the lobby and the lovely dining room was less than a third filled.

“That’s because they are beginning from nothing,� explained Olga Rychlikova, my guide. “It’s a ‘non-existent’ hotel that just sprang up like a mushroom last January. Most people weren’t aware it was here. Those of us who knew didn’t like the idea that only certain people could live in luxury up here--could dine on meat when the rest of us couldn’t have it.�

It was her first visit to the Praha and she quickly accepted my invitation to lunch in the splendor of the dining room with its view of Prague Castle in the distance.

She was as awed as I was by the realization that we could be sitting at the same table where Mikhail Gorbachev, Eduard A. Shevardnadze, Nicolae Ceausescu, Moammar Kadafi, Zhao Ziyang or Yasser Arafat might have been seated. All had been guests here. So had Janos Kadar, Fidel Castro, Erich Honecker, Daniel Ortega, Helmut Kohl and Francois Mitterrand, among other less known Central Committee members and guests.

No sooner had we been seated than a uniformed waiter rolled a fully stocked bar cart to our table. Curious about what might be Communist leaders’ beverage of choice, we checked what was offered: Vodka, of course, but also British gin, premium Scotch and rare cognac. No bourbon.

When Alena Pavlikova, the hotel director, noted our interest in the beverage list, she joined us at the table. Bourbon is not known in Czechoslovakia, she explained. Too American. She smiled when she added, “Our former guests were mostly old gentlemen who took great care of their health. Their favorite drinks were different kinds of herbal tea.�

The Praha dining room offers French and Czechoslovak cuisine. We were pleasantly surprised by a salad composed of shredded cabbage, carrots, lettuce, almonds and caraway seed, and delighted by the grilled local fish that followed.

Pavlikova was so pleased with her dining room’s success she went into the kitchen to supervise the making of a special dessert--a whipped cream concoction light as air. With wine and coffee later, the bill for two was under $10 U.S.

(Dinner, from appetizer to dessert, runs 200 korunas per person. The tourist rate of exchange for those with confirmed hotel reservations anywhere in Prague is about 35 korunas to $1, so a really big night at the Praha could run a couple as much as $18 with wine.)

The biggest treat came later when Pavlikova gave us a tour of the hotel. First the fitness center, bowling alleys and indoor swimming pool, then the standard twin bedrooms, each with a red telephone, floor-to-ceiling Havana marble in the bath and a view of Prague Castle from the patio.

“The hotel was designed by computer so that every room would have that view,� Pavlikova explained.

She saved the best for last. The Presidential Suite just might be the best buy in Central Europe. The living room looks like a small, exclusive club with nine overstuffed arm chairs, three enormous coffee tables, four upholstered side chairs, an elegant wooden game table and four chairs, all upholstery in shades of muted gray. One wall is dominated by a superb sound system. A catering kitchen is off one end, the large patio at the other.

The suite includes two rooms with twin beds, five baths and a private entrance--all for about $410 a night.

“A Dutch businessman saw this last week and immediately took it for a big party that evening,� the hotel director confided.

That private entrance in a secret guest house intrigued me. How strong had security been in the old days?

“During the routine hotel life, only three policemen were here, but during state visits the hotel was heavily guarded by 40 policemen,� she explained.

And had the rooms been wired for eavesdropping? “In my opinion, those technical devices couldn’t be here because the hotel was the residence of heads of states and had to be neutral. Any trifle could have caused an international scandal,� she said.

“But that is only my own view. I am not sure about it. I have been connected with the Praha for only three years.�

Most of the former staff are still working at the Praha. What was considered a good job before has even more potential now that the country is eager for tourism.

The Praha phone number won’t be unlisted for long. Pavlikova said management has been negotiating for joint ventures with major chains such as Marriott, Meridien and Trusthouse Forte. Better get that Presidential Suite before the capitalists move in.