Hotel Hejtmanský Dvůr

Prague is a real gem, but it’s worth taking time to see the Czech countryside too. Slany has a small community feel and is only 20-30 minutes from Prague. For dinner, my top choice is Hotel Hejtmanský dvůr. I’ve visited Prague several times over the years, and on one of those trips I stopped at this boutique hotel and restaurant. The chef’s skill really impressed me. The flavors were intricate and brought together so well that I haven’t found anything in Prague to compare. I’d add Hotel Hejtmanský dvůr to a future Prague trip.

Slany itself felt unusually quiet when we were there. By 6 PM, the shops and coffee places near the center seemed to be closed, and the only pub we found open had just two regulars in it, so we ended up going back to the hotel as the liveliest place around. We had stopped there on our way to Germany. The room was clean and nice, if a bit small, and the restaurant food was excellent. The staff were friendly without being ingratiating, and gave us helpful advice about the food and wine. The Gothic wine cellar needs to be booked ahead. It isn’t open every day and is available on request.

The hotel itself seemed fine, but the service needs work. We arrived 20 minutes after the check-in deadline and found nobody there. No one answered the phone, so we spent at least half an hour trying to get hold of someone in the rain. Fortunately, other guests were there and had the manager’s contact, and the manager let us in. Breakfast wasn’t bad, but there was no one available to bring hot water or refill the coffee machine.

Getting the room sorted out was already a problem. With a tiny baby, the only option apparently was a three-bed room, though we’d use just two beds and needed a crib. The woman on the phone kindly said there was probably a crib somewhere. For a room priced like one in a major European city, I expected it to be there after we’d requested it. Instead, it was a travel crib with no mattress, so we had to take our child into bed and nobody slept. The rooms are so cramped it’s hard to breathe, and there’s no air cooling. With the windows open, mosquitoes made the night unforgettable. Breakfast was awful. The scrambled eggs looked like they’d already been eaten once or twice. There was no sausage or bacon, just some leftover greasy, unidentifiable food from the party the night before. The restaurant menu makes it look like someone knows how to cook, but the actual food was another story. I’ve never left a steak on my plate before, but I did here. My husband’s meal was disgusting too, a fatty piece of meat meant to be schnitzel. When I asked whether the kitchen could make two scrambled eggs for my child in the evening, the man didn’t even check and just said no. No sleep, terrible service, and even worse food at a price I’d expect from a good hotel in a big city. Unless your expectations are very low, don’t trust the good reviews like I did. Go somewhere else.