Hyatt's Czech flagship inside the restored 1916 Sugar Palace on Senovážné náměstí — 176 rooms, 24 suites, and the most considered Bohemian-modernist design language of any new Prague hotel.
"Hyatt's most considered new European opening — the restored 1916 Sugar Palace with public rooms decorated by Maxim Velčovský and Lukáš Houdek, the city's most accomplished design hotel programme, and the only Prague five-star where the lobby vaulting is itself one of the building's listed features. The address for guests who want a serious design hotel without the gilt."
The Sugar Palace was built in 1916 on Senovážné náměstí (Hay Market Square) as the headquarters of the Czechoslovak Sugar Trust — at the time the largest sugar-trading concern in Central Europe. The building was designed by the architect Bedřich Bendelmayer in a late-Secession (Art Nouveau) idiom with strong elements drawn from the emerging Czech modernist movement: a vaulted lobby with decorative stone and tile work, a grand staircase rising the full height of the building, and a series of upper-floor reception rooms that were used for the trust's commercial entertaining. The building functioned as the Czechoslovak Sugar Trust headquarters through the inter-war years, was nationalised after 1948, and operated under various ministerial occupants through the communist period. After 1989 it passed to the Austrian developer UBM, which restored the historic shell over a decade and partnered with Hyatt to open the 176-room Andaz Prague in late 2022.
The Andaz brand — Hyatt's lifestyle-five-star line — is well-suited to the Sugar Palace. Andaz properties operate without a traditional reception desk; guests are checked in by a roving host with a tablet from anywhere in the lobby, which here means under the original 1916 vaulting with views of the central staircase. The interior design programme is the property's distinguishing feature: rather than apply a generic Andaz vocabulary, Hyatt commissioned a sequence of contemporary Czech artists and designers — Maxim Velčovský (the porcelain and glass designer), Lukáš Houdek (the photographer), and the Olgoj Chorchoj design studio — to produce decorative work drawn from Czech mythology. Krakonoš (the Krkonoše mountain spirit), the Golem of Prague, and Šemík (the legendary horse of Horymír) appear across the public rooms in murals, ceramic panels, and bespoke furniture pieces. The result is the most distinctively Czech contemporary hotel-design programme in the country.
The 176 rooms include 24 suites distributed across the upper floors. The standard category runs to 27 square metres; the Andaz Junior Suites and Suites are larger; the Sugar Palace Suite — the property's flagship — occupies what was the trust's principal reception room and includes the original decorative ceiling work. Rooms facing Senovážné náměstí look out over the historic square with a view of St Henry's Church; rooms on the inner courtyard side are quieter. The Mason restaurant in the lobby is the dining anchor — a Bohemian-modernist menu that runs Czech vegetable cuisine, fish from the South Bohemian ponds, and a careful Central European wine programme. The Mlsná Bar (Czech for "sweet-toothed bar") leans into the building's sugar history with a confectionery-themed cocktail programme and Velčovský-designed glassware.
The Andaz Spa includes a sauna, steam, and treatment rooms; the indoor pool is a 14-metre length on the lower floor. The position on Senovážné náměstí is between the Old Town (eight minutes' walk) and Wenceslas Square (six minutes), with Republic Square — the natural Prague business address — three minutes' walk. Hlavní nádraží (Prague's main railway station) is six minutes' walk; the airport bus 119 leaves directly from there. Service holds to the Andaz informal-five-star standard — the brand operates without uniforms, the front-of-house team is younger and more tattoo-friendly than the typical European five-star, and the operating style is closer to Soho House than to the Mandarin Oriental. The hotel has become a meaningful Prague creative-industry meeting point and the public rooms are reliably busy with local users in addition to hotel guests.
For Prague business stays in the Republic Square / Wenceslas Square corridor, the Andaz is the most considered choice for executives who would rather not be in a 200-room conventional five-star. The Mason at lunch is a serious working table; the Mlsná Bar is the quiet cocktail meeting venue; the meeting rooms in the historic upper-floor reception spaces hold the building's listed decorative ceilings. The proximity to Hlavní nádraží makes this the obvious choice for guests arriving from Vienna or Berlin by EuroCity train.
For Prague solo retreats — design week, a creative trip, a working week — the Andaz is the city's most enjoyable solo address. The lobby is set up for working from anywhere; the public rooms are full of Czech art and design vocabulary that gives the property a coherent reading-and-thinking environment; the Mason is a comfortable solo-dining venue. The Sugar Palace Suite for guests who want the full mythological-design experience.
A Prague anniversary at the Andaz is the contemporary-art-and-design choice for couples who would rather not have a Baroque or art deco backdrop. The Sugar Palace Suite for the headline booking; the Mason dégustation menu followed by a Mlsná Bar cocktail evening is the most reliably interesting hotel evening in the city. The Czech-mythology-themed public rooms give the anniversary a distinctive sense of place.
Senovážné náměstí 976/31
110 00 Prague 1 (Nové Město)
Czech Republic
Náměstí Republiky metro (line B) 4 minutes' walk; Hlavní nádraží 6 minutes' walk; Old Town Square 10 minutes' walk
176 rooms, including 24 suites
Andaz King Rooms from €290/night
Suites from €600/night
Sugar Palace Suite from €1,800/night
Check-in: 3:00 PM (no front desk; roaming host)
Check-out: 12:00 PM
Opened late 2022 in restored 1916 Sugar Palace
Mason restaurant (Bohemian-modernist)
Mlsná Bar (sweet-toothed cocktails)
Andaz Spa with 14m indoor pool
Velčovský / Houdek decorative work
Original 1916 vaulted lobby
World of Hyatt loyalty
From €290/night. Suites and the Sugar Palace Suite book three months ahead for spring weekends; American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts and World of Hyatt benefits apply.
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