5 Stars Hotels in Carlsbad area, Czech Republic

1. I stayed in the hotel with a little bit of anticipation and expectations. The reason is that I read many reviews before booking. Some are not very good, most of them are old equipment, and the service attitude is poor. Old equipment is a fact. Service I think the attitude is okay, the handsome waiter at the counter, good English and good attitude! 2. A little puzzled, come to check-in during the off-season, the hotel's housing rate is low, but the room for us is a mountain wall, there is no view at all room type, the mood is disappointed! 3. The hotel is divided into the main building and the annex building. It is evaluated that someone has stayed in the annex building, even the restaurant for breakfast, and the restaurant in the main building is not a grade. The main building. Sure enough, staying in the main building, the breakfast restaurant is too beautiful, the breakfast is also great, is the biggest highlight of the stay!

My experience at this hotel was bad. To start with: 1. Hotel credit card machine was not working. So everything had to be paid with cash. Who would expect to be walking around with 15,000 - 20,000 kronor in cash?? Going to city center and getting the cash cost us an extra $85 in transaction fees and poor conversion rates. 2. Being a small town and boutique hotel, very few people speak English. We made an appointment and went to the spa at the time. It was our first experience in a ”salt cave”. Nobody to tell us what to do. We lost about 10 minutes in this experience, but had to pay full price. Same thing with the mineral bath. Lost few minutes because there was nobody to guide us, but had to pay full price. Finally at check out time, we were told that their credit card system is not working for a month!!!. If that was the case, the hotel should have informed the guests in ADVANCE so that we would have made alternate arrangements. As for the hotel itself, it is a very nice property and enjoyable if the hotel can do a better job.

As part of our Czech Republic visit we looked for a hotel near Karlovy Vary, we came across the Riverside hotel, and we are so happy we found it everything was great, the location, hotel staff, wellness & spa and the breakfast, the hotel is highly recommended and we will certainly come back !!!

I visited this medical Spa without a hotel reservation, in order to get some relaxation, treatment and other possible activates that may be beneficial for the body and health. it was June 2023 after I found the castle Spa closed. I spoke to the reception who told me that they don't have any medical offers like the castle spa, but they only treat the patients that staying at the hotel depending on the condition they came for. Anyway, they allowed me to enter the medical spa and see what possible procedure I can have. They choose for me 6 procedures as per the availability and don't need a doctor consultation. I remember 3 of them which were… Thai massage – Oxygen therapy – Bubbly Magnesium bath.. In additional to use the Sauna, steam and swimming pool. Anyway, they allowed me to enter the medical spa and see what possible procedures I could have. They chose 6 procedures based on availability and don't require a doctor's consultation. I remember 3 of them were... Thai massage - oxygen therapy - magnesium bath.. in addition to using the sauna, steam and swimming pool. My impression after I finished: »it's really doesn't worth it« The place is very cool, clean and amazing like a palace. The staff was very very helpful, polite and nice talking. I really thank you all. Treatment, or let's say procedures – activities. Etc. - the ones I got were very ordinary and neither I nor my body needed them. I regretted not getting the two-hour Thai massage session available in the designated Thai shops within the town, along with all the other services attached to it. it will be better, comfortable and satisfaction.

I spent here only one night at the wonderful Esplanade hotel with the kindest and most helpful staff I have ever met. In the restaurant, lobby and also on the bar. The hotel is very well furnished with great facilities. I took a dinner in the hotel and it was amazing and plentiful. The buffet breakfast was very rich, the breakfast restaurant staff very friendly and attentive to all wishes. The hotel is set among beautiful rocks overlooking the town and the main spa promenade. I enjoyed my stay a lot and look forward to come back!

I'm currently staying at the Olympic Palace and booked it because the reviews were so good - not because it looked amazing or because the price was good - neither was the case. I just wanted the nicest hotel in town besides Pupp. Unfortunately, this hotel was way below even a four star standard. We paid 300 euro/night and called ahead to ask if we could pay a bit extra to upgrade to a larger room with a balcony. They offered a Deluxe Room with a Balcony for 20 euro extra per night. When we arrived at midnight, there was only one poor woman at the reception who was brand new on the job. She tried so hard but it took 10 minutes just to process our documents and then when I confirmed it would be a Deluxe Room with Balcony, she said no - but that we were charged the 20 euros anyways. When I asked about the larger room, she said it would be over 100 euro/night and would take a very long time to get us in a room like this. We just wanted to sleep so took the small room, which was not very nice. The shower head did not work the entire time, neither did the AC. My assistant called ahead to book a spa afternoon for us and ask what the spa would recommend. We tried calling the spa the day-of and they never picked up. We went down and were told to return in our robes. There was no spa reception. We were told to go back up to our room and find the paper with our spa confirmations and go directly to those rooms. It was the most rushed massage I've ever had - even before my back hit the bed, it started on my feet. It was a fine massage, but not what I'd expect from a spa hotel. Afterwards, the spa staff had recommended the ”salt room” - we were excited, thinking this must be some kind of salt scrubbing room or unique experience. No. It was a room with fake salt hanging from the ceiling, very cold AC, and beds with dirty blankets thrown over us, sitting in lawn chairs. It was supposed to be a 45 min experience - just sitting in the chairs doing nothing. We left immediately. The spa team, when we finally found them, said ”it's supposed to be like smelling the salt in the ocean” - it was a hilarious excuse for a spa treatment, which we're still laughing about. They tried to charge 30 euro for this. The pool person (once we found him) also said the pool was thermal waters. They were not. The service here is limited, the property is nothing special, the price is high compared to the rest of the town, the spa is not nice, spa staff are nowhere to be found, the system is confusing, and it was by no means relaxing.

Das Personal war freundlich und bemüht. In unserem Zimmer gab es z.B. nur heisses Wasser in den Lavabos, nicht aber in der Dusche. Der Hotelmanager offerierte uns sofort umstandslos ein zweites Zimmer zum Duschen und liess schon am anderen Morgen einen Sanitär kommen, der den Schaden reparierte. ABER · Wir verbrachten hier 4 Tage. Wir waren die einzigen Gäste. Da fragt man sich natürlich schon, warum das so ist. Schon am Anreisetag mussten wir von unterwegs aus vor 15h nicht nur melden, ob wir im Hotel essen, sondern auch, was wir essen möchten. Als wir dann ankamen, verstanden wir, wieso. Wir waren ja eben die einzigen Gäste... serviert wurden wir völlig unprofessionell, aber überfreundlich und beflissen vom Hotelmanager persönlich. Will man das wirklich, wenn man ein 5 Sterne Wellness und Golf Hotel besucht? Sauna und Dampfbad hätte es zwar gegeben, aber nur auf Voranmeldung und gegen Gebühr. Wieso ist denn am Hotel Wellness angeschrieben? Ich buchte eine Hotstone Massage - mehr um zu schauen, ob es das hier wirklich gibt. Ja, es gab es. aber ich hatte das Gefühl, die an sich nette Masseuse, die nut tschechisch sprach, habe das noch nicht so oft gemacht. Sie tat mir leid; denn sie gab sich Mühe. Es war aber weder entspannend noch angenehm: statt sanfter Musik in nettem Raum hörte man nur den angestrengten Atem der Masseuse, während man in einem kargen Raum liegend viel zu heftig massiert wurde. Das Restaurant, auf dem wegweisenden Plakat gross als ”Castle Restaurant” angeschrieben, kann nicht wirklich besucht werden. Man muss sich ja bis 15 h mit Menüwahl angemeldet haben. Die Auswahl der Speisen ist klein, das Servierte recht, aber nicht wirklich gut. Das Café, von dem auf einer Schiefertafel vor dem Hotel steht, es wäre von 11h bis 17h geöffnet, ist leer und unbedient. Schade um das wirklich sehr schöne Gebäude, das bis ins Detail liebevoll (wenn auch eher kitschig) eingerichtet ist. Wer einmal eine zeitlang völlig alleine ein ganzes Schloss bewohnen will, kann ja hier mal buchen. Wer sich in einem 5 Sterne Haus entspannen und verwöhnen lassen will, sollte hier nicht hingehen. Wie kann so ein Hotel überhaupt überleben???

The building is impressive, enthroned up on the east hillside of Karlovy Vary. Habsburgian vibes reminiscent of ancient days. Imperial is in good condition and nicely renovated. The scale of the building is huge and dimensioned for thousands of guests. Walking around takes quite a bit of time but with lesser amount of guests than the mentioned thousand, it feels quite lonely to stroll the corridors... The public areas are mostly beautiful, but the five official stars... no, unfortunately not. What is lacking? Well, the scale of the property demands to keep it running. To keep it running you have to have a lot of guests. Thus, you have to attract people who not usually are in the ”five star category”. And so they (try to) do. Many things turn to ”cantina” standard in respect of both the reception and ”handling” of the guests and the dining options. Very tired staff at check in. One example: in the main lobby there are only two elevators, whereof one at our visit was out of order. Another elevator in another part of the hotel did not serve all the floors. Nah.... Rooms are renovated and just fine. All amenities and a good night's sleep in comfy beds. Nice with a small balcony. For those having some sort of boarding agreement, dinner is served as a buffet dinner in the magnificent ”Prague restaurant” with lavish decoration. A buffet is hardly a concept in a real five star hotel and we consequently had dinner in the more intimate ”Restaurant Paris” - see my separate review. In ”Prague” breakfast is also served, which proved to be a great gathering of all the hotel guests at the same time. More like a school cantina than a five star hotel. Everything in place though, and most thing you would want is there to find. Queues to the coffee machines... Parking was ”doen the hill” and we ended up parking on a tennis court (!). OK - no problem, but not in the ballpark of attending staff helping you with the parking facilities. Staff correct and polite. But very stiff. And tired. Many steps behind service of a true 5-star. It's about price/performance. We had the opportunity to stay at three different hotels at Karlovy Vary during our stay. And one of those was the Grandhotel Pupp, which we considered to be much more lika a true five star. AND they are/were cheaper! So, you may well stay at Imperial, just for the sake of the building's eminent history and athmosphere. But be aware that days gone by since the turn of the century does not apply in the respecto of ”grand” anymore.

1. I stayed in the hotel with a little bit of anticipation and expectations. The reason is that I read many reviews before booking. Some are not very good, most of them are old equipment, and the service attitude is poor. Old equipment is a fact. Service I think the attitude is okay, the handsome waiter at the counter, good English and good attitude! 2. A little puzzled, come to check-in during the off-season, the hotel's housing rate is low, but the room for us is a mountain wall, there is no view at all room type, the mood is disappointed! 3. The hotel is divided into the main building and the annex building. It is evaluated that someone has stayed in the annex building, even the restaurant for breakfast, and the restaurant in the main building is not a grade. The main building. Sure enough, staying in the main building, the breakfast restaurant is too beautiful, the breakfast is also great, is the biggest highlight of the stay!

My experience at this hotel was bad. To start with: 1. Hotel credit card machine was not working. So everything had to be paid with cash. Who would expect to be walking around with 15,000 - 20,000 kronor in cash?? Going to city center and getting the cash cost us an extra $85 in transaction fees and poor conversion rates. 2. Being a small town and boutique hotel, very few people speak English. We made an appointment and went to the spa at the time. It was our first experience in a ”salt cave”. Nobody to tell us what to do. We lost about 10 minutes in this experience, but had to pay full price. Same thing with the mineral bath. Lost few minutes because there was nobody to guide us, but had to pay full price. Finally at check out time, we were told that their credit card system is not working for a month!!!. If that was the case, the hotel should have informed the guests in ADVANCE so that we would have made alternate arrangements. As for the hotel itself, it is a very nice property and enjoyable if the hotel can do a better job.

I visited this medical Spa without a hotel reservation, in order to get some relaxation, treatment and other possible activates that may be beneficial for the body and health. it was June 2023 after I found the castle Spa closed. I spoke to the reception who told me that they don't have any medical offers like the castle spa, but they only treat the patients that staying at the hotel depending on the condition they came for. Anyway, they allowed me to enter the medical spa and see what possible procedure I can have. They choose for me 6 procedures as per the availability and don't need a doctor consultation. I remember 3 of them which were… Thai massage – Oxygen therapy – Bubbly Magnesium bath.. In additional to use the Sauna, steam and swimming pool. Anyway, they allowed me to enter the medical spa and see what possible procedures I could have. They chose 6 procedures based on availability and don't require a doctor's consultation. I remember 3 of them were... Thai massage - oxygen therapy - magnesium bath.. in addition to using the sauna, steam and swimming pool. My impression after I finished: »it's really doesn't worth it« The place is very cool, clean and amazing like a palace. The staff was very very helpful, polite and nice talking. I really thank you all. Treatment, or let's say procedures – activities. Etc. - the ones I got were very ordinary and neither I nor my body needed them. I regretted not getting the two-hour Thai massage session available in the designated Thai shops within the town, along with all the other services attached to it. it will be better, comfortable and satisfaction.

I'm currently staying at the Olympic Palace and booked it because the reviews were so good - not because it looked amazing or because the price was good - neither was the case. I just wanted the nicest hotel in town besides Pupp. Unfortunately, this hotel was way below even a four star standard. We paid 300 euro/night and called ahead to ask if we could pay a bit extra to upgrade to a larger room with a balcony. They offered a Deluxe Room with a Balcony for 20 euro extra per night. When we arrived at midnight, there was only one poor woman at the reception who was brand new on the job. She tried so hard but it took 10 minutes just to process our documents and then when I confirmed it would be a Deluxe Room with Balcony, she said no - but that we were charged the 20 euros anyways. When I asked about the larger room, she said it would be over 100 euro/night and would take a very long time to get us in a room like this. We just wanted to sleep so took the small room, which was not very nice. The shower head did not work the entire time, neither did the AC. My assistant called ahead to book a spa afternoon for us and ask what the spa would recommend. We tried calling the spa the day-of and they never picked up. We went down and were told to return in our robes. There was no spa reception. We were told to go back up to our room and find the paper with our spa confirmations and go directly to those rooms. It was the most rushed massage I've ever had - even before my back hit the bed, it started on my feet. It was a fine massage, but not what I'd expect from a spa hotel. Afterwards, the spa staff had recommended the ”salt room” - we were excited, thinking this must be some kind of salt scrubbing room or unique experience. No. It was a room with fake salt hanging from the ceiling, very cold AC, and beds with dirty blankets thrown over us, sitting in lawn chairs. It was supposed to be a 45 min experience - just sitting in the chairs doing nothing. We left immediately. The spa team, when we finally found them, said ”it's supposed to be like smelling the salt in the ocean” - it was a hilarious excuse for a spa treatment, which we're still laughing about. They tried to charge 30 euro for this. The pool person (once we found him) also said the pool was thermal waters. They were not. The service here is limited, the property is nothing special, the price is high compared to the rest of the town, the spa is not nice, spa staff are nowhere to be found, the system is confusing, and it was by no means relaxing.

The building is impressive, enthroned up on the east hillside of Karlovy Vary. Habsburgian vibes reminiscent of ancient days. Imperial is in good condition and nicely renovated. The scale of the building is huge and dimensioned for thousands of guests. Walking around takes quite a bit of time but with lesser amount of guests than the mentioned thousand, it feels quite lonely to stroll the corridors... The public areas are mostly beautiful, but the five official stars... no, unfortunately not. What is lacking? Well, the scale of the property demands to keep it running. To keep it running you have to have a lot of guests. Thus, you have to attract people who not usually are in the ”five star category”. And so they (try to) do. Many things turn to ”cantina” standard in respect of both the reception and ”handling” of the guests and the dining options. Very tired staff at check in. One example: in the main lobby there are only two elevators, whereof one at our visit was out of order. Another elevator in another part of the hotel did not serve all the floors. Nah.... Rooms are renovated and just fine. All amenities and a good night's sleep in comfy beds. Nice with a small balcony. For those having some sort of boarding agreement, dinner is served as a buffet dinner in the magnificent ”Prague restaurant” with lavish decoration. A buffet is hardly a concept in a real five star hotel and we consequently had dinner in the more intimate ”Restaurant Paris” - see my separate review. In ”Prague” breakfast is also served, which proved to be a great gathering of all the hotel guests at the same time. More like a school cantina than a five star hotel. Everything in place though, and most thing you would want is there to find. Queues to the coffee machines... Parking was ”doen the hill” and we ended up parking on a tennis court (!). OK - no problem, but not in the ballpark of attending staff helping you with the parking facilities. Staff correct and polite. But very stiff. And tired. Many steps behind service of a true 5-star. It's about price/performance. We had the opportunity to stay at three different hotels at Karlovy Vary during our stay. And one of those was the Grandhotel Pupp, which we considered to be much more lika a true five star. AND they are/were cheaper! So, you may well stay at Imperial, just for the sake of the building's eminent history and athmosphere. But be aware that days gone by since the turn of the century does not apply in the respecto of ”grand” anymore.

As part of our Czech Republic visit we looked for a hotel near Karlovy Vary, we came across the Riverside hotel, and we are so happy we found it everything was great, the location, hotel staff, wellness & spa and the breakfast, the hotel is highly recommended and we will certainly come back !!!