I was in Czech Republic for business trip for 2 weeks. I had the first weekend off and went to Prague. Found this Pension, Hotel Tara. I would call it mom and pop hotel. There was a little side check-in room. Then they led me up the 2 flights of stairs and iron gates. Then I realized this not your typical "Holiday Inn". It was more of a converted apartment building. Half the rooms were for the hotel next door and seemed like there were tenants in the other rooms. I had a great ledge to look out over the street vendors. The room was basic no TV, two beds, 1 single and 1 double, on the floor. The blankets towels and chairs were minimal. I had a small fridge and table, coffee pot and radio. The bathroom was across the hall. It seemed like a movie set room from the 50's or 60’s," kid runs away to the city and finds the cheap motel. Writes the great novel and become famous. The location is unbeatable, 2 minutes from Wenceslas Square, 1 minute from Old Town Square and maybe 4 minutes to Charles Bridge. If you’re looking for 5 star service, no way. This room is for made for the person looking to explorer the City of Prague not in there room watching TV.

Probably the cheapest accommodation you will find in this excellent location, you get what you see and read on their web-site. Pension Tara is a pension NOT a hotel. The décor, furnishings and fittings, linen, towels and beds are somewhat faded. However our room on the fourth floor (stairs!) was quiet and warm. Step out side and you are five minutes walk or two metro stops away from Prague’s main sites. Would recommend any of the restaurants in Michalska (behind Tara), also U Cerveneho Pava in Kamzikova (5 minutes walk) was particularly good (and cheap).
A word of warning – we paid between 18 and 28Kc for Pilsner Urquell (0.3l.), even in tourist trap pubs, in the Pizzeria Ristorante (next door on your right as you leave Tara) it was 69Kc., why this rip-off price I do not know.

I keep reminding myself that it was a pensione and not a hotel. The office doesn't open until 9 a.m. and there is absolutely no checkin until after 2 pm so don't get there early. The staff is friendly. The location is quite convenient to the central tourist areas. Right out the front door is a restaurant and the daily farmers market. There are a number of tourist stores right there also. One just can't critisize the location. What I can critisize though is the condition of the rooms. I'm the last person that one would consider a neatnick but...... there was mold on the shower and the floors certainly need work. Actually the entire building needs work. The linen appeared to be clean. The towelette for the shower also appeared clean but I had trouble holding on to it. It tended to blow out of my hand when a small breeze came though the window. Since there is no A/C, you must keep the window open. The street noises go on quite late so if noises impact your sleeping, you might want to find some other place. I look at the cost of living in the U.S. and the cost of living in Prague, then I try to figure out why it costs $80 to stay at a place such as this. I'm NOT trying to compare the U.S. to the Czech Republic.

So if you are looking to stay close to the action with a shower, hot water and clean sheets then this is the place for you.

My friend booked this hotel for us thru a discount accommodation service without consulting the "traveller's friend": TRIPADVISOR. By the time I read the reviews here, it was too late. Luckily, we were staying over in Prague only one night on our way to some place else but....

1. The reception was in a tiny storefront below the 'hotel' in which three young ladies handled reservations for different properties. The first red flag was when they requested payment up front in cash.

2. We had the 'fortune' of getting the 3-bedroom suite for our sole use which had the following featues:

a. It was only up 2 LARGE flghts of stairs instead of the 4 flights others have complained about. We still had to negotiate the big wooden door and the metal gate at the top of the first flight.

b. We had 3 bedrooms, sort of. Actually, we entered through a corridor that was fitted as a kitchen but apparently had not been designed as one because in the middle of the long wall of this cramped room was the entrance to the bathroom which featured a shower in one corner which had no shower door or curtain, causing the water to go everywhere in the bathroom. This was the intention since the floor drain was in the center of the room rather than in the shower!! The bathroom smelled of dankness.

The first of the three 'sleeping rooms' was clearly a former living room and featured beds plus a dining room table and four chairs; the second room was as wide as the two beds that occupied it with about 10" of space to spare.

The third bedroom, though larger, had no windows! All in all, the rooms looked as if they had been "separated off" from adjacent apartments to form a hodgepodge of living areas.

c. The place was not cared for. Although apparently clean, there were countless examples where a little maintenance would've have gone a long way: peeling paint, a dining room chair whose upholstered seat simply lifted off the frame, etc, etc, etc.

We paid $74 and felt cheated. On our way back through Prague we stayed at the Hotel Denisa near the Dejvicka metro stop -- a 10 minute ride from the old town -- and paid $72 instead. What a difference!!

Don't stay here!