Top 5 Favorite Hotels 2010-2020: #2: Grandhotel Pupp, Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic

The most luxurious hotel in which I have ever stayed -- anywhere, any country, anytime -- was the Grandhotel Pupp in the Czech spa town of Karlovy Vary.

This was Old World, old school luxury. This was the kind of place where European royalty would come to "take to the waters" for luxury spa treatments, back in the day when being European royalty meant political power and being a player on the world stage, not just minor celebrity. This is the kind of place where the ceilings are as high as skyscrapers. The lobby is overstaffed with people who want to cater to your whims and make sure no need goes unmet.

Above is the room where the breakfast buffet was served. It was superb.

Below is the main dining room:

And there was lobby after lobby after lobby:

There is nothing utilitarian about the Grandhotel Pupp. Not surprisingly, it was one of the major inspirations for the Grand Budapest Hotel in that awesome Wes Anderson from several years ago that starred Ralph Fiennes as Monsieur Gustave H.

The room was beautiful:

But a bit dated.

And a hotel room which is a bit dated means that there will be one huge massive mega-problem: not enough outlets for all one's 21st Century electronics. But the view from my room was exquisite.

The hotel is located at the far south end of Karlovy Vary (but right next to the funicular!), and my view looked northward.

Dinner in the hotel's restaurant was fantastic. The food was very good, but the atmosphere was what made the night.

And, surprisingly, despite the rooms being a bit dated, the spa area was very much up to date, with a huge pool surrounded by jacuzzis of varying temperatures.

Outside the hotel, embedded among the cobblestones, were various bricks of celebrities who have stayed here over the years. This one caught my eye:

I only had two nights here. More would have been nice.

I'm not sure if I will see the Grandhotel Pupp or Karlovy Vary -- it's a big world with a whole lot to see and not much time to see it -- but I would be happy if circumstances bring me this way again.

Phot-o' the Day: Another Saturday, Another Horse-Drawn Carriage. Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic

Horse-drawn carriages queued up next to Theatre Square Park in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic.

Yes, officially it is now "Czechia" and not "the Czech Republic." Nobody in that country calls it "Czechia"; they still use "Czech Republic." I defer to the locals.

Visited May 2019.

Evening in Karlovy Vary

Knihovna Václava Havla, Vaclav Havel's Place, across the Tepia from Grandhotel Pupp

Supper time in Karlovy Vary. Do I head north into town?

Or do I head east, further downstream into unexplored territory. South and west are not options as there are no restaurants, commercial establishments, or even roads going in those directions.

East it is.

The options are slim. But the sites, as always, are nice.

I choose the restaurant inside the Carlsbad Plaza, mainly because the restaurant I wanted to try requires reservations decades in advance.

I am nervous about the restaurant I chose, the ID Bar and Restaurant, because it is billed as ultra-cutting edge fusion cuisine.

But my fears are somewhat assuaged as the room looks traditional and not hipster at all.

The pre-appetizer was, I think, I'm just going on flavor here, two different olive tapenades. The green olive one (far left) was very tasty. The black olive (right side) less so.
 

The appetizer was "lettuce salad" with fried goat cheese. I'm guessing "lettuce salad" losing something in translation. It was what we in the states call "field greens," with a big hunk of fried goat cheese on top. Fried goat cheese apparently is a thing in the Czech Republic. The vegetarians who dined with me in Adrspach had it and enjoyed it. It was a very good goat cheese. Much better than feta.

The main course was "flap meat steak" with mushroom ragout:

Cutting and paste the Czech from the on line menu, it is: Macerovaný flap steak v bylinkách s vlažným fenyklovým salátem – pastyňáková kroketa, silné masové jus. Just like you guessed. So the green thing that I couldn't recall what it was, that must be the fennel salad.

No dessert because I had dessert for lunch.

And walking back, I find Knihovna Václava Havla, Vaclav Havel's Place.

Just a simple two chairs and a table, with a tree growing inside the table:

It is in honor of former Czechoslovak and, later, Czech, President, who led the peaceful transition away from communism. A number of these "Havel's Place" settings have been installed throughout the world. There are 28 now around the world. Two in the United States: Washington and Portland. Didn't know that.

Full Day in Karlovy Vary, Featuring a Funicular Ride

In case I forget what town I was in this late in the vacation, they had this helpful reminder hint

What's better than a vacation with a funicular at one destination? A vacation with funiculars at TWO destinations!

This was my one full day in Karlovy Vary, an historic spa town two hours WNW from Prague.

One thing that cinched my decision to stay at the Grandhotel Pupp was that it was right next to a funicular.

So of course this was the first thing on my agenda for the day (after washing my face and eating breakfast).

The funicular goes to Diana, a mountaintop overlooking Karlovy Vary. There's an observation deck up there. And hiking trails. But mostly it's all about the observation deck. Let's ride.

And what a ride! Some people are connoisseurs of fine wines. Others are experts in fields of science or technology. Me? I'm a connoisseur of fine funiculars.

OK, maybe not a connoisseur. But I've ridden a bunch. And I loved them all. But the funicular in Karlovy Vary just may be the best. It combined three of the most important characteristics of an awesome funicular.

The ride was long. The pitch was steep. And the car was old enough that the ride was just a little ricketty. Not too rough. Not too smooth. Just perfect.

At the top was the Diana observation deck.

The elevator ride to the top of the elevator, shockingly, was free.

The views were amazing. But amazing views where you can see forever don't make great photographs.

That's the restaurant/snack bar at the top, for some perspective. And me:

I'm on the side where the wind is not blowing hard, so I can smile.

And what funicular goes up, must come down.

Anyway, quick stop at the hotel before a walking tour of Karlovy Vary, in search of the Saints Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox Church. Did I show you my room?

Very old-fashioned. And large. You can tell this is an historic hotel because (a) there is only one usable outlet in the whole room, none in the bathroom, and (b) the internet speed invokes memories of what we thought was reasonable in the ancient years of 2006 or 2007.

Anyway, in the pavement in front among the paving stones they have little plates naming famous celebrities who have stayed at the Grandhotel Pupp and when.

Some go way back:

And for a celebrity whose more within my fandom:

Although I do like Kafka, too. Anyway, lots of pictures from the walking tour of the city, so I'll keep my commentary brief:

More tourists today. But then again, it's Friday. The start of the weekend.

Hansom cabs. Which we all want to call "handsome cabs" because they are. But they aren't.

Yes, the hansom cab is handsome. But it's still not a handsome cab.

St. Mary Magdelene's church:

This is an old Anglican church.

Which was re-purposed into a wax museum. Because EVERY tourist town must have a wax museum. It's international law.

Once you get off the main line through town, which is the Tepia River, the town appears to consist of old mansions that, for the most part, have been converted into hotels and guest houses.

I can't vouch that all of these fall into this category, but most do.

And this is a statue of Karl Marx.

I hate Karl Marx. But it's nice to see him forced to wallow in the unbridled capitalism of modern Karlovy Vary.

And there it is. The beautiful Saints Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox Cathedral. There are a lot of Russians in Karlovy Vary, so they deserve a cathedral to call their own.

This building was attached. I'm guessing the orthodox equivalent of rectory?

Hotel Smetana, another of the re-purposed (I believe) mansions. Or maybe it was built new to look historic.

Back to the main drag.  We now are in Dvořákovy sady.

Named after Mr. Dvorak:

The renowned turn-of-the-last century Czech composer who is here in statue form.

Apparently there was some humor festival recently, because humorous drawings were posted on boards throughout the park. This was my favorite.

You can't explain why you find something funny.

People do drink the water here. The brown color at the bottom of the pool is from the minerals.

You can drink only a little. If you drink a lot of this water, which is healthy, but it will clean your pipes.

Back to the hotel for my spa treatment.