Luxury Hotels Atlas / Places / Czech Republic / Karlovy Vary / Spa Hotel Imperial
Spa Hotel Imperial
Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic · Independent · Accessible Luxury
If Karlovy Vary kept a castle on the hill, it would stand where banker Alfred Schwalb built the Imperial. He hired the French engineer Ernest Hébrard, and on 18 June 1912 the house opened on the Helenin dvůr hillside as the first poured-concrete building in the Czech lands, going up in the same years as Prague's Lucerna. Lord Carnarvon, who paid for the Tutankhamun dig, was a guest, as were Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, and the way up is still Emil Strub's funicular: a 127-metre tunnel from Theatre Square, running since 10 May 1907.
- Opened 1912
- Neighborhood: Drahovice
- Rooms from 194 sq ft (18 m²)
- Architect: Ernest Hébrard
About Spa Hotel Imperial
- A second funicular, 126 metres long and graded at a record 570 per mille, opened days before the hotel in June 1912 and was shut for good in 1959.
- Wayss & Freytag, the contractor, says an English lord ran out of money mid-build, so the firm finished the Imperial at its own expense: 264 rooms, 400 beds, and the hotel's own post office.
- The Moser Suite, 165 square metres, is dressed with glass from the Moser works in Karlovy Vary, and the Presidential Suite matches it for size, with its own kitchen.
- Restaurant Paris serves a French à la carte menu, Restaurant Prague runs an open kitchen, and Café Vienna is the house cafe.
- Lord Richard Westbury pushed two funiculars through because horse omnibuses could not manage the hill above the colonnades.
History
Banker Alfred Schwalb bought the ground above Karlovy Vary and hired the French engineer Ernest Hébrard. The Imperial rose on the Helenin dvůr hillside from 1910 to 1912 and opened on 18 June 1912, the first poured-concrete building in the Czech lands, underway in the same years as Prague's Lucerna. Wayss & Freytag built it and later wrote that an English lord ran out of money, so the firm finished the house at its own cost, with 264 rooms and 400 beds. Juan Kronfuss and Rudolf Thiele prepared the construction drawings from Hébrard's design, and Portois & Fix of Vienna supplied the furnishings. Swiss engineer Emil Strub's tunnel funicular, 127 metres from Theatre Square, has run since 10 May 1907 and still belongs to the city transit. A second line, 126 metres at 570 per mille, opened with the hotel and closed in 1959.
The setting
1 km from Grandhotel Pupp. 17 km from medieval Loket Castle.
Restaurants and bars
- Restaurant Paris — Restaurant · French
- Restaurant Prague — Restaurant · Czech
- Café Vienna — Café · Cafe
Experiences
- Concert Hall — Concert Hall seats 120 theatre style, 90 at tables or 200 at a cocktail party, with parquet flooring and a dance floor.
Amenities
- Wi-Fi in all halls
- Wired internet in Conference Lounge, President Lounge and Cinema Hall
- Parking at the hotel (charged), no advance reservation needed
- Wedding services: flowers, pastry chef, make-up artist, entertainment programme
Open Spa Hotel Imperial in the atlas for live weekend rates, photos, and the full folio.
More hotels in Karlovy Vary
- Villa Julius & Emma P. — Independent · Accessible Luxury
- Grandhotel Pupp — Independent · Core Luxury