Hotel Lauretta — Hotel in okres Karlovy Vary

This hotel is under new ownership (since Passover 2010) and is now Glatt Kosher and will appeal to the Jewish traveller in a country where places to eat are few and far between. We were in the strange position of being the only guests, but the management brought back the masgiach (kashrut supervisor) from abroad a few days early, so we could stay over Shabbat.||The building is substantial, and looks recently refurbished; the furniture in the public areas and the rooms is well made and "chunky", the sort of thing your eastern-European great-grandmother had. The bedroom was of a good size with adequate wardrobe and drawer space. There is a safe, at TV (CNN BBC news + German, Russian & Czech stations), a kettle and a fridge with two free bottles of water! The bed (surprisingly one double, not two singles) was the most comfortable we slept in during our three weeks in The Czech Republic. Separate en-suite bath with shower and toilet. Free Wi-fi in the room was the fastest I have ever experienced.||It's hard to comment on the food and the service as we were the only guests. What we had wasn't exotic, but familiar and, of course, kosher. It wasn't quite chicken 3 times a day, but it was chicken 3 times in 24 hours (Friday night, Saturday lunch and Saturday night). Service was OK, but amateurish. The staff (receptionist and chef) were pleasant, which also helped. English was spoken, just. We managed with German, Russian and Hebrew. There are inclusive ski packages and there will be a package for Passover 2011.||The big problem is that unless there are more guests, I feel the hotel will close, which will be a great pity as I want to come back in the Autumn and see what the country looks like when it's not under half a...

We stayed 3 nights in family with a baby. No English speakers except for one hostess at our last day who was also friendly. |The 4 star indication in mislead me. It is certainly not a 4 star according to HOTREC, it's barely a 2 star. |About 20 stairs to reach reception from street - Avoid baby trolleys. |Interior look is rather old: old wall to wall carpet, furniture - broken garderobe barely closing, same for shower, and radiators may use some painting. We reserved QWEEN size bed but received 140cm bed since they don't have them in the hotel(!) as we were informed later. Bed springs too old to sleep 2 people in one bed. You will both sink. ||Breakfast: cottage/fresh/yellow cheeses, eggs/omelette, salads especially fish, so far good yet looks like lunch except of the presence of cereals, and some mini pain au chocolat depending on day. |Now bad part: no fruits - they finally showed up on our last day, no plain water (isn't this the spring water capital?), no coffee (only Nescafé) no charcuterie (soft kosher keepers are happy). Somebody will sit on your sit in the middle of your breakfast, without no warning....

-Inconvenient when travelling with heavy luggage: you have to walk up the stairs to get to the reception; elevator is tiny and often out of order||-I stayed for 9 days and the bed was only made 3 times||-My soap and shampoo were never replaced when empty||-Doorman is not always present. I got locked outside for twenty minutes several times||-Staff does not speak English except for one hostess||-Management and receptionists are rude||-Pricing does not make sense. I asked for the price of an additional guest. I agreed on a fee with the receptionist which management ended up doubling.They wanted to charge an extra fee of 50% of the price of a double room instead of the difference between a 1-person and 2-person room (1 bed). There are no signs or price lists that indicate the price of an additional guest, so they just make one up.||-Room is OK but shower was broken. No shower curtain.||-Nice neighborhood; close to Karlovy...