Prague Approves Renovation of InterContinental Hotel and its Square

The undeveloped space at the Golden Prague Hotel, the former InterContinental Hotel, may take on a new look in the future.

The current owner of the land plans to build a four-story building, although some civic initiatives do not agree with it.

Architect Marek Tichý from the TaK Architects presented what the hotel and its surroundings could look like after the renovation.

Hotel InterContinental was bought by the investment company R2G in 2019. Last year, the operation of the hotel was taken over by the luxury chain Fairmont – a part of Accor hospitality group.

The landscape design of the hotel surroundings includes expanding the public space and creating a tunnel connecting the embankment with a pedestrian zone all the way to the Vltava river.

The project authors also promise to calm the traffic and parking on the Miloš Forman square next to the hotel, where a smaller commercial building is to be built connecting the area with the nearby Pařížská street.

“We welcome the openness of the investor, who understands the importance of the location surrounding the hotel. The transformation of the InterContinental Hotel is one of many other projects aimed at making the city centre a more pleasant place for all citizens and visitors,” says Ondřej Boháč, Director of the Institute of Planning and Development of the City of Prague.

“We do not agree with the project because it violates the new urban situation that arose after the construction of the hotel,” says Kateřina Bečková, Secretary of the Club for Old Prague (Klub za Starou Prahu). “The hotel is a prized building and needs open space so that people can appreciate it enough,” says Bečková.

InterContinental Hotel was built between 1968 and 1974 and it currently features 372 rooms and 14 conference rooms.

Among the hundreds of celebrities who have stayed there over the decades are Ray Charles, Elton John, Meryl Streep, Michael Jackson, and Luciano Pavarotti, as well as U.S. presidents Richard Nixon and George W Bush, as well as Secretaries of State Madelaine Albright and Hillary Rodham Clinton.