W Prague, Czechia
An Art Nouveau Icon Reborn with Contemporary Architecture, Czech Craftsmanship, and W’s Signature Energy
Why DNA Hotels Loves It
● The legendary Grand Hotel Evropa has been revived as a bold new landmark, preserving its 1905 Art Nouveau grandeur while introducing a striking contemporary wing.
● Benoy, AvroKO, Chapman Taylor, and Dam have created a layered design narrative inspired by Prague’s reputation as the City of Gold.
● Czech artists, Preciosa lighting, immersive installations, and expressive social spaces root the hotel firmly in the city’s creative culture.
A Grand Hotel Returns
For more than a century, the Grand Hotel Evropa has watched over Wenceslas Square. Opened in 1905, its ornate façade became one of Prague’s defining Art Nouveau landmarks, distinguished by sculpted details, curved windows, and a palette of yellow, terracotta, and green. After years of silence, the building has reopened as W Prague, beginning a new chapter without abandoning the glamour of its first. History remains visible. The energy is entirely new.
An Architectural Duet
The transformation brings heritage and contemporary architecture into deliberate contrast. The restored historic building is joined by a nine-storey elliptical extension, its curved form rising confidently behind the original façade. Developed by a multidisciplinary team including Benoy, AvroKO, Chapman Taylor, and Dam, the new wing does not imitate the past but establishes a distinct architectural language beside it. Old and new never compete. They sharpen one another.
The City of Gold
The interiors take inspiration from Prague’s longstanding association with gold, alchemy, and myth. Amber tones, bronze surfaces, mirrored finishes, sculptural forms, and glowing light create spaces that feel rich without becoming formal. Art Nouveau curves reappear in contemporary details, while playful interventions prevent the historic references from feeling reverential. Grandeur becomes glamour. Craft becomes spectacle.
Rooms Between Eras
The 161 guestrooms, including 23 suites, continue the conversation between past and present. Bold colour, reflective surfaces, expressive furniture, and curved detailing are balanced by restored beams, stained glass, and original architectural elements in the historic wing. The Wow Bohemia Duplex and E-Wow suites amplify the drama with double-height spaces, generous proportions, and theatrical views across the city. The rooms are confident, never predictable.
A Hotel Built for Movement
Even the transition between the two buildings becomes part of the experience. Adam Ellis Studio conceived the connecting corridor as an embroidered garden, where oversized flora and fauna appear to stretch across the walls beneath floral chandeliers by Czech crystal house Preciosa. Elsewhere, murals, installations, and graphic artworks by local artists give each public space its own identity. The journey becomes design. The hotel never stands still.
Why It Works
W Prague succeeds because it treats restoration as reinvention rather than imitation. The Art Nouveau elegance of the Grand Hotel Evropa remains central, but it is surrounded by contemporary architecture, Czech craftsmanship, bold art, and highly social interiors. The result is glamorous, theatrical, and unmistakably rooted in Prague—a historic hotel returned to the city with an entirely new pulse.
