Karlovy Vary Spa Town

Today’s post is about the most popular spa town in the Czech Republic – Karlovy Vary. This town is famous for its hot healing springs, its history and the events that take place there. Karlovy Vary and its history (Karlovy Vary imperial, http://www.imperial-group.cz/cz/karlovy-vary-historie/, no date) say that the town was established by Charles VI. in the 14^th century as a royal town. Even in the past, it was considered as a well-known spa town visited by many European rulers.

Nowadays, the town Karlovy Vary is a popular destination mainly because of its 15 hot healing springs located on lovely colonnades. Colonnades and springs (Karlovy Vary, https://www.karlovyvary.cz/en/colonnades-and-springs, no date) claim that there are 7 colonnades (Mill Colonnade, Castle Colonnade, Park Colonnade…) and each of them has something special to offer. Furthermore, if you want, you can also undergo an exceptional spa treatment.  Spa (Karlovy Vary, https://www.karlovyvary.cz/en/highest-concentration-hot-healing-springs, no date) states that if you want to experience a spa treatment, you go to a spa house and there undergo a medical examination, after that the doctor prescribes you the most suitable spa treatment.

Karlovy Vary is also famous for its events. Festival description (KVIFF, 2016) says that the 52^nd International Film festival is going to take place there from June 30 until July 8, 2017. This festival is well-known in the whole Europe and it is considered as a very prestigious event.

Moreover, if you want to come to Karlovy Vary, you can choose from various types of accommodation. There are Spa Houses, 5-star hotels and also apartments. The most popular hotel there is probably the Grandhotel Pupp, which is famous thanks to the film Last holiday (starring Queen Latifah and Gérard Depardieu).

Grandhotel Pupp

In the last few years, more and more people came to Karlovy Vary. Navstevnost (Česky statisticky urad, 2016) claims that in the year 2015 about 860,000 people came to Karlovy Vary and stayed there at least for one night. That is quite a lot considering that the town has a population only of 50,000.

So this is Karlovy Vary... Would you like to visit and try a Czech spa treatment?

Reference list:

Český statistický úřad (2016) Návštěvnost v roce 2015.

Available at: https://www.czso.cz/csu/xk/navstevnost-v-karlovarskem-kraji-v-roce-2015 (Accessed: 17.11.2016. 15:44)

Karlovy Vary (no date) Colonnades and springs

Available at: https://www.karlovyvary.cz/en/colonnades-and-springs (Accessed: 18.11.2016, 13:57)

Karlovy Vary (no date) Spa

Available at: https://www.karlovyvary.cz/en/highest-concentration-hot-healing-springs (Accessed: 18.11.2016, 11:53)

Karlovy Vary imperial (no date) Karlovy vary and its history.

Available at:  http://www.imperial-group.cz/cz/karlovy-vary-historie/  (Accessed 17.11.2016 15:20)

KVIFF (2016) Festival description

Available at: http://www.kviff.com/en/about-the-festival/festival-description (Accessed: 18.11.2016, 15:19)

Czech cuisine

 Svíčková, Koprovka or Žemlovka… These are the names of a few of the most popular Czech dishes and that’s exactly what is this blog post going to be about – CZECH CUISINE. I would like to introduce to you what Czech cuisine consists of, which are the most used ingredients and also show you some typical Czech dishes I like.

Firstly, Czech cuisine is typical for meaty, heavy and fatty meals. It is not exactly healthy but it can definitely be very tasty. Moreover, nowadays you can find some healthier versions of Czech cuisine. Restaurant guide (2016) claims that Czech cuisine consists mainly of meat (pork, beef, poultry), fish (carp, trout, pike), vegetables, dairy products and of course traditional Czech drink – beer.

Typical Czech dishes:

Svíčková (Roast sirloin in sour cream sauce) with dumplings – This meal is very heavy. It's  very popular among Czech people. In my opinion, everyone coming to Czech republic for a visit should try this meal. The sauce is made of vegetables (carrots, parsnip and celery). It’s the best when it is getting a bit colder outside because it warms you up.

Knedlo vepřo zelo -Roast pork with dumplings and sauerkraut – This is basically a simple traditional Czech meal usually served on Sundays when the whole family gets together. It tastes the best served with cold Czech beer.

Žemlovka - Bread and butter pudding with apples – Žemlovka is a sweet Czech meal. According to Kucera (2011), it could be translated as an apple bread pie. This is because instead of dough you use pieces of bread. Žemlovka is usually filled with apples (and also with cinnamon and spices) but nowadays the recipes can vary and it can also be filled with plums instead. This meal is very easy to prepare and it tastes really good.

These are some of the traditional Czech dishes which I think are tasty. Czech meals are usually served with chilled beer. You can choose from various beer brands such as Pilsner Urquell, Staropramen or Gambrinus. Furthermore, Czechtourism (no date) says that Czech republic is home to beer Primator which was named the best beer in the world by the prestigious British competition World Beer Awards. 

                     So what do you think? Would you like to try the Czech cuisine?

Reference list: 

Restaurant guide (2016) Available at: http://www.restaurant-guide.cz/en/czech-cuisine.html (Accessed: 8.11.2016, 22:25)

Kucera, V. (2011) Expats, Available at: http://www.expats.cz/prague/article/czech-cooking/zemlovka-apple-bread-pie-with-quark/ (Accessed: 10.11.2016, 12:56)

Czech tourism (no date) Available at: http://www.czechtourism.com/p/sc-czech-beer-the-best-in-the-world/ (Accessed: 10.11.2016, 17:17)

What to know about Czech hospitality.

The topic of this post is going to be hospitality in the Czech Republic. I am going to write about the factors that affect the growth of Czech hospitality and tourism industry. I would also like to discuss why the Czech Republic is becoming more and more popular tourist destination even though it is rather a small country.

Although the Czech Republic is not known as the most hospitable country in the world, it is definitely worth visiting and learning about. Czech people, in general, are known for not being very friendly and many people who visited this country complained about unfriendly staff.

Kurzy (2016) reported that in 2015, 28 million tourists visited the Czech Republic and the number is more likely going to increase in the next years. Reasons for the growing popularity of this country are simple. Spiegel, J. (2016) says that the Czech Republic belongs to one of the safest countries in Europe. This is quite an important thing to consider when traveling these days. In addition, it is not expensive and the service is actually pretty good (quality wise). Czechs are a hard-working nation and even though you cannot expect a smile, you can still rely on the quality of service and well-trained staff. (This applies to majority of restaurants/pubs/hotels e.g. I have visited)

Hilton hotel Prague

Typical Czech guesthouse

One more reason why tourists come to the Czech Republic is hotels. You can find popular hotel brands such as Hilton, Holiday Inn and Marriott. Most of these hotels are located in Prague, the capital and the most visited city in the Czech Republic in one. However, there are also local hotels and traditional Czech guesthouses with very good quality of service. The hotel sector is getting bigger and more important in the last years. According to Cushman and Wakefield (2015) investments worth more than 220 million EUR were expected to go into Czech hospitality properties in 2015.





There are many reasons why the Czech Republic is worth visiting so why not go there?

Play this video to see some places that are worth visiting.

Reference list:

Spiegel, J. (2016) The 10 Safest Countries in Europe to Travel Right Now, Available at: https://tripcreator.com/blog/safest-countries-in-europe/ (Accessed: 15.10.2016, 16:27)

Kurzy CZ (2016) Turisté navštívili česko v rekorním počtu http://www.kurzy.cz/zpravy/395840-turiste-v-roce-2015-navstivili-cesko-v-rekordnim-poctu/ (Accessed the 13.10.2016: 12:22)

Cushman & Wakefield (2015)  Investment flows into Czech hospitality set to increase in 2015, http://www.cushmanwakefield.cz/en-gb/news/2015/03/hospitality-investment/ (Accessed: 15.10.2016, 16:43)

Introduction to My Blog

Hello, my name is Markéta Volfová and this is my blog! I am a first year International hospitality management student at University of Derby, Buxton and I came to UK from Czech republic.

This blog is a place where I am going to write about hospitality topics. I am going to deal with something that is very close to me and that is Czech republic, Prague and Czech cuisine.