Hotel "U Raka" / Hotel "At the Cancer" - Nový Svet (Prague) - Antique Hotels on Waymarking.com

Hotel "U Raka" ("At the Cancer"), probably the smallest and the most pictoresque hotel in Prague, you can find in ony preserved timbered cottage building (from the end of the 18th century) in the Czech capital. The hotel is located in medieval roamtic district "Nový Svet" ("The New World") in vicinity of Prague Castle.

The oldest written record concerning the house dates back to 1739. At that time, the butcher Simonis bought piece of municipal land for 80 Guldens in order to build stables. The next owner, butecher Mr. Libický, extended the land, but the official Prague description from 1774 still listed only stables for livestock on that property. However, in 1794 Josef Schaller first mentioned the name of the house "U Raka" in his description of Prague. The Libický family transformed the stables into a residential house and built another house on the land adjacent to the former stables. The first house built on the property was a timbered building with a shingle roof. Once there were undoubtedly many log houses on the outskirts of Prague, but as time went by, this house remained the only timbered building in Prague, and therefore became, together with the whole complex, a registered cultural monument.

The present owner bought both houses along with the lands in 1987. The houses were in desolate condition. A complete reconstruction was therefore necessary. After 1990, the house U Raka came back to life. There are many natural materials here, which give the house a very pleasant and comfortable feeling. The house U Raka in its present form serves as a hotel which, due to its small capacity, fits seamlessly into the surrounding environment.

[excerpted form the hotel web pages]