The Best of Eastern Europe - Eastern Europe - page 6

minutes by tram from the city center.
Its atmosphere and price are unbeat-
able. See p. 228.
• Pension Unitas/Art Prison Hostel
(Prague, Czech Republic). An ideal
place for budget travelers who want
to take advantage of staying in the
very center of Prague. See p. 225.
• Charles Apartment House (Buda-
pest, Hungary). Comfortable and
clean flats—complete with bath-
rooms and fully equipped kitchens—
in Buda apartment buildings. See
p. 299.
• Rembrandt Hotel (Bucharest,
Romania). This chic Dutch-owned
boutique hotel embodies the spirit of
rejuvenation being experienced in the
Romanian capital. It's squeezed into
an impossible slither of property in
the old quarter, which is steadily
coming back to life. Special guests get
the small top-floor room with a ter-
race with views all the way to the Par-
liamentary Palace built by that
madman, Ceau @ escu. See p. 496.
• Casa Rozelor (Bra @ ov, Romania).
With three of the most idiosyncratic
guest suites in the country, this guest-
house is a project of love that has
taken years of painstaking restoration
(now continuing in a similar building
nearby), followed by careful detailing
with eclectic antiques bought from
Gypsies, complemented by some out-
rageous contemporary art and furni-
ture. And it's right in the heart of
Bra @ ov's medieval center. Seldom does
the blend of old and new fit so well,
and feel so good. See p. 519.
• Casa Epoca (Sighi @ oara, Romania).
This recent guesthouse addition to
Transylvania's best medieval fortress
town occupies a 15th-century Gothic
building and comes with few frills.
It's done out almost entirely in wood
and includes reproduction medieval
Saxon beds. Everything is clean, neat,

and stylish, and unlikely to attract a
crowd. See p. 526.
• Pulford Apartments (St. Petersburg,
Russia). Furnished, renovated flats
with views of St. Petersburg's greatest
monuments. A range of room sizes
and services is available, including
cleaning and airport transfers. Moscow
apartments are also available. See
p. 594.
• G&R Hostels (Moscow, Russia).
Several floors of a drab Soviet hotel
have been transformed into clean,
comfortable accommodations. Ser-
vices include cars with drivers and visa
support. While the location is not
central, it's right next to a metro sta-
tion. See p. 580.
• Hotel Karmel (Kraków, Poland).
This lovely family-run inn, tucked
away on a quiet street in the former
Jewish quarter of Kazimierz, is a total
surprise. From the warm and smiling
woman at the reception desk to the
parquet flooring and the crisp linen
on beds, everything about this place
says quality. See p. 423.
• Penzión pod Hradom (Tren c ín,
Slovakia). Every town should have a
pension as clean, quiet, delightful,
and cheap as this one. And the loca-
tion is ideal, perched on a small lane
beside the main square and just below
the castle. If the pension is empty, the
owners will give you the nicest room
in the house for the price of a stan-
dard. See p. 623.
• Hi s a Franko Casa (Slovenia). A
treasure just outside Kobarid, near
the Italian border in So c a Valley.
Beautiful guest rooms are each done
out in a unique combination of lively
colors and feature such treats as his-
and-hers slippers and your personal
choice of in-room amenities. It's
more pension than hotel, and is
something of an afterthought to one
of the country's finest restaurants,
just downstairs. See p. 671.