Hotel Yasmin★★★★ SUP

I was looking forward to being a personal tour guide for my friend's first meeting with Prague. There's something wonderful about revisiting a place you love with another person's fresh eyes. Her excitement was certainly contagious; she was armed with books on walking tours of the city plus some of its more obscure treasures. She was also teaching me a thing or two about the incredible history of what's now the Czech Republic. It made me feel I would never tire of this cultural beehive. We arrived after dark, one of the times when the city is at its atmospheric best. We walked along the bustling Wenceslas Square, resisting the cafés until we could be free of our bags. The Hotel Yasmin **** Sup is so close to the central action and its back entrance opens onto Wenceslas Square. I had chosen the hotel partly to be in the midst of all the great sights, and partly because of its imaginative interior design. This is Bohemia after all, and I wanted something that conveyed the avant-garde spirit of Prague. It did just that!

Stars on the floor greeted us and oversized, metallic disco ball-like features hung from the ceiling. Sculptures in natural materials and brazen colours swept up the walls and dense colour faded into white from bottom to top in decorative alcoves. The furniture curves and bends, luxurious and contemporary. The feeling of the communal spaces of the hotel is uber-modern artistic expression and elegance, yet our bedroom felt calm and minimalist; relaxing with muted tones and simple furnishings. We really liked the gentle greens and white, with Zen willow twigs and soft lines. We didn't stay long, just long enough to unpack, before we went to discover the enchanting world outside.

Visiting Prague is a multi-sensory escapade into a Gothic fairytale, where a glorious history stands watching proudly over a culturally vibrant present. I'd booked us into one of the most desirable venues for evening cocktails, and we clip-clopped along cobbled streets, across the Charles Bridge, just to walk straight back again. I led a meandering path through charming streets and the glorious Old Town Square to our destination. My friend was wide-eyed and smiling, absorbing everything with glee.

In the morning, breakfast helped prepare us for a full day ahead. It was a fresh continental display, with great coffee. The bright, airy restaurant had a relaxed ambience. We liked the look of the menu and decided to come back at lunchtime to eat at the Noodles Restaurant and have a little rest to pace ourselves. It was perfect to be so central. We found gorgeous handmade crystal glass, deep red with gold leitmotiv, and other treasures from little boutiques; we literally shopped till we dropped. We wanted to offload our bags before lunchtime, and we revived ourselves with a delicious and hearty noodle dish in the hotel restaurant.

That evening we went out to explore the city even further. We just had to go to the Franz Kafka café for coffee and cake, where the décor must have hardly changed since great minds met around tables there. We dined alfresco under the gaze of the famous Astronomical Clock in the magnificent Old Town Square, and watched the enigmatic hourly performance at least three times from the same table. Saying goodbye to Prague felt more like a 'farewell, see you soon'. I could see it had won another admirer, as had the Hotel Yasmin. It was the perfect base for our explorations, and one I would be happy to see again.