The best family-friendly hotels in Prague, including free meals and private access to sights

James Hotel & Apartments - one of the best family hotels in Prague
James Hotel & Apartments - one of the best family hotels in Prague

With its manageable scale, winding, cutesy lanes and charming parks, gardens, and riverside ambiance, Prague is a great family-friendly destination. Most hotels welcome families, though some are better equipped than others, with a special focus on family-oriented service and relevant amenities ranging from family rooms and swimming pools, to easy proximity to gardens and other child-friendly sites. Apartment accommodation can also be found for good prices. Here's our pick of the best family-friendly hotels in Prague.

In class Four Seasons style, children are doted on. Child-sized bathrobes, toiletries, homemade cookies, colouring books and healthy children's menus are among the dedicated amenities, and additional toys, DVDs and (paid) babysitting services can be arranged. There are large plasma televisions with DVD players in the (generously sized) rooms and suites. The feel is timeless and upscale with rich woods, marble floors and a particularly vast and ornate lobby; the restaurant and bar design, by EDG studio, is much hipper and has grown to be one of the best Italians, if not best overall restaurants in the city.

• The best hotels in Prague

With the striking Municipal House and historic Powder Tower right across the road, and Old Town Square a five-minute walk away, you're pretty much in the centre of everything here. From the polished service to a couple of in-house restaurants (French fine dining restaurant Sarah Bernhardt and the more relaxed neighbouring Café de Paris), and downstairs spa, the hotel offers a classic set of facilities, and families can request rooms with extra beds and services, such as babysitters. Some of the larger suites have living rooms.

• An insider guide to Prague

Situated right at the edge of the Old Town, the hotel is surrounded by a vibrant mix of modern shopping malls, chic restaurants and historic attractions, so families can hop between the hotel and activities. As well as dedicated family rooms and suites, children aged 10 and under can eat lunch or dinner for free from the children’s menu in Zinc when accompanied by a paying adult. The restaurant’s Sunday brunch has a kids’ buffet (free for children aged up to seven), plus a supervised kids’ corner. Children can also use the swimming pool and there’s a babysitting service available via the hotel concierge.

• The best restaurants in Prague

Service here is thoroughly five-star, if a little stiff at times, but the dedicated concierge can book everything from concert tickets to a babysitter at the drop of a hat, while reception can organise laundry and valet parking with similar ease. The breakfast buffet served in Le Grill is lavish, featuring omelettes, eggs Benedict and waffles made fresh to order, as well as a range of warm and cold dishes and special treats - spring for a table in the courtyard if it's sunny. Family suites can host up to four people and a child up to the age of five. Babysitting services are available, as are toys and DVDs on request.

• The best budget hotels in Prague

This historic inn, which offers 12 rooms in one venue and 16 in another annex over the road, is neatly tucked away in elegant Mala Strana. Although the hotel is targeted at adults and ideal for couples, the Pod Věží is fine for children, with extra cots available for a small charge and plenty of green spaces good for running about in the area. Children up to five are free if sharing existing bedding, and baby cots or extra beds can be booked in advance for free. Guests get free passes to the bridge tower and can also arrange airport or rail pickups for reasonable rates.

• Where to stay in Prague: a neighbourhood guide

Though the five-star Corinthia is a little way out of the centre, its high-quality restaurants and bar, spa with views over the city, and proximity to a metro stop make it an attractive option for business and leisure guests alike. Families can book two interconnecting Superior rooms, and Deluxe and Executive suites have fully equipped kitchens and separate lounge and dining area. There's a children's menu available daily at the Grill restaurant and children up to six years old eat for free when accompanied by parents. The hotel also has a special 'family getaway' package.

• The best spa hotels in Prague

The Mandarin Oriental’s reputation for sophisticated tranquility is, if anything, amplified here by the historical aura of the host buildings, which span the gothic, Baroque and Renaissance eras: replicas of some of the thousands of archaeological finds from the hotel's construction are displayed in glass cabinets along the hotel's connecting corridor, and the remnants of a 14th-century Gothic chapel are showcased below a glass floor in the spa area. The hotel makes a big effort with children, from special welcome gifts and age-appropriate toiletries and bathrobes to children's menus in the restaurant and relevant recommendations from the concierge.

• The best nightlife in Prague

This opulent and flamboyant boutique offers a music-themed experience, right down to a staff musicologist, a music library, and bedrooms dedicated to musicians. Amenities extend to private screening rooms, a curated music salon with DVDs, CDs and a fireplace, private access to Unesco Heritage Baroque garden Vybta, plus a small fitness centre, steam room and sauna, with massages on request. There are also live concerts from time to time. The hotel welcomes families and has big and small movie theatres where children and families can stream films.

• The best hotels in Prague old town

This charming, upbeat boutique hotel is located in the trendy Vinohrady district, one of Prague’s most popular neighbourhoods. There’s a lobby bar for snacks and drinks plus a restaurant, and services include laundry, a meeting room and ironing facilities. The 27 rooms are comfortable, spacious and modern. The larger rooms come with lounge areas and comfy white sofas and Family Suites, located on the top floor, are especially spacious maisonettes with bedrooms upstairs and living rooms and toilets downstairs. Baby cots and extra beds for under 12s are free of charge. Board games are available at reception and there are children’s dining chairs in the breakfast room.

• The best things to do in Prague

This intimate but spacious hotel is short on facilities but has an excellent location on Prague’s historic Old Town Square. It has 10 ultra-large rooms that can also interconnect, making them suitable for groups and families as they can accommodate up to six people. Given there is no in-house dining room or restaurant, breakfast - a continental mix of croissants and coffee with the choice of egg dishes - is served in the room with the bonus that it can be ordered at any time of day. Guests get a 10 per cent discount in the ground-floor restaurant.

• The most romantic hotels in Prague

The nine rooms in this intimate bolthole close to Charles Bridge include a two-bedroom apartment that can sleep up to six, two Junior suites each accommodating up to four people, and six Double Deluxe rooms, so it’s a good option for families looking to stay in the heart of Malá Strana. All are decked out with handsome parquet flooring and wooden beams as well as loft spaces across the attic-shaped roofs, kitchenettes with free tea, cookies and coffee as well as a basket with free Czech beverages and snacks, and a small satellite television. The only available meal on site is breakfast.These family-sized apartments can be found in Mala Strana, within easy walking distance of that part of town’s main sights. Petrin Park is right on the doorstep (the tower is a steep 20-minute walk to the top though), Prague Castle is a 15-minute stroll and you can also wander over Charles Bridge and into the Old Town Square in less than half an hour. There are plenty of restaurants, cafés, bars and grocery stores nearby. Laundry, room service (breakfast in bed is possible), shuttle transfers to and from the airport and wake-up calls can be arranged via the 24-hour reception. Apartments are cleaned daily, and there is also secure garage parking available and an on-site café-restaurant on the ground floor.