RAINBOW INN PRAGUE

For years I've been going to Prague regularly for short breaks. In the first few years, I always stayed at the Villa Mansland – until the sensationalist advertising for amateurish events and the poor value for money for accommodation in a dilapidated building became too much. I then switched to the Rainbow Inn gay hotel. A pleasant atmosphere, spacious rooms with friendly furnishings, and a reasonable price of CZK 1,820 for a double room including breakfast for two people. It was a comfortable place to stay and enjoy Prague. On my second-to-last visit to the Rainbow Inn, I noticed that the term "gay hotel" had become outdated, as the guests were heterosexual couples who had purchased vouchers through travel deal partners for €159, including breakfast, dinner, and 24-hour tickets for two people, and were now using them for their stay in Prague. In April, I had my last stay – and I emphasize, my LAST one – at the Rainbow Inn. I was already familiar with the hotel/guesthouse owner's questionable sense of humor, and friends had told me about his outbursts towards guests, but this time it happened to me. I had booked four nights and was looking forward to relaxing days in the Golden City. As a regular guest, I brought along some locally produced gifts. The welcome was friendly, and I had a pleasant conversation in which the owner complained about the negative reviews he and his establishment received. He said the positive reviews weren't being reflected in the website. While I had previously paid the total bill on the day of departure, I was presented with the room bill on the first evening. In this context, I noticed that the prices had been increased by 250 CZK – I was still being charged the old price because the price change hadn't been implemented on all of the hotel's websites – and that breakfast was now charged separately at approximately €5 per person. The price-performance ratio was no longer acceptable, resulting in a total price of €93 per night. Compare this price to other travel deals. At an all-inclusive price of CZK 1870, I'll take the breakfast as it's offered. I'm not prepared to pay extra for the same bland and unimaginative breakfast every day, with discount store cold cuts and cheese, some of it from yesterday, which masks its natural flavor – "enjoy" would be the wrong word. Instead of a boiled egg, there's industrially produced egg salad, and drinks are also stingy. One change I had to experience was the altered breakfast hours. Whereas previously there was no breakfast before 9:15 a.m., breakfast is now served from 8:30 to 10:00 a.m. The next morning, there were six other guests besides myself at breakfast. We got to talking, and so it happened that, as a frequent visitor to Prague, I gave some tips to newcomers – even using my laptop at 9:30 a.m. After the guests had left the lounge, the owner came out of the kitchen—his usual hiding place from them—sat down at his breakfast, and yelled at me, asking how dare I, accusing me of disrupting the business. Forgive me, it was still busy during breakfast time. His employee later explained that the hotel's philosophy was that guests should leave for the city as quickly as possible. The owner never apologized for his outburst during my stay or afterward. A meeting he had scheduled the evening before for the morning of my departure likely didn't take place due to his incapacitated state. I also heard about several incidents the owner had committed against other guests. It seems Swiss hospitality isn't always what it seems, even with the "Swiss Management" label.

After purchasing a coupon six months in advance, and after several email confirmations, the last one the day before, due to a flight delay, we didn't arrive by 6:00 PM, so they saw fit to take away our booked and fully paid-for room. All this happened at 11:00 PM while it was raining, and we had to look for another hotel. You can imagine the inconvenience we experienced. Therefore, I believe I was scammed by these gentlemen, who, without any reason and, more importantly, with no willingness to even help us find another place, initially refused to let us in both over the intercom and over the phone. For this reason, I intend to take legal action.

The gayest fabulous place on earth.