|
Of Bratislava's two boat-hotels, we prefer the Botel Gracia over the Botel Marina. In terms of location, the 31-room Botel Gracia is the outright winner, sitting as it does at the foot of Staré Mesto across from the business-class Hotel Danube.
And in terms of style, there's also no competition. The dated modernist style of Botel Gracia's rooms is so exquisite that we feel the need to beg the management never to renovate. It's hard to find rooms this wonderfully modernist and exciting. Sadly, temples to this version of Eastern Bloc modernism are increasingly hard to find.
Rooms look like sets from a Cold War thriller. Warm orange-brown wood veneer paneling, green carpeting, and attached writing tables are all perfect expressions of a bygone era of modernism. Think pre-1989 Central Europe. The Gracia's exterior, which looks as if it was last renovated in the early 1980s, only adds to the mystique.
Riverside rooms face Bratislava's amazing space-age New Bridge, which was previously called the Slovak National Uprising Bridge. Both names are somehow fitting for a bridge this notably retro-futuristic.
|
