We have just returned from a six day visit to Prague to celebrate the wifes 60th birthday. We visited all the major tourist attractions and found Prague to be mostly free from litter on the streets and very scenic and phonetic.
We ate in many different restaurants mostly out of the centre. We have travelled worldwide for over 25 years and I am sorry to say thats its the most unfriendly place we have visited in all this time. We didn%26#39;t bother asking any shopkeeper, waiter%26#39;s etc for any advice after the first few hours as the normal answer was a shrug of the shoulder or I dont know.
Thanks to advice from this forum we where very much aware that waiters often doctored the bill in their favour. We found this to be a common problem, where items where added to the bill, a 10% service charge was often added handwritten at the end of a bill. The price on the bill did not reflect the price on the menu.
We took a mixture of pounds and used the ATM%26#39;S, the rate displayed was always not offered. We where standing waiting to change some money one day when the person in front was changing £500 in notes and was given the exchange rate of 21 kr to the pound, where the display stated 27.50 kr to the pound, she refused this and walked away. After haggling I got 27.25 kr to the pound.
With this in mind has Prague become a victim of its success, there are many pitfalls for the unwary there, one has to consider is it worth the effort of going there when everything you do has to be checked and reckecked again just to make sure that one does not get duped. We go away on holiday to enjoy ourselves, and not having to check everything we do.
Will we return probably not, although its such a beautiful place its a pity its been spoiled by those trying to make the extra %26#39;buck%26#39;. We have travelled widely in the Far East and have never come across a situation where it seems nearly everyone you come in contact with especially in reataurants and bars is trying to cheat you out of your money. Sorry but we will find somewhere else to spend our money.
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Yes have to agree with some of what you have said, we ate really well didn%26#39;t really worry about prices but did check the bill and only once was we charged for extras....120 for some bread and 180 for the 2 men playing music in the background !!! we refused both and just paid the basic bill.
I have commented to people that they rude people but I think that is general for them....we did meet some friendly people and most I asked for directions where very helpful especially when you smile at them it throws them !!
we really enjoyed our stay
mjc
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We are due to make our first visit a wk on Monday and so hoping we encounter some nice people, i hate rudeness, i will endevour to use my few words of Cz, and will smile unil my face cracks, so want to come back and post, that i enjoyed my stay..
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Yes we had a great time, but in this day and age with a migrating working population this problem will only get worse. We actually ate in one restaurant twice and got talikg with one of the waiters, and he openly stated that his restaurant owner paid a decent living wage and the tills where checked every day. The waiter had worked in several restaurants previously where the owners openly encouraged practises that meant he paid lower wage%26#39;s.
Thanks to this forum we where aware of the problems before we went there, please check all your purchases if you do ever visit.
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Unfortunately (fortunately?) this problem is confined to the major tourist centres (Prague and to a lesser extent Český Krumlov)- such behaviour would be given short shrift in Brno, Olomouc, Ostrava, etc., or pretty much anywhere else, actually - I urge all visitors to spread their wings a bit - there is so much more to see in the Czech Republic!
http://en.czech-unesco.org/
www.hrady-zamky.cz
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Many thanks for your reply, unfortuneately most visitors visit Prague, we did so because I wanted to take the wife to the Opera on her 60th birthday.
Prague is a beautiful city with many heritage sites we thoroughly enjoyed our time there. Will we return, then I dont think so. Friends, family and neighbours are asking what Prague was like like to visit, we are recommending them NOT to visit until something is done about this. It would be nice to get a view of local destination expert%26#39;s based in Prague about this issue as in our view its having a detrimental effect on visiting this city.
We have travelled widely in the Far East, India, Sri Lanka for over 25 years so we are very much aware of how much the local working community depends on the tipping system to survive. We always leave a tip irrespective of how good or indifferent the service was, as this helps the local people to survive.
What we found in Prague that some but not all where %26#39;milking%26#39; the system by whatever means possible to make an extra buck. We always tip anyway, what we where doing in Prague was rounding up to either the 50 or 100 kr, making sure there was always a minimum of 50/60kr as a tip. If the overcharged sum invloved was small then we would not say anything but we would not leave a tip.
In one restaurant openly recommended by a regular poster on this forum there was a 10% service charge added to the bill in biro at the bottom, the initial bill was for 955kr but 95kr was added to the bill making it 1050kr. We refused to pay it and we left without leavibg a tip,which would have been 45kr.
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There is a problem where-ever tourists invade - somebody takes advantage, but that is as likely in Paris and Rome or Venice as in Prague.
Check this forum BEFORE you go, avoid the tourist traps and you will find a wonderful place to visit. I have been here since 16 years and I don%26#39;t even check the invoices given to me. Call me silly if you want, but I know my city.
And that%26#39;s why we take the time for this forum - to make your stay more enjoyable.
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Many thanks for your reply, we have visited Paris Rome etc, and have never co
me across the issues we found in Prague. This is the answer we expected from a local resident, where its easier to say this happens elsewhere, than deal with the matter locally.
Maybe its true but we never came across it, yes I am thankfull that I did visit this forum before we went, at least we where aware of this problem before we arrived and deal with it accordingly. What really surprised me was how common it was. Its the people that are not aware of forums like this that are going to take the brunt of it.
As a matter of interest to you where talking to a American couple in our hotel who had been charged for salt and pepper on their bill, they had been told to check their bill by someone else the previous day. They where not amused and where openly saying that Prague would be a no no place to visit again.
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I am really afraid to say the OP is correct in many ways. The restaurants are having a very hard time as there are a lot less tourists than normal and they seem to think ripping off visitors even more than usual is the solution. May don%26#39;t understand (or care) about the long term implications of their actions and it must really stop but I doubt it will.
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My way of dealing with this is being here. Giving advice. Taking time for it.
I am not saying this does not happen, but it does not happen to me, cause I avoid the tourist traps.
I am from the tourism industry (originally) and I totally object, that now, in times of the %26quot;crisis%26quot; the restaurants are more greedy and try to rip off people. There are good ones and bad ones, everywhere, and all the fantastic places in Prague do not deserve such general sad statement.
Again: check the forum before you go to any touristy place and get valuable info and enjoy.
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This one seems to come around on a yearly basis (at or around the main tourist season, funnily enough... )
If you are lucky enough to speak the language and know the ropes, this sort of thing doesn%26#39;t happen, at least I%26#39;ve never had it, but I know that it goes on. It is not an excuse at all, but one big reason is that the staff are relatively poorly paid and the owners are usually off in Croatia on a yacht smoking a cigar or something like that, so no pride goes into it (I am talking generally here...), and there is no incentive to create pride. Also the city is swamped in the summer, so you can almost sell any kind of food and get away with charging silly money and also underhand practices such as this. They really aren%26#39;t bothered about repeat custom, but hopefully one day they will realise that this cannot go on.
However, it has been going on for many years and so the signs of improvement are not good (remember the signs that used to say something like %26#39;Pivo - deset korun , Beer - twenty crowns%26#39; thereby doubling the price in English?) - hotels also used to be priced differently for foreigners, but I think that has gone by the wayside due to discrimination laws.
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