Spirit of the Ametyst
Magic has always played an important role in the life of the Slavs, and Czechs are no exception. Maybe modern Czechs don't know it, but the house spirit still plays a decisive role in every household. Prague's Hotel Ametyst also has its own house spirit, a being that ensures a calm and friendly atmosphere throughout. This one, however, is not Czech as he originally came from Austria. As such he is not invisible as a traditional Slav house spirit is. He has held the post of hotel manager of this very fine hotel for the last thirteen years. Just as a real house spirit, Wolfgang Teufl ensures the atmosphere of congeniality and contentment that prevails in Hotel Ametyst. I personally had not seen him for four years, so I set out to discover what was new at what I personally consider to be one of the most engaging hotels in Prague. My first question to Ametyst's house spirit concerned the changes that have taken place on the hotel market in Prague and how he and his hotel were reacting to them.
"As you know, there is very tough competition in Prague these days. In the Prague 1 district there are over 280 streets and 386 hotels. This means that you will find hotels on literally every corner of the district. In this district of Prague 2, there is a lot of new hotels. About twelve new hotels have been opened here within a radius of three to four kilometres. This means that you have to be very tough on the market. You have to look after your guests, keep your good image and even further increase standards in the hotel. We took a major step forward during the winter of 2006 - 2007. We closed the hotel floor by floor, installed new air conditioning throughout, completely replaced all the furniture and installed luxury parquet floors in all the rooms. The rooms now have high-quality LCD television sets and the latest internet technology in addition to all the other things you would expect of a top-class four-star hotel. We also completely reconstructed the restaurant, bar and reception area. We built a new sauna and a small fitness area in the basement."
Did you have to close your doors doing the reconstruction?
"As I told you, we worked floor by floor on the rooms. As regards the restaurant, there are three parts to it, so we were always able to keep two of them going throughout. The main work was carried out in January to March and we managed to finish everything by April."
How much did all this cost?
"About 1 million EUR."
Maybe I'm blind, but it still seems to be the same homely and cosy hotel it's always been!
"That's right! Our slogan remains: Stay with us, and feel like home. But every home needs constant improvement and we as a hotel in Prague, which has so many new hotels, also needed to update our corporate image. Keeping up with the neighbours is all right in a residential area, but in the hotel business you have to keep ahead of your neighbours. And here keeping up appearances ? la Mrs. Bucket (pronounced Bouquet) is impossible. Appearances and reality have to go hand in hand, and that costs money. We remain a boutique hotel, which clearly distinguishes the nature of our personalized services from those provided in the big brand hotels. Nothing has changed as far as the coziness and homely nature of Hotel Ametyst is concerned. Only now clients have the added value of state-of-the-art hotel design, facilities and technology."
And the results of all this work?
"We're very happy indeed. We've won a lot of corporate business back to the hotel. The fitness centre, sauna and massage services are very popular especially with our corporate guests."
What is the percentage of corporate clients in the hotel?
In the last years, it has stood at around 40 per cent, with FIT clients (FIT = frequent independent travellers) accounting for the rest. These days, however, it is difficult to say precisely, because many corporate guests book their rooms through the internet. This means that you can't distinguish whether it is a corporate guest or an FIT. Even companies that have contracts with us book through the internet. Internet sales have been booming. In 2006, for example, the internet accounted for about 7 per cent. It now accounts for as much as 57 per cent. We are on all the most important internet platforms. The internet enables us to study what the competition is up to and greatly facilitates yield management. Unfortunately quite a lot of other hotels, including very large ones, have been selling at dumping rates."
And you?
"Sometimes we have to offer lower prices especially during the low season. After all, there are around 700 hotels in Prague all vying for clients. However, we seek to avoid any form of dumping, which in the long term is suicidal for any business. Of course, we have to be tough in the field of e-commerce, but we also have to maintain our very good image and continue to win new business clients."
What about your occupancy rates?
"Last year our occupancy rate was 78 per cent and for the first quarter of this year the rate is 3-4 per cent higher that it was in the same period last year."
So if I remember the figures 4 - 5 years ago, you have managed to maintain your very good occupancy rate despite the growing competition!
"Yes, but this doesn't apply to profit rates, which have also been affected by increased running costs. Just take the increase in the price of food in the last few months or the very strong Czech crown in relation to the euro!"
But looking at your menu, you still offer good meals at very reasonable prices. After all, you charge only about EUR 17 for a whacking big beefsteak, and that includes all the veg to go with it!
"Of course we do! In fact we are very proud of our menu. We still offer traditional Czech and Austrian dishes, but our new chef, Václav Chadima (who, by the way, is not related to snake-breeder Chadima from Řevnice near Prague), has added a number of exceedingly good Italian-style pasta dishes. We believe in offering good value for our clients' money and that is appreciated by our guests. Unfortunately, I can't talk about value for money in many of the tourist areas in and around Prague. This is already putting off quite a number of ordinary tourists interested in city breaks."
You always had a highly loyal staff in the hotel. Are they still as loyal?
"Well, those that started working with us 13 years ago account for 55 per cent of the staff today, and you won't find many hotels with such a low fluctuation rate. The only changes have really been with the housekeeping staff, but that is normal wherever you go. You see, you not only need competent staff in a hotel, you also want a happy one. And having efficient and happy staff greatly helps to make our guests happy."
Whenever I visit Hotel Ametyst for whatever reason, it always seems to rain when I leave. Luckily, it is a very short walk from Hotel Ametyst to the nearest Metro station. And anyway, I was thinking so much about the job being done by the Ametyst's house spirit and in particular about his juicy beefsteaks, I even forgot that it was raining.
