Where to stay in Prague: the best neighbourhoods and hotels

The Old Town is Prague's beating heart and its busiest postcard. Its great square is ringed by pastel Baroque houses and the twin black spires of the Týn Church, crowds gather every hour to watch the Astronomical Clock perform, and a tangle of cobbled lanes leads down to Charles Bridge and the river.

Staying here means stepping straight out into the sights, and the best hotels make the most of it: a boutique five-star a few steps from the clock, a 12th-century house right on Old Town Square with a rooftop terrace, and elegant hideaways on quiet side streets just around the corner. It is lively late into the night, so ask for a room away from the street if you're a light sleeper.

Cross Charles Bridge and the city changes key. Malá Strana, the Lesser Town, spreads up the hill below Prague Castle in a hush of Baroque palaces, embassies, walled gardens and copper domes. Kampa Island and the Lennon Wall are here, Petřín Hill rises behind, and in the evening the cobbled lanes feel almost secret once the day-trippers have gone.

Malá Strana has the city's most romantic hotels. One occupies a working 13th-century monastery, complete with frescoes and vaulted ceilings; another hides in quiet cobbled streets on the left bank, five minutes from Charles Bridge; a third is a Renaissance house once owned by Emperor Rudolf II. For pure romance, there's a 17th-century residence at the end of a cobbled lane by Kampa Park. The castle and the bridge are both a short walk away.

For the view that sells Prague, stay on the Old Town bank of the Vltava. Look across the water and the castle and St Vitus Cathedral fill the skyline, especially lovely lit up at night. Just behind the river lies Josefov, the old Jewish Quarter, with its historic synagogues and atmospheric old cemetery.

Hotels along here face the river: a contemporary riverside five-star with castle views from the rooms and restaurant, a palace hotel with 18th-century frescoes steps from Charles Bridge, a brutalist riverside landmark reborn as a luxury hotel, and a hotel opposite the gilded National Theatre at the southern edge of the Old Town.

Náměstí Republiky marks the eastern edge of the Old Town, where the medieval Powder Tower stands beside the Municipal House, Prague's most extravagant Art Nouveau building, now home to a concert hall and café. Opposite is the Palladium, one of the city's biggest shopping centres, and the metro whisks you anywhere.

It is a practical, central base that suits families and anyone who likes space. Grand hotels here include a 1904 Art Nouveau classic opposite the Municipal House, a Neo-Renaissance landmark right on the square, a five-star on a quiet street near the Powder Tower and a family-friendly hotel at the gates of the Old Town that lays on a special welcome for children.

Wenceslas Square is less a square than a long, sloping boulevard, topped by the National Museum and the statue of St Wenceslas, and it has seen much of modern Czech history, from the protests of 1968 to the Velvet Revolution of 1989. Today it is the heart of the New Town: shops, restaurants, bars and clubs, busy late into the night, with the Old Town a ten-minute walk away.

The hotels have pedigree: a 1930s landmark with a celebrated brasserie, a boutique five-star a few steps from the square, and an Art Deco classic opposite the State Opera. Just beyond, the leafy residential district of Vinohrady has handsome old apartment blocks, wine bars and cafés, and a Belle Époque hotel with painted ceilings.

South of Malá Strana on the left bank, Smíchov is a lively, workaday district built around the Anděl metro and tram hub, with one of the city's biggest shopping centres and plenty of bars and restaurants. The historic centre is a 20-minute walk or a few stops on the metro, and prices drop noticeably.

Across the river, the ancient fortress of Vyšehrad sits on its rock above the Vltava, with gardens, views and the cemetery where Dvořák is buried. Hotels in this part of town are modern and roomy, from big four-stars near Anděl to a riverside hotel and a tower hotel near Vyšehrad with a top-floor spa and pool.