PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC— Hotelier Henry Kallan is preparing for the debut of the 52-room Aria Hotel here in August. Located in the Mala Strana section of Prague, the 52-room Aria Hotel will have a music theme. It will feature a floor mosaic reminiscent of an ancient musical score leading guests from the entrance down a glass-domed hallway, past the reception area and through wrought-iron gates into the Winter Garden. At one end of the Winter Garden is a waterfall fountain and at the other is a music salon with fireplace. A grand piano is located in the middle of the area, which is furnished with palm trees, rattan furniture and chaise lounges. To stay in tune with the Italian Renaissance-influenced architecture in Mala Strana, Kallan commissioned Milan-based Spatium to create the Aria from a complex of gray stone and yellow stucco buildings, which once housed a theater. Each of the hotel’s four floors is dedicated to a major genre of music including Contemporary, Classical, Opera and Jazz with guestrooms honoring each genre’s greatest artists and composers with CDs, art and books. Featured artists include Brahms and Bernstein for Classical; Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra for Contemporary; Maria Callas and Mozart for Opera; and Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong for Jazz. In keeping with the hotel’s theme, the wool carpet in guestrooms will feature a musical note design and guest bathrooms will have speakers for piping in music. The Aria Hotel is the fifth property in HK Hotels’ portfolio and the first European property. The other HK Hotels are all located in New York and include the Casablanca Hotel, Hotel Elysee, Hotel Giraffe and the Library Hotel.
