The best hour in Mariánské Lázně is the one before anything opens. From the hotel terrace you hear the sprinklers in the park first, then a delivery van, then nothing at all for a long while.
The walk down
It takes five minutes to reach the Colonnade from our door. At six the iron roof is empty, and if it rained in the night it ticks as it dries. The pavilion of the Cross Spring is still closed, but a few people from the spa houses are already walking with their cups, slowly, the way the town was built for.
What we take from it
Most of our protocols contain at least one early morning like this, somewhere else. In Saturnia we reach the pools before the day visitors; in Hallstatt we sleep in the village so we can walk it at seven. The idea came from here. A place that is crowded at noon is often empty at dawn, and the people who live there are glad to see someone else awake.
If you stay with us the night before a protocol, ask the desk for an early coffee in a paper cup. They will have it ready at the door.