PRAGUE — Kempinski Hotels will open Kempinski Augustine Hotel, Prague in early 2027. The announcement went out on 14 October 2026. The hotel sits inside the 13th-century Augustinian Monastery of St. Thomas in Malá Strana, the district below Prague Castle. The monastery carries more than 800 years of history and remains a working Augustinian house.
Kempinski bought the property on 2 April 2026. The deal was wholly owned and the group’s first acquisition in more than 50 years, since its 1970 investment in Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten Kempinski Munich. The group has run the hotel as a white-label property from 1 April 2026. Its April release put the reflagging in late 2026. The October release moves the Kempinski name to early 2027.
A Working Monastery Beneath Prague Castle
The hotel occupies seven historic buildings. Kempinski’s April release describes the holding as “a carefully delineated portion of the historic site”. The monastic community keeps its own routine inside the monastery walls. Hotel and monastery share one address.
One Hundred and One Rooms and Twenty Suites
Kempinski’s release gives 101 guest rooms including 20 suites. Many carry original vaulted ceilings and wooden beams from the monks’ former living quarters. Terracotta, muted indigo, olive and aged brass repeat through the rooms, drawn from Prague’s rooftops, façades and gardens. Bespoke canopy beds hang with historical tapestries. Bathrooms keep a residential layout.
Counts split across the company’s own pages. The brand landing page reads “101 guest rooms and 20 suites”. The hotel-information page on the same site reads “101 rooms, including seven signature suites”. Both figures sit on kempinski.com today.
The Suite Programme and the Tower Suite
The Presidential Suite pays tribute to Václav Havel. Four further suites carry their own narratives: the Monastery Suite, the Philosopher’s Stone Suite, the Charles Suite and the Fresco Suite. A three-level Tower Suite follows in phase two. It is built around astronomer Johannes Kepler, with circular architectural forms and panoramic city views.
The Living Room of the City
Kempinski calls the new public-space plan “the living room of the city”. The spaces connect as a run of social environments. A residential-style bar sits among nooks and gathering spaces. A Collector’s Table shows the work of Czech artisans and craftspeople. An emerging local artist is building a “Living City Ceiling” for the social floors. Original monastic elements stay in place beside the new work.
The Refectory Bar and the Twelve Gates
The bar goes into the monastery’s historic Refectory. Its programme follows George Ripley’s twelve alchemical steps. Twelve cocktails, seasonal infusions and local craft absinthes fill the list. St Thomas dark lager and bar plates for sharing run alongside. Bohemian glassware, DJs and a daily “Transformation Hour” at sundown set the ritual.
The Salon is the dining room. It works a brasserie zone, relaxed dining areas, semi-private spaces and a courtyard from one footprint. Live piano runs from breakfast into the evening. Gorgeous Group and Russell Sage Studio developed the food and beverage concepts.
LDS Design Studio and the Symbols of Augustine
LDS Design Studio leads the transformation. Massimo Severo Barbera is creative director. The scheme draws on St. Augustine, Prague’s artistic heritage and the city’s Gothic, Baroque and Bohemian influences. Pears, grace and mischief appear as motifs. Garden of Eden tapestries hang alongside them.
“Every room and public space has been conceived as part of a larger story of Prague,” Barbera said in the release.
The E.R.A.s and the Resident Curators
Kempinski runs its guest-experience programme under The E.R.A.s – Experience Real Access. Resident Curators design it. At Augustine the programme draws on the working monastery and on the hotel’s cultural contacts across Prague. Guests meet insiders, creatives, craftspeople and local figures. La Revue des Hotels reports that Kempinski launched the format at Vier Jahreszeiten Kempinski Munich.
The Case Kempinski Makes for the Asset
Rasha Lababidi is Chief Product, Experience and Communications Officer at Kempinski Group. Her April title read Chief Product & Experience Officer. The October release and Boutique Hotel News both carry the longer form.
“Kempinski Augustine Hotel, Prague will embody what we believe is the future of experiential travel: deeply individual and intentional – always connected to the place and its people,” she said.
A second statement in the release ties the hotel to the monastery. “Augustine allows us to unlock something that is increasingly rare in luxury hospitality: genuine access to a living piece of history,” she said.
What the Property Carries Today
The hotel trades as Augustine Hotel, Prague. Trade coverage of the earlier sale records a 2009 reopening after restoration under Marriott’s Luxury Collection flag, with Rocco Forte management until 2012.
kempinski.com lists over 400 sqm of event space, more than 650 sqm of terraces and gardens, a spa, two distinct bar concepts and The Monastic Library. The library holds a collection spanning centuries of theological and scientific thought.
Figures the October Release Leaves Out
The release gives no month inside early 2027. It gives no rate card and no reservation date. Construction cost and the refurbishment budget stay unpublished. The April release named a white-label start of 1 April 2026 and a reflagging target of late 2026, and the October release replaces that target with early 2027.