Hotel pod Pralesem

Nature

The Forest Hotel lies the entire year in an environment of exquisite natural beauty.

SPRING

The first messengers of spring are the white snowflakes that first emerge from underneath the snow cover in small clusters. Later, with the disappearance of snow, they create a contiguous yellow-white flowery carpet along the Sejf brook reaching a width of several kilometers. For the unique and expansive occurrence of snowflakes the area is included in the Krkonose National Park.

Of particular natural significance is the Sejf brook which originates high in the mountain meadows of Rychory. In spring the creek widens and enlarges from the many mountain rivulets collecting melting snow from the neighboring forests and mountain slopes. The Sejf brook is a breeding ground for brook trout, the brook is dammed at the Hotel creating a picturesque lake..

After the end of the snowflake vegetational period, the first medicinal herbs start blooming: coltsfoot (Tussilago), oxlip (primrose, Primula) and arnica.

SUMMER

This season is characteristic of a rich flora on the neighboring meadows, hills and forest glades. You may find not only the usual meadow mix but also some rare and protected species, such as mountain orchids, gentian, consolida, foxglove and monkshood (aconitum). You may also see some of those plants that grow mostly on Alpine meadows at elevations over 2500 m. There is such a fenced-in grassy wetland of wild orchids above the Hotel.

The summer season offers a cornucopia of wild berries and mainly mushrooms. You can easily find areas of wild strawberries, lingonberries, and bushes of blueberries and raspberries. Mushrooms grow during several subsequent months; hence, while in the lower elevations, the mushrooms season usually ends in July, you can still find mushrooms around the Hotel in September or even in October. The hills and meadows are abound with medicinal herbs, such as wild thymus, candlewitch (verbascum), archangelica and dianthus, further meadowsweet (filipendula, a favorite of Queen Elisabeth I), forget-me-not and others.

FALL

Fall is often considered a season full of melancholy. However, the leaves on the deciduous trees and bushes on the hills around the Hotel are brilliant with color. Nature produces here her most luxuriant beauty and creates images that are difficult to duplicate. These pictures at dusk are accompanied by the mournful mating call of bucks.

WINTER

In winter the vegetation is at rest; but the hills and fir trees covered with a blanket of snow evoke a romantic mood of blessed silence. This quiet is at times disturbed by a herd of foraging deer. and sometimes even a loanly fox ventures to the area of the Hotel. Badgers seem more curageous looking for food around the Hotel. On the snow cover one can often see footprints of other wild animals, such as hares and martens.

Unfortunately, if you are out of luck, you may encounter inclement weather in all seasons. Lightning, thunderstorms, drizzle, rainy and stormy days, cold blizzards and frost. But sure, even in bad weather, nature in the mountains is beautiful.