Czech Beer Spas: A Review of Purkmister Hotel & Spa

I had heard of these Czech beer spas…do you bath in beer? Do you get drunk from sitting in the beer? Passing through the Czech Republic, an investigation was in order. So while I was in Plžen, I took a night to check out the Purkmister Brewery, Hotel, and Spa.

First Impressions

Though the spa is technically located in Plžen, it is about a 30 minute bus ride from city center in the equivalent of the suburbs. It’s kind of tucked away in a residential area, with not much else around it. Purkmister has a hotel, spa and restaurant in one mini compound. I was staying at the hotel for two nights so I got a pretty well rounded experience of each.

Hotel

The hotel was pretty subpar, especially given the price point. The rooms were dark and dimly lit. The beds were extremely uncomfortable, to the point where I felt the bed springs through out the night. Breakfast is included in the price of the room, but it was pretty minimal and nothing special. The staff wasn’t friendly either.

Restaurant

The restaurant was okay. The food was mostly traditional hearty Czech food, lots of meat and potatoes. The prices were a little high compared to what you see in the rest of the Czech Republic. I did find the service to be leaving something to be desired as well.

Spa

And finally, the beer spa….it was fine. I didn’t manage to get one of their packages (all sold out due to a wedding that weekend), but I did manage to get a “beer bath.” To my dismay, you aren’t actually bathing in beer. It’s a mixture of brewer’s yeast, hops and some essential oils. You also get unlimited refills of the brewery’s pilsner through out your bath. Overall it was quite relaxing and the prices were decent compared to what you would pay in the states. Also the pure novelty of it was worth doing.

Conclusion

Overall I wouldn’t really recommend this place. The spa was okay, but it was a little bit of a hike to get to from city center. I would probably check out other beer spas in the Czech Republic unless you are going to be in Plžen anyway.