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Karlovy Lazne
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When:
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Daily
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Where:
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Karlovy Lazne
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The much-anticipated opening of Karlovy Lazne in December 1999 established it as Prague's first superclub and one of the highlights of the city's nightlife. Located in an amazing converted building by the Charles Bridge, the club has four main areas.
The MCM Café has a ground-floor area with live music (jazz, blues, reggae) and almost river-level windows, while the basement contains an internet café and a rediscovered medieval well. On the first floor, the Discotheque plays, er, disco, with - it seems - a certain element of "exotic" dancing. Next comes Kaleidoscope, which caters to a mixture of retro-teens and older clubbers with tried-and-tested rock 'n' roll classics. Finally, Paradogs is the techno/drum and bass headquarters, with harder sounds and a varying line-up of guest DJs.
The interior design is impressive, with many of the long-decrepit building's original contents (notably an enormous mill-wheel) preserved amongst the New Brutalism fittings. There are also some beautiful mosaics, and two Roman-style baths have been drained and incorporated into the dance floor areas of Discotheque and Paradogs.
Although the club is in one of the most heavily-visited parts of the Old Town, the management claim that the drinks and admission prices are aimed at attracting a local - rather than tourist and expat - crowd. Whether this will turn out to work in the long run we don't know, but either way Karlovy Lazne is probably one of the best places to kick off an exploration of Prague's fertile scene.
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