What it’s really like Visiting a Beer Spa with Kids in Prague
Did you do a double-take with that title? I promise it isn’t a typo. Sure, “visiting a beer spa with kids” may seem like an oxymoron, but I’m here to tell you that this experience was one of the coolest things we did during our trip to Prague.
Full disclosure:
We were gifted this beer spa experience with Beer Spa Bernard in exchange for a review. Every single opinion and thought below is my own.
While typically the words beer + spa + and kids don’t go together like, ever, in Prague, our three kids were more than welcome to share this experience with us.
Specifically, we took a dip into our beer bath at Beer Spa Bernard. It’s rated 4.8 on GetYourGuide and was highly recommended by friends via word of mouth.
If you’re on the fence about hopping in (oh goodness, I hope you don’t mind beer puns, because I have a feeling they may be flowing during this post), I hope this will answer some of your questions and ease any fears you might have about going to a beer spa with kids in Prague.
Speaking of questions, here’s one I bet you have:
What is a Beer Spa, Exactly?
If you’re considering taking your kids to a beer spa, I bet you want to know what it is, right? To understand a beer spa in Prague means you need a clear picture of the beer culture in the Czech Republic.
Did you know that the country drinks more beer per capita than any other country in the world? Believe it or not, they drink an average of more than a whopping 180 liters per person!
Since beer is (almost literally) flowing through Prague’s blood, you can see why soaking in a vat of the bubbly stuff sounds like second nature, right?
The first beer spas started popping up in the Middle Ages, so this isn’t some new, trendy thing. The health benefits of soaking in beer—or the components of beer like hops, yeast, and malt—are said to have fantastic health benefits.
I don’t have any scientific research to back this up (I was there for the beer, my friends), but it’s said that beer baths help cleanse pores, increase circulation, regenerate skin and hair, and revitalize the nervous system.
The beer spa also recommends that bathers don’t shower within 12 hours after their soak so they can reap all those extra benefits. (I have more thoughts on that below).
Wait. So You Soak in Actual Beer?
Now that you know all about the history and benefits of a beer spa, here’s where I possibly burst your beer bubble:
You’re not actually going to soak in a vat of beer. (This was music to my kids’ ears, but made me a little sad.)
While the liquid might not be actual beer, the mixture that goes into the warm water have most of all the ingredients of beer: crushed hops, brewer’s yeast, and malt. The concoction is missing barely—it’s kept out to eliminate the possibility of allergic reactions.
All You Can Drink!
Rest assured, even though you’re not going to soak in the delicious drink if you go to Beer Spa Bernard you can pour yourself as many alcoholic beers as you’d like. Your tub comes with its own personal tap.
Yup, your personal beer tap serves unlimited ice-cold beer, and if it runs out all you have to do is ring a little bell and they’ll fill ‘er up.
And let me tell you: that beer was delicious! Pitcher perfect, if you will.
KID TIP: Don’t worry, if you’re visiting Beer Spa Bernard with kids, they give them a non-alcoholic cherry-flavored “beer,” so they can indulge, too.
Consider this a spoiler alert, but if you like the beer on tap you’ll be very happy with a little souvenir that they give you to take home after your beer bath. And fun fact: they gave us a bottle of the kid’s “beer,” too!
Also, if you’re interested, you can buy some snacks ahead of time to nosh on along with your beer. We had lunch right before our bath, otherwise, I would’ve considered this.
What We Really Thought of our Beer Spa with Kids
Personally, we loved it, and I’d recommend going to a beer spa with kids to anyone visiting Prague. Actually, I’d encourage you to seize the hop-portunity if you’re ever in Prague.
This experience was one of those things I thought we couldn’t do because we had kids with us, so I was delighted when Beer Spa Bernard was totally okay with us bringing them along.
Soaking in a “beer” tub isn’t something you can do everywhere and it’s one of those things I’m sure we’ll all remember for years to come.
How Much It Costs
I mentioned this already, but we were gifted this experience in exchange for a post. However, I want to share the cost so you can have an accurate idea for your family.
If you plan on visiting this beer spa with kids I highly suggest emailing Beer Spa Bernard to ask how many tubs would you’ll need for your crew.
There were five of us, but since our kids are small, they all fit in one tub as opposed to needing three.
I also mention this below, but while the massage was fantastic and all the kids loved it, spending more time in the bath would have been even better.
Can’t wait to book your beer spa experience?
See Beer Spa Bernard’s availability here.
Diving Into Our Beer Spa Experience with the Kids
Beer Spa Bernard has four different locations around Prague, and our spot was within a hotel in the newer/modern part of town.
We walked in and followed the signs to the basement where we were greeted with a spa-like atmosphere. The lights were dimmed, there was exposed brick everywhere, and it was pretty serene.
I was worried my kids would be too rowdy for the area (or the entire experience in general). Thankfully they were fine.
Getting Changed with the Kids
When they said it was our turn we followed the lovely hosts back to a changing room.
Unfortunately, we were not alone, so it was awkward for a hot minute (literally just a minute or two).
There were two other ladies in there who were almost finished getting ready. My girls and I stood awkwardly for a minute or two while we waited for them to skedaddle off. My husband and son went into their own changing room.
Beer Spa Bernard provided us with two lockers for the girls and one locker for the boys, robes, slippers, and very thin, small towels. We quickly got ready (I 100% would’ve worn our swimsuits under our clothes, but we had a busy morning and it didn’t even cross my mind).
Pro tip: If you have time, wear your swimsuits under clothes for an easier/faster changing process.
Once we were ready they came and took us to our private beer spa room.
Our Family-Friendly Beer Spa Room
Each room at Beer Spa Bernard is private, and ours was pretty impressive.
Since we’re a family of five, our room had two “oak” barrel tubs with a beer tap in the middle. The grown-ups were in one and there was a second one for all three kids.
KID TIP: If you have young kids, I suggest emailing before booking to make sure you have the right amount of tubs. For 5 people (three kids) we almost booked one with three tubs, but all of our kids fit in one, so we only needed two tubs.
There was also a sauna and two “warm” beds in the room that we could use.
We actually didn’t even have time to enjoy everything within our hour’s time limit; we primarily stayed in the beer bath.
Y’all. The actual tubs were SO incredibly comfortable. I can’t even describe it except that I could’ve stayed there for longer than an hour, and I outwardly expressed my desire to have one in our own home someday.
My husband laughed at that comment, and I think he thought I was kidding and already had too much to drink when I said it, but I was (and still am) 100% serious.
But I digress…
Putting the “Beer” in the Beer Bath
When we walked into our room, our attendant turned on the bubbles in the tubs, explained the health benefits of the bath, and then dumped the almost neon-green hops mixture into our water.
Seconds before she poured it into the kid’s tub they (the kids) caught a whiff of it and said, “NOPE.”
The pseudo-beer mixture gives off a very strong hoppy smell, so I don’t blame them. In fact, I’m kinda thankful they didn’t want it in there, because then it was just like they took a fun bath and I didn’t have to hear them (possibly) complain about it.
Kid Tip: If your kids are on the fence about having hops in their bath, ask the attendant to leave it out. I’ve heard from some friends that it was already in the tub when they walk in.
Our oldest daughter (9 at the time) did end up getting into our tub just to see what it was like. She didn’t mind it but said it smelled kinda stinky. (She wasn’t entirely wrong.)
Personally, I didn’t mind the smell.
The Beer Spa with Kids
I will say that time went by quickly.
Kids will be kids, and our three managed to fight over who was in what spot in the tub (insert eye-roll here). They all fit fine, but they were bound to find something to argue over.
We ate up a good 10 minutes of our precious hour by the time we got the three of them settled.
We spent the rest of our time lounging and relaxing and refilling our beer. I wasn’t going to turn down the opportunity for unlimited beer, but the glasses are larger than they look and I’m more of a sipper than a drinker/chugger.
Time for a Massage…For the Kids, Too!
Our hour-long beer spa came with a massage. I asked if the kids could do it, and they didn’t even hesitate to say yes, so the two littles went first.
They came back looking like brand new kids—I’ve never seen them look so relaxed and happy. Clearly, we need to look into massages for them in the future.
The kid massage consisted of a nice little back rub.
KID TIP: Obviously, use your own judgment here. Our kids were wearing swimsuits and hands never went where it was inappropriate. If you’re not keen on massages, don’t opt for one.
I went next with my oldest, and she loved it as well. The oil/lotion they use had a faint beer smell to it (not overly hoppy), and I later discovered you can buy it in their lobby. I didn’t buy any and regret it.
The only downside to doing the massage was that it was less time in the bath and drinking beer, and I really liked that bath…and the beer.
If we had to do it again, I’d personally skip the massage and just stick to staying in the beer bath for longer.
Practical Tips for Your Beer Spa with Kids
We heard from a lot of friends how fun the beer spa was but didn’t really hear any practical tips for the actual experience.
Hopefully, these will help you out.
I’ll go into detail below, but in case you’re skimming this, here are the highlights:
- Wear a swimsuit.
- Bring a second swimsuit if you plan on doing actual swimming after the beer spa.
- Bring shower shoes
- Bring an extra towel
- Take a shower after your beer bath
- Bring spare/older clothes
- Pick a later time slot
Swimsuits vs. Birthday Suit
Traditionally you can wear nothing but your birthday suit for this experience, but seeing as how we were with our kids at this beer spa, we opted to all wear swimsuits.
Keep in mind a few things: whatever you wear in the tubs will smell like the hops mixture even after you wash them, so bring along an older swimsuit and/or a second suit if you plan on doing more swimming after your beer spa.
I mentioned this above, but I also wish we wore our swimsuits there just to eliminate having to totally change.
Bring Shower Shoes…and Maybe Extra Towels
You technically get both of these when you check in, but the slippers were all different sizes, and the towels were…tiny.
The floor got very wet (hello, kids + beer bath); I was certain someone would biff it and slip.
As for the towels, we possibly (probably) could have asked for more, but that would have required taking more time out of our hour. We have some fast-drying, thin towels that would have been perfect to use here.
Take. A. Shower. After.
So here’s the thing, you can supposedly reap the hops’ health benefits if you don’t rinse off after your beer bath. But if you don’t you’ll be stinky. Like, really stinky. I found the scent to actually be pretty nice in the bath, but afterward? Not so much.
I’m also wondering if the benefits come from multiple dips into the bath, as opposed to just a fun hour-long experience.
Either way, we didn’t rinse off and regretted it almost immediately. I’d catch of whiff of myself and look around hoping nobody else could smell me as we walked the streets of Prague.
There are showers available, and I wish we hopped in and at least rinsed off. I doubly wish that I brought some body wash to use, too.
Also, the hops will leave some green flakey pieces on you, so rinsing off is truly ideal.
A Spare Change of Clothes
If you decide not to shower or rinse off after, then I highly recommend bringing some older clothes to put on after your beer spa. That way, if/when you do get a little stinky, you won’t be stuck with smelly clothes for the rest of your trip.
Pick a Later Time Slot
A friend suggested this tip when she and her family visited Beer Spa Bernard. They picked one of the later time slots after dinner so that they could just head right back to their hotel afterward to shower and clean up.
We had another tour to do after ours so we didn’t do this, and I wish we did.
Can’t wait to book your beer spa experience?
See Beer Spa Bernard’s availability here.
Would You do a Beer Spa Like This With Kids?
Have you ever done anything like this or would you consider doing a beer spa with your kid after reading this post?
I’d love to hear about your experience, so if you make it out to Beer Spa Bernard please let me know!
Where We Stayed in Prague
Our family of five stayed at the Old Prague House, and I highly recommend it for larger families. Our place was HUGE and the city-center location was perfect for walking around Old Town. Two things to note: there is not a 24-hour reception and there is no lift to the top floor where the huge family room/apartment is.
If you need a place to stay in Lesser Town (the other side of the river by the castle), I have many friends who recommend Dům u Velké Boty, aka The House at the Big Boot.
