About us

The chalet is located on the secluded slopes of the Desenský hill where fields end and deep spruce and mixed forests begin. Most buildings in this area are examples of historical mountain architecture adapted for modern leisure purposes. During warm months of the year, you can pick forest frit and mushrooms along local paths and in the surrounding woods – a nice way to amuse the children and provide the family’s dinner for the evening.

The name of our street – Výletní – means Trip Street and it is a fitting description for we are located in a popular area for family walks, jogging and dog walking but this in no way disturbs the idyllic peace we enjoy here, which is interrupted in summer months only by the droning of grasshoppers that grow to a truly impressive size in the local meadows. Our chalet stands near a road from Sokolská chalet to the town of Desná in the direction of Kořenov and Harrachov. This route can be easily managed by healthy tourists and bigger children although towards the end it is not suitable for vehicles and becomes rather steep (but even a child of two years of age can manage). Another nice option for a calm walk is the valley of the Bílá Desná river where you can see a memorial to victims of a dam accident (about 1 km). Or you can visit the hamlet of Sovín (1 km), the village of Novina (2 km) or even climb over 365 natural stone steps to the village of Mariánská hora to admire the local chapel and a memorial plaque to F. Schiller (2 km). Another lovely path will take you to the Souš dam and waterfalls of the river Černá Desná (4 km).

In winter, guests will have easy access to the Desná - Černá říčka ski resort (4 km by car) as well as the Jizerská Cross-Country Track that they can join at the gamekeeper’s lodge of Mariánská hora (6 km by car) or at the Souš dam (also 6 km by car). Our facility is perfect for sports training events because our guests may use our volleyball court (net included) and a football pitch for a small fee.

The building of our chalet dates back probably to the 19th century – it is first mentioned in the land registry in 1832 and 1845. During the 1920’s and 1930’s, the building changed hands four times (all owners were of German nationality). The last German owners lost the property after World War II based on the “Beneš Decrees”.

In 1951, the chalet became property of the Revolutionary Labour Movement chapter of the Town of Brandýs nad Labem and in 1988 it was acquired by the City District of Prague – East. For decades, the chalet was a typical “recreational facility” used by the employees of various state authorities and agencies. The building went through complete reconstruction in 1999. In 2003, it became property of the Office of the Government Representation in Property Affairs and was not used for leisure purposes since about 2009. The chalet was offered for sale and we were lucky enough to win the tender: we took possession of the facility from the Office on July 12, 2011.

We are not entirely happy with everything in the chalet and the surrounding area but we do our best to improve things. We think it only natural to make gradual changes so that we as well as our guests can enjoy this place and be happy to return on a regular basis. We chose the name Lusitania because we love Portugal and its wines and have been importing Portuguese wines to the Czech Republic since 2004 on an exclusive basis. Our guests will get a bottle of Portuguese wine as a welcome present and, of course, can order more wine for their stay here, including port and other sweet wines (moscatel, abafado, madeira). After all, we know ourselves that a nice bottle of wine does not go amiss on holiday ...