Resort Český les, which opened barely a year ago, is growing at a healthy pace. The main building of Aparthotel Železná has recently been joined by a new sister concept in the form of Boutique Apartments Železná. The former First Republic school building houses just eight rooms.
Behind the Resort Český les project stands the family investment group FKCG, a. s., whose portfolio also includes the Wine & Bike apartments in Znojmo and the Plzeň branch of the Ibis hotel chain. The company, owned by Ondřej and Jindřich Karhan, bought the buildings from which Resort Český les was created only in 2020. The first to go into operation, last year, was the main building of Aparthotel Železná, which offers not only rooms but also conference facilities and a wellness zone with a sauna, steam room, infrared sauna and massage therapies. Nearby, the company has also already established Srdíčko, a 164-hectare game park for red deer, fallow deer and mouflon that takes in the Železný pond and mighty five-hundred-year-old oaks; at the same time, an endowment fund was set up to support the region, its culture and its people.
Just a few steps from Aparthotel Železná – and within sight of the deep forests of the Chodsko borderlands – lie the newly opened Boutique Apartments Železná. With only eight rooms, this design newcomer offers an authentic atmosphere and a high degree of privacy. The architecture of the apartments, whose concept is inspired by the muted, earthy tones of the surrounding countryside, comes from Barbora Mluvková's Konceptual studio. Their design also reflects elements of the Chodsko landscape and motifs from Jirásek's poems, after which the individual apartments are named – V mechu (In the Moss), V kapradí (In the Ferns), Na křídlech (On Wings), U potoka (By the Brook), Na stromě (In the Tree), Na jezeře (On the Lake), Na vrcholcích (On the Peaks) and V oblacích (In the Clouds). The V oblacích suite takes up the entire attic of the former First Republic village school and includes a free-standing bathtub beneath the exposed original beams.
The culinary home for guests of Boutique Apartments Železná is the restaurant Hvozd, headed by chef Martin Šiling, who previously worked at Prague's V Zátiší, among other places. Its menu draws on local tradition and the gifts of the Chodsko forests, the waters of the Železný pond and the produce of local farmers. The current menu features, for example, dried saddle of venison from the resort's own game park served with mushroom coulis and mushroom demi-glace, or roast fillet of sturgeon with cauliflower salad with raisins and onion espuma. The restaurant adjoins a terrace that serves specialities from the Ofyr grill in season. The gastronomic offer of Český les also includes the Kotelna bar, which focuses above all on whisky and champagne. Among the resort's specialities are a selection of Czech and French wines and craft ciders from the nearby Kolowrat orchards, as well as its own Nikl wheat beer from the Plzeň microbrewery Proud, named after the mythical good spirit of Český les, the protector of glassmakers and woodcutters.