Za Arielem was first named in 2006.
From 2006 to 2009, it was called U mýdlárny (‘By the Soap Works’), after a nearby soap factory. This automatically makes me think of yesterday’s https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2026/10/28/prague-4-day-485-u-hellady/, though I’m not convinced that’s quite close enough to be the same one.
Trouble is, there was already a U mydlárny (no accent on the first y) in Stodůlky, and in the just-about pre-smartphone days, this probably annoyed a lot of taxi drivers, people expecting a parcel, and the like.
Time for a change, and, while it would just be a bit too perfect if the street name were a reference to the detergent, I’m afraid I have to disappoint you there.
At the northern tip of the road – shared with U plynárny, Nuselská and Michelská, a hotel existed in the inter-war period, and was called Hotel Ariel. This photo is from 1932.
It was, shall we say, probably the sort of hotel where you would pay for a room by the hour, not the night, and benefitted from its proximity to the local brewery and the Sokol.
It probably also benefitted police who knew they could go there and get away it – which makes it quite amusing that, today, the hotel doesn’t exist, but the building does, and is used as a local police station.
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