  We consider the Laplacian in a curved two-dimensional strip of constant width
squeezed between two curves, subject to Dirichlet boundary conditions on one of
the curves and variable Robin boundary conditions on the other. We prove that,
for certain types of Robin boundary conditions, the spectral threshold of the
Laplacian is estimated from below by the lowest eigenvalue of the Laplacian in
a Dirichlet-Robin annulus determined by the geometry of the strip. Moreover, we
show that an appropriate combination of the geometric setting and boundary
conditions leads to a Hardy-type inequality in infinite strips. As an
application, we derive certain stability of the spectrum for the Laplacian in
Dirichlet-Neumann strips along a class of curves of sign-changing curvature,
improving in this way an initial result of Dittrich and Kriz.
