The coolest hotels in Copenhagen

Copenhagen is a small city with big city energy. You can cycle from one side of this buzzy capital to the other in around 30 minutes, so it’s hard to believe quite how much variety it packs into its cobbled streets, repurposed industrial districts and pretty harboursides. From effortlessly cool fashion to world-leading gastronomy, stunning museums and wild swimming, there is much on offer across the multicoloured neighbourhoods of this design capital.

Where to stay in Copenhagen

Most of the luxury hotels in Copenhagen are a stone’s throw from Tivoli, the joyfully old-school theme park that inspired Disneyland, while a mix of boutique stays and more intimate experiences are dotted across other parts of the city. You’ll find charming places to stay amid the newness of ever-developing Nordhavn, the hip hangouts of Vesterbro and the characterful buildings and houseboats of Christianshavn. Our list spotlights the best hotels on offer for an excellent stay in Copenhagen, with design-conscious social spaces, thoughtful amenities and waterfront views.

Copenhagen K

Hotel Sanders

Best for: A luxury hotel with an award-winning cocktail bar
Location: Tordenskjoldsgade 15, 1055 København K
Price: From 2,800 DKK / 390 USD per night

When you enter Hotel Sanders, it’s easy to forget you are only a few steps away from Nyhavn, the colourful harbourside street that is by far the busiest and most photographed in Copenhagen. A sense of warmth and comfort washes over you the second you step inside this trio of converted townhouses, owned by prolific Danish ballet designer Alexander Kølpin. Filled with soft leather, woven rattan and earthy tones, the interiors combine the retro glamour of the nearby Royal Danish Theatre with the cosy nostalgia of Danish colonial design. There are 54 rooms, ranging from train-carriage-inspired singles to generous suites, and each is different thanks to the considered curation of books and antiques. The plant-filled rooftop lounge is a place of easy calm, while the bar, Tata, is one of the best bars in Copenhagen for a classic cocktail. A stay here isn’t cheap, but the experience is one to remember.

Radisson Collection Royal Hotel

Best for: The original home of Danish modernism 
Location: Hammerichsgade 1, 1611 København V
Price: From 1,445 DKK / 203 USD per night

The SAS Royal Hotel, as it was previously named, is revered in history as the world’s first design hotel. Built in 1960, it was developed by Danish design legend Arne Jacobsen as the hotel and airport terminal for Scandinavian Airlines. Jacobsen oversaw every detail of this 22-storey tower, from the spectacular spiral staircase that winds up from the lobby, to the elegant door handles that feature throughout. Some of his best-known furniture designs, including the elegant Egg and Swan chairs and the sculptural AJ lamp, were custom-designed especially for the building.

The hotel reopened in 2018 following a renovation by design studio Space Copenhagen, bringing this modernist icon back to its original glory. Staying here is like stepping back in time and experiencing mid-century minimalism at its finest. True aficionados can request a look around room 606, which remains exactly as Jacobsen first designed it.

Villa Copenhagen

Best for: Understated Nordic luxury and year-round swimming
Location: Tietgensgade 35-39, 1704 København V
Price: From 1,770 DKK / 247 USD per night

A 25m rooftop pool, sustainably heated with recycled energy, is one of many reasons to stay at Villa Copenhagen. This classy hotel is located in the heart of the city, next to the central train station and in easy walking distance to the National Museum and the Glyptotek art museum. It is housed inside a neo-baroque building that was once the headquarters of the Danish post office, with a boutique feel that’s rare for a hotel of this size. The design extends across 390 rooms ranging from handsome ground-floor suites with four-metre-high ceilings to charming loft bedrooms. The mood in these rooms is pared back and inherently Nordic, while other spaces in the hotel are more high impact. The atrium in particular is a site to behold, with its eye-catching glass dome roof flooding the space with light. A visit to the in-house RUG bakery is a must, allowing you to sample some of Denmark’s famous pastries before even stepping outside.

Hotel SP34

Best for: Striking Danish design and daily drinks on the house
Location: Sankt Peders Stræde 34, 1453 København K
Price: From 1,090 DKK / 152 USD per night

The design-conscious Brøchner Hotels group is behind Hotel SP34, a lively spot in Copenhagen’s quirky Latin Quarter. Set across three converted townhouses, rooms have curvy wooden headboards and custom made furniture by Carl Hansen & Søn, designed in tribute to the classic Danish easy chair.

Ebullient staff are eager to offer sightseeing tips, supply bike rentals and advise on nearby running routes, while on-site facilities include a small gym and a library where you can borrow books. The lobby hosts a daily wine hour for guests where guests can enjoy a drink on the house, along with a complimentary nightcap between 10 and 11pm. Dine at relaxed burger joint Cocks and Cows or Vækst, with a seasonal Nordic menu.

Hotel Bella Grande

Best for: Italian panache with cuisine to match
Location: Vester Voldgade 23, 1552 København V
Price: From 1,284 DKK / 179 USD per night

Hotel Bella Grande is modelled on a Venetian palazzo, which is apparent as soon as you step into the central atrium, home to Italian restaurant, Donna. Marble chequered floors and punchy pink velvet banquettes provide a grand setting for freshly baked focaccia, rigatoni al ragú and strawberry-topped pavlova. Wow factor extends through all five floors of the 19th-century building. The reception features a mirrored desk and a wall of tasselled keys, while the 109 bedrooms combine muted tones with playful details, such as voluptuous beds, cushion-like lamps and statement chairs. Guests can enjoy a discount at any of the 18 restaurants owned by the hotel’s operator, Copenhagen Food Collective, with top picks including Nordic-style dining at nearby Vækst and Latin American-inspired fare at Llama.

Nobis Hotel Copenhagen

Best for: Neoclassical grandeur meets cool Scandinavian design
Location: Niels Brocks Gade 1, 1574 København V
Price: From 2,950 DKK / 411 USD per night

Swedish hotel chain Nobis couldn’t have picked a more refined setting for its Copenhagen outpost, set in the former home of the Royal Danish Conservatory of Music. Soaring ceilings, ornate period mouldings and a marble staircase contrast with contemporary design, including Carl Hansen & Søn lounge chairs and tables. Rooms have modern four-poster beds and walls painted in cool shades of blue and green, alongside Byredo toiletries. Other guest perks include a subterranean hammam and sauna and a formal dining experience that combines Scandinavian classics like Skagen shrimp toast with continental favourites including pork croquettes and beef tartare.

Vesterbro

Manon Les Suites

Best for: A tropical swimming pool in hip Vesterbro
Location: Gyldenløvesgade 19, 1600 København V
Price: From 2,095 DKK / 292 USD per night

Behind the unassuming exterior of adults-only Manon Les Suites lies a tropical rainforest filled with lush plants, flowers and dangling fish-shaped pendant lamps, with a shimmering swimming pool at its centre. The owner, Guldsmeden, has several properties in the city, but this is by far the most fun. Six floors of balconied rooms are arranged, riad-style, around the hanging greenery.

The nightclub-esque ‘jungle gym’ includes a full-size boxing ring, while the roof hosts a lounge and sauna. There is a restaurant, Chapung, serving Asian-fusion dishes, though it’s also worth taking a short walk to the edgy Nørrebro neighbourhood for excellent dining options.

Coco Hotel

Best for: Exemplary sustainability with courtyard dining
Location: Vesterbrogade 41, 1620 København V
Price: From 1,144 DKK / 160 USD per night

Copenhagen hotels are generally very environmentally conscious, but Coco Hotel is a leader in the field. The building is entirely powered by solar energy and largely plastic-free, while other green initiatives include locally sourced food, organic cotton bedding and a partnership with a reforestation programme. This 89-room hotel is close to Vesterbro’s trendy meatpacking district and has a distinctly Parisian flavour. The verdant courtyard functions as a wine bar and open-air cinema, while Coco Café & Bar buzzes from morning until late.

A sibling to Hotel Bella Grande hotel, it also offers guests discounts at other Copenhagen Food Collective restaurants. Mediterranean-focused Delphine and French bistro Les Trois Cochons are both in this neighbourhood and well worth a visit.

Steel House

Best for: Comfort on a budget
Location: Herholdtsgade 6, 1605 København V
Price: From 160 DKK / 22 USD per night

Hostels don’t get much swisher than this one. Easy to spot thanks to its distinctive metal facade, Steel House occupies the former home of the Danish Union of Metalworkers. It bills itself as ‘industrial chic’, but its four- and six-bedroom dorms feel more spaceship than factory. Beds sit inside shiny curved cubbyholes, each fitted with a comfortable mattress, lamp and power socket. Each dorm has its own en-suite bathroom and a set of lockers, and some private rooms are available.

Onsite facilities are extensive, including a well-equipped kitchen and dining room, an indoor swimming pool, a games room, a gym, TV and cinema rooms and the all-important laundrette. Touchscreens and coin-operated lockers mean you can check yourself in and out, but staff are on-hand 24/7 in case something goes wrong.

Hotel Ottilia

Best for: Beer enthusiasts
Location: Bryggernes Plads 7,1799 København V
Price: From 1,030 DKK / 144 USD per night

The Carlsberg City District is a newly developed neighbourhood on the site of the beer’s former brewery. Fashion designer Henrik Vibskov and Swiss art gallery von Bartha are among those who have moved into this historic area, characterised by monumental red-brick warehouses. Also here is Hotel Ottilia, the latest offering from Brøchner Hotels (which also owns Hotel Sp34 above). It is named after Ottilia Marie Jacobsen, the wife of Carlsberg brewer Carl Jacobsen, and the beer references don’t stop there. The exterior walls of this listed building are embellished with 64 golden discs, reminiscent of bottle tops, while huge old malt hoppers form a striking focal point in the lobby.

Rooms with circular windows are particularly special, with cosy leather cushioned nooks for watching the world go by. Make sure to grab a pizza from rooftop restaurant Tramonto and, of course, the specially brewed Ottilia Lager. It offers the same perks as Hotel SP34, including a complimentary wine hour and evening nightcap.

Christianshavn and Islands Brygge

25hours Hotel Paper Island

Best for: A summerhouse experience in the city
Location: Papirøen 25, 1436 København K
Price: From 1,550 DKK / 233 USD per night

The second Copenhagen location for young-at-heart hotel brand 25hours is on Christianshavn, an island that previously served as a shipyard, military hospital, cannon store and, most recently, paper warehouse. The latest incarnation of this artificial island, known as Papirøen, includes a pyramidal swimming pool and cultural centre designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma (still in construction), alongside a cluster of angular brick buildings courtesy of local architecture studio COBE.

Inside the latter, 25hours Paper Island aims to capture the spirit of the Scandi summerhouse experience. Its 128 rooms are designed to look like island cabins, with painted timber walls, shaker-style furniture and cuddly toy fish. Playful nautical references feature in a reception area modelled on a classic fishing boat, while the onsite restaurant and bar offerings include the quayside Nomad Day Bar and flagship restaurant Tiger Lily, where Asian-inspired dishes include pulled noodles and pork belly burnt ends. When you’re ready to take a dip, a harbour bath is waiting just outside.

Kanalhuset

Best for: Sociable dining by the canal
Location: Overgaden Oven Vandet 62A, 1415 København K
Price: From 1,800 DKK / 251 USD per night

When Lennart and Sus Lajboschitz, founders of homeware and stationery retailer Flying Tiger, sold their stake in the business, they turned their attention to hospitality. Their latest project, Kanalhuset, occupies an 18th-century townhouse facing the picturesque Wilders canal.  It has just 12 boutique rooms and 14 apartments, fitted with vintage mid-century furniture and 1970s-style textiles. The restaurant serves wholesome hearty meals, eaten family-style around a large dining table. The result is a sense of joviality that, in a smartphone-obsessed world, is worth treasuring.

VIPP Pencil Case

Best for: An artist’s atelier with a cutting-edge kitchen
Location: Sturlasgade 12G, 2300 København S
Price: 9,700 DKK / 1,352 USD for two nights (Fri to Sun)

To any Scandinavian, the VIPP brand is synonymous with the pedal-operated bins that, for 57 years, were the only product it manufactured. Over the past two decades, it has expanded into furniture, tableware, lighting, kitchens and, most recently, hospitality. The brand has a series of one-room guesthouses offering the full VIPP experience in both urban and bucolic settings.

The VIPP Pencil Case is one of two located in Copenhagen, offering weekend breaks. Housed inside the converted Viking pencil factory in Islands Brugge, this warehouse apartment boasts high ceilings and large crittal-style windows that lend it the feel of an art studio or workshop. The state-of-the-art VIPP V1 kitchen allows guests to rustle up any meal, eaten around the stone-topped dining table. Time your visit right and you may also get to attend a supper club in the VIPP Garage next door, with meals served by some of the city’s hottest up-and-coming chefs.

Nordhavn

Audo Residence

Best for: A holistic design experience
Location: Aarhusgade 130, 2150 Nordhavn
Price: From 2,800 DKK / 425 USD per night

The extension of the Copenhagen metro played a big part in the reinvention of harbourside Nordhavn, once an industrial wasteland. It is now a family-friendly neighbourhood and home of Sandkaj, one the city’s most popular swimming spots. Audo Residence sits conveniently between the two, occupying one of the area’s few historic buildings. Formerly a merchant’s house, it is both a boutique hotel and the headquarters of Danish furniture and homeware brand Audo (one of the best design stores in Copenhagen).

Nine guest rooms are immaculately styled in soothing shades of dusky pink, chalky white and deep grey, setting a serene backdrop for the brand’s collections. The downstairs restaurant and cafe is run by Wulff & Konstali, with a renowned brunch offering.

TheKrane

Best for: A unique experience in a coal crane with 360° views
Location: Kalkbrænderiløbskaj 10, 2150 Nordhavn
Price: From 6,840 DKK / 953 USD per night

Imagine spending the night inside the former engine room of a decommissioned coal crane, suspended above the harbour on a hulking steel frame. That’s exactly what’s on offer at The Krane, one of Copenhagen’s most unusual stays, and it’s not as rough-around-the-edges as you might expect. The room is fitted out with neat timber panelling and furniture, all black so as not to detract from the 360-degree views of the harbour skyline. A concierge brings breakfast to your doorstep every morning, while a glass room underneath can be booked for business meetinns or private dining. But the pièce de résistance has to be the spa room, complete with twin bathtubs and a sauna. Run by the team from Hotel d’Angleterre, it offers massage and skincare treatments that will delight honeymooning couples, or anyone in need of rejuvenation.