The best hotels in Copenhagen for sleek design and trendy bars
Design and style is everything in Copenhagen, and these hotels show off the best of the best in the Danish capital
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Your support makes all the difference.After the hotel boom of recent years, Copenhagen is awash with beautiful hotels. But how to find the best ones? Location is important, of course. The very best are in locations that are close to key attractions, including the restaurant scene, but offer peace and privacy too. Even in this tiny city, a couple of streets makes the difference between a chic stay and one where you’re kept up all night.
Flashy mod cons are not a feature of this city, where equality is important and boasting is looked down on, and you won’t find many hotels with a pool or hotels with oversized bedrooms. Instead, the best of the best introduce the city’s style and design heritage, make you feel part of it, and make you wonder if you should move to the city, too.
In this pick of the best hotels list, expect beautiful mid-century modern Danish design, sleek, uncomplicated and minimalist decor, excellent but unobtrusive service and an overwhelming feeling of comfort. They offer a chance to indulge in the city’s distinctive vibe, which is by turns design-led, chic, laid back and obsessed with hygge.
The best hotels in Copenhagen
1. Kong Arthur
In a hidden courtyard a few streets from Copenhagen’s lovely Torvehallerne food market, Kong Arthur bills itself as a ‘live like a local’ experience, but it’s so much more than that. From the welcoming lobby-lounge to the array of calm neutral-toned bedrooms, it’s packed with Danish style treats, beautiful artwork and great service. Smaller bedrooms are good value – you might even on occasion find one under £150 per night, which is a miracle in this pricey city – while the larger suites with lofted sleeping areas and lounges will make you want to move in and never move out. All in all, it’s a great experience; modern Danish heritage furniture, parquet floors and a location near the chi-chi lakes makes it a stand out option.
Address: Nørre Søgade 11, Copenhagen
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2. Nimb Hotel
This iconic five-star hotel opens on to Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen’s historic theme park (and number one attraction), where peacocks strut about like they own the place. Staying here will make you feel like you do, too. Nimb guests can ride roller coasters without having to queue before and after hours, in just one of the many VIP perks available. Its exquisite 38 rooms and suites are the height of luxury, decorated with antiques and sumptuous fabrics, Danish design lighting and four poster beds, and its service level is exceptional throughout. The hotel has a fantastic concierge service as well as an afternoon tea lounge, champagne bar, rooftop pool – oh, and an incredible subterranean spa too. If money is no object, look no further.
Address: Bernstorffsgade 5, Copenhagen
3. Hotel Sanders
The city’s most divine boutique hotel is all about comfort. Set on a side street near the city centre, local celebs come to meet friends in the lounge bar while serious cocktail lovers flock to Tata, the hotel’s theatrically-designed bar, in the evening. There’s an exclusive air to the hotel, whose 54 luxurious rooms are decked out in muted browns, golds and creams with rattan and bamboo touches, and were inspired by the golden age of train travel. The hotel is owned by a former ballet dancer, Alexander Kølpin, and it’s renowned as one of the classiest joints in town.
Address: Tordenskjoldsgade 15, Copenhagen
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4. 25Hours Hotel Paper Island
This playful design hotel opened in 2024 and has become an instant hit. 25Hours is renowned for its attention to design – the group has another hotel in the city near the Round Tower – and this one is no different. Styled like a Danish summer house, it is packed with nautical touches and original touches, with all sorts of fun and quirky styling like fishing floats, bright nets and driftwood-style decor. The hotel is right on the harbour near a great bakery, Hart, and across a bridge from the central Nyhavn area. It’s probably the best located hotel in the city. Up top in its boat-like bar, Victory, you can enjoy incredible harbour views and sink a pint of Guinness at the same time; there’s also an oriental restaurant on the ground floor.
Address: 25 Papirøen, Christianshavn
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5. Grand Joanne
Grand Joanne has upended the typically cheap and nasty station hotel trope and created a charming spot in the city for a weekender away. The hotel has a real warmth and cosiness to it, with bedrooms laid out with buttery yellow walls, white linen and tactile features like rattan and wicker. It’s light and airy, with a welcoming lobby-lounge area and a little secret entrance to a classic Danish bodega (pub), Pinden, on the ground floor. There’s a rooftop bar with DJs in the summer too. Close to restaurant-packed Vesterbro, it’s only a short walk down the street from Tivoli Gardens; with the main station next door, it’s prime location in this city and has an abundance of charm.
Address: Vesterbrogade 9, Vesterbro
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6. Kaj Hotel
Copenhagen has quite a number of one-room hotels, and Kaj is one of the best. A modern houseboat hotel floating in the harbour in the north of the city, it is entirely made of reclaimed materials and has the super sleek minimalist style you would expect from Copenhagen. A stone’s throw from many of the city’s key attractions, including Nyhavn and up and coming district Refshaleøen, it’s in a great location for a calming stay where you’ll be woken by seagulls and lulled to sleep by waves. Breakfast, designer pyjamas and kayak rental is included; it sleeps up to four.
Address: Danneskiold-Samsøes Allé 69
Price: From £288
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7. Central Hotel & Cafe
If you can get a room at this iconic one-room hotel, the city’s original one-room hotel, consider yourself very lucky. Set on one of the best streets in town, steps from the French-style street Værnedamsvej, it has florists, bakeries, cafés and a lovely bookshop on the doorstep, and is packed with thoughtful, handcrafted details. It is compact, there’s no getting around it, with a vintage feel, and just sleeps two. Enjoy the handpicked mini bar and as many coffees as you like from the cafe underneath. It’s a full Copenhagen experience from start to finish.
Address: Tullinsgade 1, Vesterbro
Price: From £277
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8. Nobis Hotel Copenhagen
There’s a distinct air of grandeur as you enter Nobis Copenhagen, the city’s former music academy, and walk up its sweeping staircase. Restored by the Nobis hotel group, who specialise in bringing historic buildings back to life, it’s not a museum to the past but a celebration of heritage and culture, with rooms filled with handpicked design furniture, buttery leather sofas and grand marble bathrooms. Apartments on the upper floor have views of Tivoli Gardens. A small spa in the basement offers a cold water plunge and a sauna, and the courtyard garden hosts summer drinks events. The vast breakfast buffet is one of the best in town.
Address: Niels Brocks Gade 1, Copenhagen
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9. Audo Copenhagen
Perhaps the most romantic bolthole in the city, Audo has a series of suites and double rooms on top of its furniture and design showroom in Nordhavn. Everything is thought through and beautiful, from the terracotta paint on the walls to the marbled furniture. It’s tasteful, romantic, and retreat-like. While there’s no concierge, restaurant or facilities beyond the room, you can rent bikes and there’s a cafe on the ground floor. It’s a cocooning experience for design lovers, with coffee table books to browse and a well curated city guide on offer to inspire the best art and culture experiences during your stay.
Address: Århusgade 130, Copenhagen
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10. Hotel Bella Grande
This classic boutique hotel in the heart of the city, steps from Town Hall Square, is a little different from the rest. Stepping through the doors and into the large internal courtyard, it transports you to a sunny part of Italy, with its terracotta and white chessboard tiles on the floor and marble tables. It’s an uplifting spot, with a crimson-hued fashion-pack beloved restaurant, Donna, on the ground floor too. Bedrooms are light and breezy with creamy walls and designer tiles in the bathrooms; if you’re coming in summer, bag an apartment with a little roof garden to get some sun.
Address: Vester Voldgade 25
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11. Coco Hotel
Vesterbro is one of the hippest areas of Copenhagen, with small restaurants, vintage boutiques and some of the city’s best bars. Stay in the heart of it at Coco and experience it in the most authentic way: here, rooms are decked out with a vintage flair and include a discount to some of the neighbourhood’s restaurants. Rooms are a bit quirky in size and shape – this is a historic building after all – and that’s all part of the charm. The downstairs bar and cafe hosts DJs at the weekend and has a French feel.
Address: Vesterbrogade 41, Vesterbro
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12. Hotel Ottilia
In Carlsberg Byen, one of the city’s newest areas, Hotel Ottilia stands out for its pure chic factor. In the lounge bar, a fire flickers and comfortable armchairs beckon; in its super minimalist rooms, bare concrete walls and ceilings draw your attention to the round windows and views of the area built by the brewery. The hotel is situated next to Aire Baths, an underground spa, and down the street from two of the city’s big food and drink hitters: Gasoline Grill and Home of Carlsberg, the chic beer visitor attraction. Part of Copenhagen’s Brøchner Hotel chain, the focus is fully on design.
Address: 4 Pasteursvej, Carlsberg Byen