This is the hotel we've been staying at in Copenhagen. When our baggage and we, by extension, were…read moredumped in the middle of the street by the taxi driver who transported us from the ship, we were dismayed to discover they have no bellmen and no luggage trolley. The entrance to the hotel is up three stairs. A very kind man carried the large bags I was struggling w/ while Alan was inside. Had he not, it would have been difficult for us to manage. But that is the only negative.
The front desk staff here have been unfailingly helpful, no matter what we've asked. We were checked in and the lovely young woman who helped us said our room might be ready before 2:00PM but she couldn't promise. At that point it was about 9:40. She took our luggage to store for us and we sat in the lobby in comfortable Swan chairs to rest. In the lobby is a beautiful pool w/ a blue glass bottom and a large yellow rubber ducky floating in it. A fish-ladder-like fountain feeds the pool. No more than 20 or 30 minutes later she told us the room was ready and directed us to room 316.
We stepped off the elevator on the third floor to see photos of Coleman Hawkins, Miles Davis and other American jazz musicians from their Copenhagen days in the 1960s. I felt immediately at home. We brought our luggage up and w/o unpacking, took a nap, then went out to explore. They keep our room keys and their heavy holders on hooks while we are out. From the beginning, the staff associated us w/ our room number, bringing out our key as soon as we walked in the door.
The staff made several restaurant recommendations and wrote out directions for Alan for ATMs and a pharmacy. The helpful things they did were too numerous to recount in detail.
Danish design is exquisite. When I was growing up the furniture we had was called Danish Modern and I love it still. The elevator doors are works of art, as are the toilet paper holders. In addition to the Swan chair Arne Jacobsen designed the Egg chair. When I was at Cal in the 60s there was a Scandinavian furniture store on Telegraph called Fraser's. They had an Egg chair, probably in blue or green or orange. I used to go down there periodically just to sit in it. The hotel has an Egg chair in a a little room w/ an iPad attached. It's a soft brown and is as lovely as I remember it.
The bed is comfortable w/ twin duvets like the hotel in Vienna had. Over the bed hangs a triptych, a photo of Ben Webster and Coleman Hawkins in 1967. There is a long, convenient desk w/ plugs on the wall at the end for charging devices. Wifi is free, fast and reliable. The phone is angular and a work of art. The room is large and comfortable. There are two Swan chairs and I'm sure the desk chair has a name. There is a sign encouraging you to hang up bath towels if you don't want them washed and they don't take them if you hang them up.
Breakfast is included, a buffet w/ scrambled eggs and bacon, two loaves of bread to cut, one of them the dense whole grain bread I love. There are also baskets of pastries which look delicious, but I could never get past the bread to try them. A cold section holds several delicious cheeses, ham, salami, paté, orange wedges, fruit salad, yogurts, cereals and melon slices. Coffee, teas and juices are also available. I loved the cheeses and ham, preferred the orange wedges to the fruit salad and enjoyed the Greek yogurt. On the TV quietly played a video featuring the music and photos of Miles Davis, Ray Charles, John Coltrane, Oscar Peterson and Dexter Gordon. It was a pleasure to watch. It was a generous breakfast buffet to pick and choose from. I'm sorry we will be leaving too early for the airport tomorrow to enjoy it. We had a lovely stay here and I would recommend this hotel.
