I have to shamelessly admit that before my trip to Copenhagen, I had never visited any of the Scandinavian countries. So when a Danish friend of mine invited me to her hen weekend in Copenhagen I was there like a shot.
Before the hen festivities began, I thought I would browse around the city by myself and with the recommendation of Visit Denmark, I decided to check out the newest boutique hotel in town.
As I exited from the main central train station, I found myself in the area of Vesterbro, an area of Copenhagen that had previously a reputation of being a tad shady. But in recent years, it has revived itself into a hip and trendy neighborhood, with a young crowd of arty and kool Danes. A random sex shop can be spotted on occasion, but you can’t classify an area to be kool if you see at least one suggestive shop-window.
There isn’t a single Dane, or tourist as a matter of fact that isn’t on a bike, so I did feel a little out of place walking on my own two feet. However, within minutes, I found what I was looking for – The Andersen Hotel.
I was warmly greeted by Karen Nedergaard, the second generation of the Andersen family who has been managing hotels since 1938. Just opened a month ago after two years of refurbishment, it presents itself as Danish to the core but international in design. “Danish design is famous for its clean and naked style, but I wanted to create some richness, colour and texture within the hotel environment” explained Karen.
The lounge is wonderfully decorated using mulberry shades of rich velvet drapery byDesigners Guild, surrounded with Pasha arm chairs from Pedrali.
In the breakfast area, I instantly spotted an Andy Warhol of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark which was bought at one of the country’s famous auction houses, Bruun Rasmusen.
Ultimately, this hotel is design through and through, but what of it if not combined with with quality service? Karen left this little surprise right until the end which got me very excited. “Concept 24 is a free-of-charge option which allows you to keep your your room for 24 hours regardless of what time they check-in” Karen beams. So if you check-in at 8pm, you can check-out at 8pm. A service that I always dreamed a hotel would offer, and now has become a reality at the Anderson Hotel.
After my interesting chat with Karen and three glasses of wine, I embarked on my tour of Copenhagen. With my trusted pocket guide of Copenhagen, beautifully put together by Noma, the world’s best restaurant in 2012 and travel site Momondo, who wouldn’t trust the recommendations of the staff at Noma?
Here are a couple of Noma tips that I checked-out for myself:
Gourmet seafood at FiskeBar - Flæsketorvet 100, 1711 Copenhagen V - www.fiskebaren.dk
After-party happenings at Ideal Bar - Enghavevej 40, 1674 Copenhagen V -www.idealbar.vega.dk
Andersen Hotel - Helgolandsgade 12, 1653 Copenhagen V - www.andersen-hotel.dk
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Guide book of Copenhagen from noma + momondo can be purchased through Amazon
