Hotel Sanders

Rooms and decor

Picture a former soloist of the Royal Danish Ballet who, after hanging up his shoes, decided he wanted to open a "second home for travellers" — and that is precisely how Hotel Sanders happened. Alexander Kølpin opened the property in 2017 in a russet 1869 neo-classical building sitting directly behind the Royal Danish Theatre. He handed the interiors to London studio Lind & Almond, who painted the place in moody greens, navy and camel, layered in deep velvet, rattan and brass, and threaded Kølpin's own art collection through the public rooms. Walk into the lobby and it feels less like a hotel than like the home of a tasteful friend in Mayfair — low lamps, leather chairs, the smell of fresh coffee. All 54 rooms are individually styled, from the petite Sanders Petit through to the high-ceilinged Sanders Loft, dressed in linen, hand-built beds, wool rugs and bath products Kølpin selected himself.

Food and amenities

The food and drink stack is small but pitched with the same precision as the design. Sanders Kitchen, on the ground floor, serves homemade all-day food built around local ingredients — eggs done properly at breakfast, simple seasonal plates the rest of the day. Downstairs is The Living Room, a velvet-and-books basement library that hotel guests can drift into any time for a tea, a glass of wine or two hours with a novel. The headline space is on the roof: The Tata Bar, a glass conservatory crowded with house plants, velvet sofas and a long G&T list, looking straight onto the copper spires of the Royal Theatre and the roof-tile sweep that runs down to Nyhavn. Every room also gets a free-pour minibar — water, tea, coffee, local beer, refilled daily and not billed. There is no in-house spa, pool or gym; Sanders partners with an off-site gym and spa instead.

Location and getting there

Sanders' address quietly punches above its weight. The hotel sits in Indre By, Copenhagen's old core, directly behind the Royal Theatre. From the front door it is about 200 metres — three minutes on foot — to Nyhavn, the candy-coloured harbour shot that travels on every postcard. Kongens Nytorv metro station, on lines M3 and M4, is roughly two minutes away, and the M3 connects directly to Copenhagen Airport (CPH) in about 15 minutes. Strøget, Europe's longest pedestrian shopping street, is under five minutes on foot, Amalienborg Palace and the Gefion fountain about ten minutes, and Tivoli Gardens and Copenhagen Central are a couple of metro stops away. In short: a walking-only Copenhagen trip is entirely realistic from this address — you may not need a taxi all week.

Things to know before booking

To help you decide honestly — the most common reservation in reviews is room size. Because the shell dates to 1869, the entry-level Sanders Petit and Sanders Snug rooms are genuinely small, and some have sloped ceilings under the original roof line. If you need floor space, book Sanders Deluxe or Loft instead. Second, there is no spa, no pool, and no in-house gym — Sanders uses an off-site partner gym, which will disappoint anyone who likes to swim or steam at the hotel. Third, pricing is firmly at the top of Copenhagen's boutique band: room rates and the bills at Sanders Kitchen and The Tata Bar are not gentle, and some reviewers feel they are paying for address and atmosphere more than square metres. Finally, the rooftop is so popular in summer that walk-ins are rare — book The Tata Bar on the day you check in.

Our take

After reading through hundreds of real guest reviews and the Mr & Mrs Smith and Tablet Hotels write-ups that picked Sanders into their stables, this is a boutique that sells the owner's personal story, Lind & Almond's moody warmth, and a three-minute walk to Nyhavn with a rare confidence. If your trip vision is breakfast pastry on the harbour, an afternoon with a book in The Living Room, and a glass of something cold on a glass rooftop over the Royal Theatre's spires at sunset, Sanders is close to a perfect match. If you want a sprawling modern room, a pool, or a hotel spa, look elsewhere — Villa Copenhagen or Nobis will serve you better. Our score: 9.0/10. Best for couples and design-led travellers who want a story-driven boutique in the old city — stay one night and you understand why this is one of the most loved small hotels in town.