Nimb Hotel

Rooms and decor

Picture a white Moorish-revival pavilion crowned with onion domes and horseshoe arches, planted right against the gates of Tivoli Gardens since 1909 — that is the first sight that hooks anyone arriving at Nimb Hotel. The building was designed by Danish architect Knud Arne Petersen with the Alhambra in mind, served as a Tivoli pavilion and restaurant for decades, and was reborn as a boutique hotel in 2008. What makes it stand apart is the scale: just 38 suites, and no two rooms repeat. The designers leaned hard into top-tier Danish furniture — restrained Scandinavian lines, leather and dark wood — and gave every suite a Bang & Olufsen sound system as standard. Many rooms preserve the original parquet floors, exposed beams and even working fireplaces; the upper-floor suites add private balconies that open directly onto Tivoli. Reviewers consistently call out the beds as exceptionally soft, bathrooms generous with deep soaking tubs, and the lighting warm enough to feel like a wealthy friend's apartment rather than a hotel suite. If your taste runs to Scandi modernism layered onto a historic shell, Nimb lands on the first step inside.

Food and amenities

Downstairs, Nimb is not a one-restaurant hotel — it operates its own Nimb Food Hall in partnership with Tivoli, with 11 counters and bars under one roof. Danish smørrebrød, fresh seafood, ramen, wood-fired pizza — you ride the lift down and find it. The headline rooms are Brasserie Nimb, a French-classic dining room with chandeliers and an open hearth that turns deeply romantic at night, and Fru Nimb, which leans into traditional Danish cooking and serves a full spread of smørrebrød for travelers who want the real local plate. Do not skip Nimb Bar — the cocktail program runs both classics and signatures built on Nordic ingredients, with bartenders who know what they are doing. Up on the roof sits the property's signature: a 14-metre heated pool, open year-round. Soaking in warm water while snow falls on the old-city rooftops below is the experience guests talk about for years. The view takes in tiled roofs, the domes of Nimb itself, and Tivoli starting to glow at dusk. There is also Nimb Spa with treatment rooms, sauna and a fitness room. And the line everyone underlines: a free VIP pass to Tivoli, valid every day of your stay with unlimited re-entry — no other hotel in the world hands you this.

Location and getting there

Location is the entire pitch and it delivers. Nimb sits on Bernstorffsgade in central Indre By, the historic core of Copenhagen, literally sharing a wall with Tivoli Gardens — you walk out the front door and into the park. København H Central Station is a 3-minute walk, which puts the whole national rail network at your feet, and the direct airport train from CPH brings you to that platform in about 15 minutes. Five minutes north is City Hall Square (Rådhuspladsen), and from there the pedestrian Strøget runs through the old town all the way to Nyhavn, the candy-coloured harbour everyone photographs. Within walking range you also pick up the King's Garden, Christiansborg Palace, and the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek museum directly across the street. Rent a bike (free at the hotel) and you can be in Vesterbro for coffee or Torvehallerne food market within fifteen minutes. If your plan is to walk all day and return to the rooftop pool at dusk, the address solves the equation — no taxis, no rental car, no transit puzzle.

Things to know before booking

Straight talk before you commit. The first issue is price — Nimb sits at the top of the Copenhagen market, with entry suites starting around US$500 a night and upper floors pushing past US$1,500. If you are not going to use the pool, the restaurants and the Tivoli pass, the bill is hard to defend. The second is Tivoli noise — the park stays open late in summer and lights up the entire neighbourhood for Christmas, which is wonderful from the lobby and less wonderful at 11pm in bed. Suites facing the gardens pick up music and roller-coaster sounds; light sleepers should request the Bernstorffsgade side or an interior-facing room first. The third is room layout variation — because this is a boutique inside a historic building, no two floor plans match. Some suites have angled walls, sloped ceilings or storage tucked into odd corners. A handful of reviewers feel the entry-level category runs smaller than the website photos suggest — study the floor plan of your specific category before booking, or pay the upgrade to gain a balcony and proper square metres. Finally, in-house extras are priced to match the hotel — cocktails at Nimb Bar and dinner at Brasserie Nimb are luxury-tier; budget around them.

Our take

Reading through hundreds of real guest reviews, Nimb Hotel sells one specific package — Moorish-revival landmark, every suite one-of-a-kind, free VIP Tivoli pass, year-round heated rooftop pool — that no other hotel in Copenhagen can replicate. If your mental image of the trip is walking into Tivoli at opening while the park is still quiet, returning to soak in a rooftop pool overlooking the old-city rooftops, then ending the night at Nimb Bar with a Nordic-ingredient cocktail, this is the hotel that nails it. Best suited to couples, anniversaries, honeymoons, and luxury travelers who care about the story of the building and the singularity of the room. If you are travelling solo on a budget, or you are not going to use Tivoli, the pool and the restaurants seriously, the price tag will sting. Overall we rate Nimb 9.3/10 — just book with full awareness of the size and orientation of your suite category, and Copenhagen will lodge itself permanently in your memory.