Hotel Kong Arthur, Copenhagen

...the strangest name for a hotel I've come across; the Kong Arthur, we read before arriving, was a knights-of-the-round-table-themed hotel ('Kong' being Danish for 'King' which naturally got me wondering if King Kong was released in Denamrk as Kong Kong). I have to say right from the start that this wasn't the reason for our staying - I hadn't planned to don any armour and have Mel play the maiden in distress, and from the photos on the website the ...
...on.

The hotel itself is tucked down an alley, and looks quite small at first glance. Walking into the airy reception area it feels lovely and modern, and here we find the only real King Arthur motifs - a suit of armour against a wall; some shields along the same wall; and the key fob for our room being a huge metal disc of the round table.

Right from the off we were made to feel at ease. It was March, so not really into ... more

Possibly the strangest name for a hotel I've come across; the Kong Arthur, we read before arriving, was a knights-of-the-round-table-themed hotel ('Kong' being Danish for 'King' which naturally got me wondering if King Kong was released in Denamrk as Kong Kong). I have to say right from the start that this wasn't the reason for our staying - I hadn't planned to don any armour and have Mel play the maiden in distress, and from the photos on the website the theme didn't seem to be one that was particularly evident.

Anyway, situated around 10 minutes walk from the Norreport metro station, which itself is reached in about 15 minutes from the airport, the location could hardly be better. Copenhagen is compact, and walking to the centre is a pleasure. Cycling there even more so. Tivoli is a 20 minute wander; the end of the Stroget the same; Nyhavn, with it's pretty buildings and smorrebrod, 30 minutes; and Christianshavn another 10 minutes further on.

The hotel itself is tucked down an alley, and looks quite small at first glance. Walking into the airy reception area it feels lovely and modern, and here we find the only real King Arthur motifs - a suit of armour against a wall; some shields along the same wall; and the key fob for our room being a huge metal disc of the round table.

Right from the off we were made to feel at ease. It was March, so not really into tourist season yet, but you get the feeling they would take time with you whenever you arrived. With superb English (they really do put us to shame) we were offered an upgrade, and the exact benefits and costs of this were given to us up front (hell, we were on holiday, we went for the junior suite). We were then asked if we had any plans for the early evening and presented with a detailed walking map with a route marked on it to give us a 'taste' of Copenhagen and the main sights.

The room we were in was large, with a huge bathroom. And here will come one of my few gripes. For such a large bathroom, with a massive bath, and wall-covering mirror, the wet-room shower has a curtain to pull round it that barely gave you room to swing a... cat. I don't particularly want to have a shower curtain clinging to my backside as I try to wash thank you very much.

However, the bed was comfy, and big (though was two large singles pushed together with a king size mattress put on top), with a desk to one side, and some seats facing the plasma telly (millions of channels, reception poor on 90% of them, but we don't go on holiday to watch television).

The hotel is linked to three different restaurants. one Spanish; one sushi; and one Italian. I can't really comment on any of them since we ate elsewhere during the stay, but the reviews of each are good if you look online, and every night they seemed to have a good patronage (especially the sushi place). Each of the restauarants will also provide room service. Staying with food, breakfast was simply superb. Placed in an open room with a glass wall out onto the central courtyard the offerings on show were superb. All sorts of juices, fruits, cereals, cooked meats, sausages and bacon, cheese, and, of course, Danish pastries. Even the coffee was good (one of Mel's main gripes at hotels). It really set you up perfectly for the day.

What have I missed? There's a bar at reception, with a selection of beers and wine and spirits, all of which are typically Scandinavian-expensive (especially the wine), but it's a nice and relaxed area to kick back in. And the usual amenities are on offer, such as free wi-fi, or if you are computerless on your travels a couple of public access machines. These were again expensive, so time was limited on them to checking-in for our flights home (and like with the tv, you don't go on holiday to play on the net). There's also a spa.

The hotel will organise all sorts of trips and bookings for you, and we took advantage of the hotel hire bikes (around £15 each a day) to see more of the city (Copenhagen is often referred to as the City of Cyclists, and with good reason). Throughout everything the hotel staff were brilliant. Friendly and efficient in equal measure.

The location away from the centre might put some people off, but they would be missing out on a great base for a stay in Denmark's capital.

Prices range from around €150 a night and upwards.

(there's a write-up on cycling in Copenhagen that I put onto my citycycling websitre here: http://www.citycycling.co.uk/issue46/issue46page6.html)

Pics of the actual room will follow. 

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