Henrik’s Hotel

Henrik’s may be new, but the story behind it stretches back more than half a century. The hotel is the fourth Copenhagen address from family-owned Hildebrandt Hammer Hotels, now run by third-generation siblings Frederik Hammer and Julie Hildebrandt Hammer. Its name honours their grandfather, Jørgen Henrik Hildebrandt, an entrepreneur whose ventures ranged from car rental to dry cleaning before the family moved into hospitality. Some of that history unfolded in the very building Henrik’s now occupies, making the hotel less an exercise in invented storytelling than another chapter in the family’s own. Even the room keys carry miniature car keychains — a wonderfully understated reference to where it all began.

Copenhagen, Without the Minimalism

The building dates back to the 18th century and has lived several lives, including periods as a dry-cleaning facility and factory. Its transformation into Henrik’s preserves architectural details such as the ornate staircase, stained glass and decorative plasterwork rather than polishing away the building’s accumulated character. For the interiors, Treschow Interior Studio takes an equally unconventional route. Forget pale oak, white walls and severe Scandinavian restraint. Henrik’s looks towards France and the British countryside instead, using printed wallpapers, natural fabrics and dusty pink, sage, slate blue, terracotta and olive to create something softer and more romantic. Copenhagen provides the setting. The interiors happily break the rules.

Forty-Four Rooms, Forty-Four Stories

The 44 rooms and suites are individually composed rather than repeated from a template. Custom toile de Jouy wallpapers, bell-jar lanterns, vintage-inspired furniture and tactile fabrics give each its own personality, while some rooms overlook the quiet courtyard and others face the historic street outside. Bathrooms continue the nostalgic language through biscuit-coloured tiles, pleated fabric sconces and traditional-looking fittings, while contemporary comforts remain discreetly integrated. The overall impression is closer to a particularly imaginative European home than a conventional city hotel — intimate, layered and intentionally a little whimsical.

The Details Survived

Some of Henrik’s strongest moments are the ones Treschow didn’t need to invent. The original ornate staircase remains a centrepiece, jewel-toned stained glass casts coloured light across the interiors, and decorative plasterwork brings another layer of craftsmanship to the public rooms. Even the old-fashioned floor indicator beside the lift has survived. Elsewhere, the original patterned timber floors have been carefully reproduced, maintaining their distinctive star-shaped inlays. These details matter because they stop the hotel’s romanticism from feeling manufactured. New wallpapers and fabrics have been added, but the building was already telling stories.

Josephine’s After Dark

There is no formal restaurant, but Henrik’s doesn’t lack somewhere to settle in. Josephine’s is an intimate cocktail bar arranged around a horseshoe-shaped counter, where dark timber panelling, botanical wallpaper, arched ceilings and tulip-like lights create a richer, moodier counterpart to the guestrooms. Breakfast is served in the grand hall shared by the Hildebrandt Hammer properties within the larger building, while the hotel’s ground-floor lounge provides smaller corners for reading, working or simply disappearing into an armchair. It reinforces the residential idea running throughout Henrik’s: less a collection of hotel facilities than a series of rooms to inhabit at different moments of the day.

The Family Heirloom

Henrik’s works because its nostalgia has a reason to exist. The building is genuinely old, the family’s connection to it is personal, and the name belongs to the grandfather whose entrepreneurial curiosity eventually led the Hildebrandt Hammers into hotels. Treschow Interior Studio adds another layer rather than attempting to reset that history. French romance, British country-house references and Scandinavian sensibility coexist with stained glass, old staircases and family stories. In a city famous for immaculate modernism, Henrik’s chooses inheritance, imperfection and personality instead. It feels less like the family’s newest hotel than the family heirloom they finally decided to share.