25hours Hotel Paper Island – Copenhagen, Denmark
Harbour Cool Meets Summerhouse Calm
Why DNA Hotels Loves It
● A playful reinvention of Copenhagen’s former Paper Island, where industrial heritage meets the laid-back spirit of a Danish summerhouse.
● One of the most exciting waterfront openings in the city, combining harbour views, creative energy, and 25hours’ unmistakable storytelling.
● A hotel designed as much for locals as visitors, complete with rooftop cocktails, vibrant dining, and social spaces that blur the line between hotel and cultural hub.
From Printing Presses to Creative Playground
Cities are often defined by what they leave behind. Warehouses become galleries. Factories become apartments. Industrial islands become cultural destinations. Few places illustrate that transformation better than Copenhagen’s Paper Island. Once known as Christiansholm, the island earned its nickname through decades of storing and processing paper for the Danish press and publishing industry. For years it remained a working part of the harbour. Then artists, food markets, creatives, and entrepreneurs arrived, transforming the former industrial site into one of Copenhagen’s most dynamic neighbourhoods. Now 25hours Hotel Paper Island joins the story. And it feels perfectly at home. Rather than erase the island’s past, the hotel embraces it—celebrating its industrial roots while introducing a softer, more playful vision of contemporary Copenhagen living.
A Danish Summerhouse in the City
Most waterfront hotels lean heavily into urban sophistication. 25hours takes a different route. Its inspiration comes from something deeply Danish: the summerhouse. The kind of place generations escape to when the city becomes too busy. A place of simple pleasures, long evenings, weathered wood, sea air, and slow living. That spirit runs throughout the hotel. Natural timber. Soft textiles. Woven rugs. Sun-bleached colours. Vintage objects. Furniture that feels collected rather than purchased. The result is surprisingly intimate. Despite its size, the hotel never feels corporate. Instead, it feels like a series of personal spaces connected by a shared sense of warmth and curiosity. It captures hygge without becoming cliché. Relaxed without becoming rustic. Playful without losing sophistication.
Rooms That Tell Stories
The 128 guestrooms continue the narrative. Like all great 25hours hotels, the rooms are not designed around uniformity. They are built around character. Large windows bring the harbour and skyline indoors, while interiors combine clean Scandinavian lines with quirky details, nostalgic references, and unexpected objects that feel as though they’ve been gathered over decades of family holidays. Some rooms are bright and airy. Others feel moodier and more cocoon-like. But all share the same philosophy. Comfort first. Personality always. The atmosphere is residential rather than hotel-like—a recurring strength of the 25hours brand.
An Island Designed for Lingering
What makes Paper Island particularly compelling is its relationship with the city. This isn’t a hotel designed as a destination unto itself. It’s designed as part of a neighbourhood. Guests move seamlessly between the hotel, harbour promenades, galleries, cafés, and cultural venues. Locals drift in for drinks, meetings, dinners, and events. The boundaries feel intentionally blurred. At any given moment, someone might be working remotely downstairs, attending a design talk, enjoying a coffee, or preparing for cocktails on the rooftop. The hotel becomes a living extension of Copenhagen’s creative community.
Tiger Lily Brings the Heat
At the centre of the food and beverage offering sits Tiger Lily. Where the guestrooms embrace calm Scandinavian restraint, the restaurant moves in the opposite direction. Bold flavours. Vibrant colours. Asian influences. A lively atmosphere. The contrast works beautifully. The menu favours sharing, exploration, and social dining—perfectly aligned with the communal spirit that defines the hotel itself. It feels energetic without becoming overwhelming. Fun without feeling forced. Exactly what a 25hours restaurant should be.
Rooftop Views and Harbour Sunsets
Above it all sits the rooftop bar. And few places in Copenhagen are better positioned for sunset. From here, guests look across the harbour toward the Royal Danish Opera House as ferries, kayaks, and sailboats move through the water below. As daylight fades, the city begins to glow. The atmosphere shifts effortlessly throughout the day. Morning coffee. Afternoon meetings. Golden-hour cocktails. Late-night conversations. It feels less like a hotel rooftop and more like a neighbourhood living room with exceptional views.
Honouring the Island’s Industrial Soul
One of the hotel’s greatest strengths is its sensitivity to place. Many waterfront developments erase their history. Paper Island remembers. Industrial references appear throughout the building: exposed structural elements, raw textures, graphic interventions, and subtle nods to the island’s working-class past. But these elements are never presented as nostalgia. They are integrated naturally into a contemporary design language that feels fresh, relevant, and unmistakably Copenhagen. The result reflects the city itself. A place constantly reinventing itself without forgetting where it came from.
The 25hours Spirit
Like the best hotels in the 25hours collection, Paper Island thrives on personality. There is humour here. Curiosity. A sense of experimentation. The brand has always understood that modern travellers want more than beautiful rooms. They want stories, atmosphere, and a connection to the places they visit. Paper Island delivers all three. It doesn’t feel polished in the traditional luxury sense. It feels alive. And that’s far more interesting.
A New Waterfront Icon
25hours Hotel Paper Island arrives at exactly the right moment for Copenhagen. As the harbour continues its transformation into one of Europe’s most exciting urban waterfronts, the hotel provides a social anchor that feels both distinctly local and internationally relevant. By combining industrial heritage, Scandinavian warmth, playful design, vibrant dining, and genuine community spirit, it captures the city at its best. Creative. Relaxed. Forward-thinking. And quietly cool. For travellers looking to experience Copenhagen beyond the obvious, Paper Island offers something increasingly rare: a hotel with a strong sense of place and an even stronger sense of personality. A Danish summerhouse. A creative clubhouse. A new harbour landmark.
