Copenhagen’s Hotel d’Angleterre back in business

Copenhagen’s historic Hotel d’Angleterre has been transformed from a weary dowager into a welcoming, modern hostess.

WISH TRAVEL 30 Oct 2015

When Danish charitable organisation the Remmen Foundation decided to sell its hotel assets in 2007 to focus on its philanthropic endeavours, it was something of an Alan Bond moment for the foundation’s board. Icelandic investment company Nordic Partners went on a shopping spree in Europe shortly before the global financial crisis and made an offer for the Hotel d’Angleterre of €100 million, reportedly a lot more than the asking price — it was an offer the owners could not refuse. Then everything went pear-shaped in Iceland and Nordic Partners went into bankruptcy. A fire sale of its assets was undertaken and the Remmen Foundation decided the time was right to get back into the hotel business. The foundation bought the hotel back at the end of 2010 for an undisclosed sum said to be significantly less than it had sold it for just three years earlier.

“I had worked with the Remmen Foundation before and I got a call one evening and they asked, ‘do you know anything about hotels?’ ” says Dorte Ronnow Hansen, a consultant to the foundation and the general manager of the Hotel d’Angleterre. “I said no, not really. I’ve been travelling a lot and staying in a lot of hotels. I know about management and I know a lot of things and about people management, but the hotel business, as such, I don’t know.” Despite her lack of experience, Ronnow Hansen agreed to take on the project of restoring Copenhagen’s most famous hotel to its former glory, and the hotel received its first guests in May 2013, two years after construction began.

The d’Angleterre is the only five-star hotel in Copenhagen (apart from the Nimb, which has just 13 rooms). It sits proudly in Kongens Nytorv, the largest square in Copenhagen. Having opened in 1755, it is thought to be one of the first luxury hotels in the world. It was originally designed by Danish architect Vilhelm Dahlerup, who also designed the Carlsberg Brewery and the Pantomime Theatre in the Tivoli Gardens. Named the d’Angleterre in 1787 in keeping with the fashion of adopting French names, it was taken over by Russian refugees during World War I and in World War II housed the occupying German army. Famous guests include Hans Christian Andersen and Karen Blixen as well as Alfred Hitchcock, Walt Disney and Grace Kelly.

“This hotel is world-famous in Denmark, as we say,” says Ronnow Hansen. “It’s a fantastic building, it’s very visible and there is a lot of history connected to it. Very soon after buying back the hotel, however, it became very clear that we had to close it down and that we could not do the renovation bit by bit.” The hotel closed in June 2011 and all but a handful of staff were made redundant. Not long after Aarhus-based architects CF Moller started work, it became apparent that the centuries-old building might also be redundant. Over the years and at the hands of several owners, 48 walls had been removed, some of them load-bearing: major stabilisation works were needed. Then it was discovered that lead-based paint had been used and it needed to be removed carefully. “I would say that the lead paint cost us at least one year and I won’t mention how much money,” says Ronnow Hansen.

Over time, despite the hotel’s impressive facade and position on the Kongens Nytorv, it had become enclosed and inward-looking. CF Moller’s aim was to open it up again. False ceilings were demolished and original ones restored. A mezzanine in the reception was removed and the windows on the ground floor were enlarged to let in more natural light. The main staircase to the upper floors was restored and the colour scheme changed from a deep claret to a pale grey. The hotel is affectionately known by Danes as The White Lady, so it was with some courage that CF Moller changed the exterior colour from a creamy white to a more modern grey white, with contrasting dark green window frames.

“We have the DNA of the original hotel but we have updated it,” Ronnow Hansen says. “I think we had an image of being snobbish and dusty and old-fashioned before and not very welcoming. This is why we have opened up the windows and made them bigger and we’re very focused on how we greet people when they enter. We want the service to be intuitive rather than overly attentive.”

The hotel has 90 rooms and suites, enlarged from the original 123, with interiors inspired by Danish authors and artists. The 150sq m Royal Suite is lavishly decorated with gilt panelling and grand chandeliers, overlooks the Kongens Nytorv, and can expand to 250sq m by connecting to two extra bedrooms.

The hotel’s executive chef, Ronny Emborg, is in charge of the fine dining restaurant Marchal on the ground floor. Emborg has worked with Rasmus Kofoed at Geranium in Copenhagen as well as in Spain at the famous El Bulli restaurant, and was employed by the Queen as the chef on the royal yacht Dannebrog.

A loud and lively new champagne bar called Balthazar is one area of the hotel aimed at a younger clientele — and on the evening WISH visited, it was certainly living up to expectations. dangleterre.com