If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.
Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (EUR760.00), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.
The Darling, a boutique stay with two self-contained pieds-à-terre in Copenhagen old town’s shopping district – will inspire many more declarations of affection as you take in its iconic Danish furnishings (a Who’s Who of Scandi design: Hans Wegner, Arne Jacobsen, Børge Mogensen) and delicious wall-candy. It’s a labour of love by the arbiters of taste who published Dansk Magazine and founded Darling Creative Studio, and they’ve also slyly made it a dangerous zone for impulse buyers, as pretty much all you see is available to purchase too. But, it’s no lifeless show-home – with mixologists, butlers and chefs on call and a beautiful backdrop for – genteel – gatherings, this darling is a charismatic character.
Noon, but flexible, subject to availability and on request. Earliest check-in, 3pm.
Prices
Double rooms from £814.97 (€950), including tax at 25 per cent. The Darling is unable to accept payment by credit card.
More details
Rates don’t include breakfast.
Also
We’re afraid these design dens aren’t accessible for guests with mobility issues.
At the hotel
Pre-arrival concierge service and free WiFi. In rooms: housekeeping every two days (for bookings over two nights), maxibar, Aiayu bathrobes and custom slippers, hairdryer and straightening irons, clothes steamer, teas from Sing-Tehus, Nespresso coffee machine, and organic Rudolph Care bath products.
Our favourite rooms
There are only two, the Grand and the Classic, but they’re both the stuff of design dreams. Furniture nerds, eat your heart out – all the gang are here: Hans Wenger, Arne Jacobsen, Finn Juhl, Børge Mogensen… It’s like flipping through the pages of the owners’ (Jens Løkke and Uffe Buchard) former project, oh-so cool Dansk Magazine. But – even though you can buy these statement pieces, these are homes as well as showrooms, with a custom Københavns Møbelsnedkeri kitchen, fully stocked larder and very considered touches, including a steamer, straighteners and more. It’s hard to favour one over the other, but the Grand is that little bit bigger.
Spa
The Darling has a connection with local cosmetologist Sultana, renowned for facials that leave you radiant. Or if it’s your back that’s in need of attention – easy – ask for masseur Alexander. The hotel also has partnerships with Arndal Spa & Fitness, Amazing Space and Aire Ancient Baths.
Packing tips
However many Euros you think you’ll need, double it – not only will you be inspired to start collecting iconic Danish furniture (an expensive hobby, trust us) but many of the artworks – by established local artists such as Jørgen Haugen Sørensen and Peter Bonde, and ones to watch – are available to buy too. And, nearby shopping district Amagertorv is lined with luxury-label boutiques. Bring a large suitcase, because you may need to live in it when you return home… If you need any help packing, your own personal Jeeves is one of the Darling’s add-on services.
Also
You’ll need to supply your shoe sizes in advance so your slippers can be tailored to you – how darling, indeed. And pre-arrival, a florist can be called on to add more colour (in Tage Andersen ‘folding vases’, of course, because no detail is spared here).
Children
To reduce the risk of scratched surfaces, toppling vases and crayon-scribbled artworks, perhaps unsurprisingly, the Darling is usually for over-18s only (from 15 and up if accompanied by parents).
If you’re staying in the Classic, sit up at Børge Mogensen’s Library table, and if you’re in the Grand, dine at Poul Kjærholm’s PK54 table – and whatever else you do, use coasters, please.
Dress Code
While this is your own private home for the stay, the calibre of the design on display may make you feel underdressed if you don’t make some effort.
Hotel restaurant
There’s no restaurant, but each residence has its own custom-made kitchen from Københavns Møbelsnedkeri (in smoked or oiled oak), which has all you need for giving Nordic gastronomy a go; and the concierge can arrange for food deliveries before your stay. A breakfast of eggs, granola, cheese, berries and Skyr can be purchased too. Or, you could have a chef do it for you (for an extra charge): private dinners can be arranged (in advance) for up to eight guests, at a table arranged like a design studio window, with tableware from Royal Copenhagen, Holmegaard and Georg Jensen, and arrangements of seasonal flowers. Or, if there’s a restaurant you’re particularly fond of nearby, your hosts can help arrange a delivery.
Hotel bar
Raid your maxibar for pre-mixed cocktails, or spirits, mixers and garnishes. Or if you’d prefer a kicky soirée – this is a very photogenic setting, after all – the concierge has the number of a skilled mixologist (must be arranged before arrival).
Last orders
You’re the boss here, so go nuts for midnight snacking or lock-in snifters.
Room service
The concierge can arrange delivery for a formal meal, otherwise, try the Wolt app.
The Darling is a divinely dressed stay in Copenhagen’s old city, set along shopping thoroughfare Strøget Street.
Planes
Copenhagen Airport is about a 25-minute drive from the hotel. House driver Micheal can be called upon to pick you up in a Mercedes-Benz EQS (for a charge), if you want to arrive in style.
Trains
You’re very close to two Metro stations: Gammel Strand, a five-minute walk away, and Kongens-Nytorv, a 10-minute walk away. And Copenhagen Central Station is a 10-minute drive away.
Automobiles
It’s unlikely you’ll need a car in the hotel’s very central setting – walking and the Metro will get you where you need to go, and a driver can be hired for longer excursions. But, if you do bring a car, there’s street parking on Niels Hemmingsens Gade and a carpark at Silkegade.
Worth getting out of bed for
The Darling’s location really does make it feel more like a ‘dahling’, set by Amagertorv and along Strøget Street, both major shopping enclaves in Copenhagen. Its boutiques range from high-street to splurge (Prada, Dior, Louis Vuitton and Jimmy Choo are all within a credit-card swipe of one another), but also stop by Ilums Bolighus, Royal Copenhagen, Normann and Ditte Fischer for hip homewares; and Mads Nørgaard and Birger Christensen for elegant wearables. And divert down Hyskenstræde for time-worn treasures at Palette26 and Audrey Vintage. Round off your tour of Copenhagen aesthetics with visits to GL Strand, YellowKorner and Nikolaj art galleries, and swing by waterfront Nyhavn for a snap of its colourful historic townhouses. Then cross over the canal into free-spirited self-governed creative commune Freetown Christiania, where the paintings get more psychedelic. Within walking distance there’s the 17th-century Round Tower, Christiansborg Palace, the National Museum, old City Hall, and Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek for more classical artwork (yes, it houses the collection of the famous brewer). Further north is fairy-tale Rosenborg Castle and its breathtakingly landscaped botanical gardens; and maybe even more Disney-fied is 19th-century theme park Tivoli Gardens. The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art warrants securing the hotel’s car service for a day-trip, with 4,000 pieces by the likes of Picasso, Giacometti and Henry Moore. And come nighttime, there’s plenty to do nearby, with the Grand Theatre, stand-up at the Comedy Zoo, and live music at Hotel Cecil and Den Grå Hal.
Local restaurants
You don’t want to get that gorgeous custom kitchen all messy now, do you… Fortuitously, there’s a multitude of meals as delicious as the Darling’s design to be had close by. Esmeé Restaurant is an elegant space where the likes of brioche topped with fjord shrimp, dill and mayonnaise, gougères filled with truffled Comté or wagyu tomahawk in a Szechuan-pepper Béarnaise are brought to your marble-topped table. The Market Italian has a tasteful old-school feel (albeit with some rather racy photos on the walls), with all the old-country classics on the menu, while sister eatery the Market Asian has – you guessed it – pan-continental dishes. And for another prime primi to dolci feast, Restaurant Fiat has tempting piatti such as scallop risotto in turbot stock with brown butter and wild garlic; or dorade with salsa verde, courgette and a squeeze of lemon.
Local cafés
The ‘danish’ might actually be an Austrian invention, brought in with Viennese bakers while those in Denmark were striking), but Danish café culture is strong. Take Cafe Europa, for example, where you can add a lobster tail to your avo on rye in the morning; have a locally flavoured lunch of herring with sour cream, red onions and a boiled egg; and a light meal. The coffee’s commendable, too, or wash it all down with a Nørrebro Bryghus IPA. For oysters, caviar and yet more herring – or a plateful of North Sea catches – try Gallic-leaning Café Victor. And Kronberg serves traditional smørrebrød (with herring).
Local bars
Named after a twelve-litre bottle of champagne – and perhaps a premonition of the night ahead of you – Balthazar is a long, sleek, black-and-white bar where you can chug scandalous amounts of fizz (there’s a dedicated menu) or signature cocktails such as the Bohemian Sour: gin, rose, yuzu, hibiscus, honey and more champagne. Or try the unique concoctions shaken up at Ruby’s marble-backed bar, such as the Fairground, a wild ride of rye, rum, quince wine, toffee-apple, miso, and clarified milk.
Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this effusively elegant hotel in Copenhagen’s old town and invested in a Hans Wegner chair, a full account of their well-furnished break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside the Darling…
The Danes have contributed a lot to the world: Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytales, the candles-and-blankets concept of hygge, Mads Mikkelsen’s face… But perhaps their greatest gift is furnishing: Børge Mogensen’s leather chairs, Poul Henningsen’s artichoke-shaped lamps, Arne Jacobsen’s cradling Egg seating, means-business desks by Finn Juhl… And, in boutique hideaway the Darling, all the arbiters of this impeccable aesthetic have been gathered together by Jens Løkke and Uffe Buchard (publishers of Dansk Magazine and founders of Darling Creative Studio). Dangerously, you can shop the look, and believe us, you’ll not want to leave without a Flag Halyard chair (known to run into the €20,000 bracket), Malene Birger vase (a slightly less gasp-inducing €600), or Jørgen Haugen Sørensen’s delightfully cheeky A Male and a Female sculpture (price on request, but really, priceless). But, this is no sterile design studio… A place as well dressed as this deserves some dazzle, and the owners are happy to help arrange soirées, calling in mixologists to make the most of the contents of the Kurt Østervig cocktail cabinet, florists to fill the Tage Andersen folding vases, or a chef to prep a new-Nordic meal served on tableware from Royal Copenhagen, Holmegaard and Georg Jensen. And, you’re at the beating heart of the city too – oh darling, we’re Mads about you.
