Review: Radisson Collection Royal Hotel Copenhagen

In a nutshell: The Radisson Collection Royal Hotel Copenhagen is an excellent choice in the Danish capital. It offers comfortable rooms, an excellent breakfast buffet, five-star staff, and the best hotel gym I’ve ever seen. The hotel has a tasteful modern design that was cutting edge in its time and yet still shines. I’d gladly stay here again upon returning to Copenhagen. 

As part of a long weekend European getaway, I spent a couple nights in Copenhagen. This was my first time in Denmark, first time in Scandinavia, actually. The countries are expensive, even in the off-season. I knew I’d be looking for an award stay to complement my flight booked using Chase points, and I ended up settling on the Radisson Collection Royal Hotel Copenhagen. It turned out to be a great choice of lodging.

Booking the Radisson Collection Royal Hotel

Since Radisson Hotels (not Radisson Hotels Americas) has transitioned their program to completely dynamic pricing, you simply choose whether to pay with points at time of booking. You can cover the cost partially or entirely with points. The points don’t quite have a fixed value, but expect to get about 0.2 cents per point.

I used 154,151 Radisson Rewards points for two nights. The cash rate was $170 after taxes, which means I got about 0.22 cents per point. This is poor, but sadly on the upper end of the short range of value. It still saved me the cost of lodging, and I have a bundle of Radisson points. I did wait until the last minute, booking the hotel just two days before my stay.

It was a toss-up between the RC Royal and the Radisson Blu, and I’m glad I picked the RC Royal. The location is better. But the Radisson Blu would have been cheaper by a good amount. I probably would have spent 30% fewer points.

Hotel Location and Arrival

I flew into Copenhagen nonstop from San Francisco. The SAS schedule changed significantly since the previous time I flew the route. At that time it was a morning arrival, which made for better onward connections. This time I arrived into CPH in the late afternoon.

A late afternoon arrival still meant it was basically dark when I exited København H metro station into the chilly Danish air. The transit from CPH is about 20-25 minutes and includes a transfer at the Kongens Nytorv station. The RC Royal Hotel is about a three-minute walk once you surface.

The hotel is even closer to the central train station. Overall, the RC Royal Hotel provides great access to the heart of the city and you’re easily able to take day trips elsewhere if desired. In this way, it’s ideal. However, you’re outside the most beautiful parts of the old city. The hotel is also a 1-minute walk from Tivoli Gardens.

Lobby and First Impressions

The Radisson Collection Royal Hotel has a lovely lobby. The circular staircase is the central feature, but there is a cozy sitting area beyond the front desk as well next to a blazing fire. There are more private alcoves facing the street as well. Overall, it’s an attractive modern design. I’d find out later the entire hotel was designed, both architecturally and stylistically, by Arne Jacobsen, a famous Danish designer.

At the time, it was the SAS Royal Hotel. The SAS logo is still emblazoned on the building. It’s only been part of Radisson for 5 years.

The front desk staff warmly welcomed me to chilly Denmark. She suggested I check with the concierge for ideas of places to visit, which I didn’t take her up on. That night, I was exhausted, simply wanting to eat and wind down. I didn’t end up stopping by later for recommendations.

But I did have a great conversation with the concierge later, at check out. Turns out he has visited the area where I live. Our modern world truly is small.

I headed up to the fifth floor and entered one of more unique hallways I’ve seen in a hotel. It’s almost like a mirror tunnel.

Premium Corner Room

My room was on the corner of the building, facing the København H train station. It was only on the fifth floor, rather low given the height of the hotel. You enter into a small hallway, with the bathroom on the right. This opens into the rest of the room. It’s not overly big, but well furnished and very comfortable.

I immediately fell in love with the corner windows. The room is a Premium Corner Room, a bit of an upgrade from what I had originally booked.

The bed was comfortable, and I slept well for at least four hours each night. Exhaustion would let me fall asleep and get through a few sleep cycles. But, as is common in Europe, I found myself waking up around 3:00 AM.

The room has the same unique furniture and tasteful design as the lobby. It was the book on the desk that discussed the design that went into the SAS Royal Hotel. It was ahead of it’s time.

The TV is in an ideal location. I am glad that they didn’t put it in the middle of the room, eating up space in front of the windows. It can be pulled about from against the wall and adjusted relative to the chairs or bed.

The room was dated in other ways. There is a large radiator in the bathroom. The paint was chipped in various places. Signs of age. But still impressive for a hotel that opened 63 years ago.

The Radisson Collection Royal Hotel rooms offers complimentary coffee and water. The canisters of snacks, wine, and beverages in the minibar all come at a cost. I did really appreciate the coffee in the morning. One of the bottles of water tasted like it was once sparkling water that had now gone mostly flat.

My room at the Radisson Collection Royal Hotel provided the first non-enclosed shower that I haven’t hated. The half-shower-door design is stupid, especially on a tub. I don’t get why any hotels install this. The shower here has a larger glass partition, shallow lip, and slight slope that actually prevented me from soaking any of the rest of the room. It also offers an awesome overhead shower head. The rest of the bathroom is nicely designed and in great condition.

The view isn’t amazing from the fifth floor, but I did like that I had a corner facing the train station. I could hear the rumble of the trains, but it’s not disruptive. The train noise didn’t affect my sleep. I wish I could say the same of the jet lag.

Overall, I really liked my room at the Radisson Collection Royal Hotel Copenhagen. On this aspect alone, I’d happily stay here again.

Dining at the Radisson Collection Royal Hotel

Issei, the hotel restaurant, looked lovely, though. It serves Japanese food for dinner and a breakfast buffet in the morning. Breakfast was not included in my rate, although I belatedly realized that I probably could have booked a rate that included it and paid with points. Noted for next time I book a Radisson stay.

I decided I’d give Issei a try in the morning. A main selling feature is that it opens at 7:00 AM, offering breakfast until 11:00 AM. When one wakes at 3:30 AM due to jet lag, it’s already a chore to make it that long until breakfast. But many other breakfast places don’t open until 8:00 AM or later. Your only options are bakeries where you can get a pastry and coffee. I need more than that for breakfast.

I knew I was in trouble when the breakfast price wasn’t advertised. Already committed, I didn’t ask. At least the restaurant setting is lovely. The service also turned out to be excellent.

The restaurant offers an extensive, wonderfully presented breakfast buffet. There are tons of options, including a great selection of very Danish cold cuts and cheese, lots of fruit and pastry options, and a handful of hot options including eggs, bacon, sausages, tomatoes, and potatoes. I sampled quite a number of items, including smoked salmon and cheese. Apologies for not snapping a photo of the buffet itself.

The coffee is excellent. And they leave you with a giant carafe!

You can also order off an a la carte menu, which is included in the total buffet price. I decided to go for the avocado toast.

Breakfast price at the Radisson Collection Royal Hotel Copenhagen? A whopping 275 krona (~$40 USD). This is way more than I like to pay. But it is an excellent breakfast.

I didn’t eat dinner at the restaurant. It seemed pretty popular. The Japanese-Peruvian fusion menu certainly intrigued me.

Other Hotel Amenities

While the Radisson Collection Royal Hotel doesn’t have a pool, it does have access to one of the best hotel gyms I’ve ever been to. It’s not actually the hotel’s facility, as independent fitness center SATS KBH – Vesterport. But it is attached to the hotel and in the building. You can access it from the meeting floor, passing through a back door into the stairwell and then continuing into the gym. A key card is needed to get back into the hotel. The RC Royal Hotel doesn’t offer a pool.

The first floor of the hotel has extensive meeting facilities. It has the same Arne Jacobsen design as the rest of the hotel.

I tried to use my late checkout benefit, but ran into an issue. There is no set time offered to Radisson elites. It’s all simply subject to hotel availability. When I called the desk to ask, they told me to call back at 8:00. The answer was “probably, but our day team needs to confirm.” Since I wanted to head out early, this wasn’t satisfactory. I took the “probably” as an invitation to ask for forgiveness later, returning at 1:00 PM. There was no issue.

Finally, I need to mention the art in the hall. The hall itself is unique. But the art at the end, right next to the door of my room, was attached to bare plywood. I couldn’t tell if this was an intentional part of the design, or if it was a temporary measure. It marred the otherwise excellent visual nature of the hotel.

Radisson Collection Royal Hotel Review: Final Thoughts

As my first Radisson stay in ages, and my first at a truly upscale Radisson property, I was more than pleased with my stay at the Radisson Collection Royal Hotel Copenhagen. The hotel offers a great combination of amenities, including an excellent (but pricey) breakfast, comfortable and stylish rooms, and the best hotel gym I’ve ever used. All the staff I interacted with were fantastic as well. It’s a pretty steep cost on points, given Radisson’s devaluation, and even considering my stay was during the off-season when things are much cheaper. All things considered, I’d gladly burn Radisson points here on a future trip.