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Thanks to some very good Economy Class fares I found myself using Copenhagen as a jumping off point for yet another trip across the Atlantic. Last July I found a Copenhagen-London-Los Angeles-London trip for just $415 (which, at the time, was £289) and, as is often the case when I find fares as good as this one, I had to book it.
The downside to the fare was that it involved a 7:05am departure from Copenhagen which meant that I would have to fly in the night before and overnight in Copenhagen. On my last trip through Copenhagen I had overnighted at the Marriott AC Hotel Bella Sky (a 5-10 minute shuttle bus journey from the airport) but, because the shuttle bus doesn’t run until 6:30am, that trip involved me having to get the local Metro and then a train from the hotel to the airport. Not something I really enjoy when it’s freezing cold and very very early.
The Hilton Copenhagen Airport is just across the road from one of the terminals (I think it’s Terminal 3) and, because it’s so convenient, the prices can be comparatively high. On my last trip, a room at the AC Hotel Bella Sky was going for $110 while the Hilton Copenhagen Airport was asking well in excess of $200….and there’s no way I was going to pay that sort of money for a hotel I’m was going to be spending less than 7 hours in.
This time, however, I caught a break.
Cost
I really wanted to book the Hilton for its convenience but, having only ever seen the hotel priced above my budget, I was resigned to booking the Crowne Plaza Copenhagen (which is marginally closer to the airport than the AC Bella Sky). I checked Kayak to see what the prices were like and, to my surprise, saw that one site (getaroom.com) was offering the Hilton for an amazing $136.95 total!
All the other sites that Kayak threw up were showing the Hilton at over $200 for the same night but, for some reason, Getaroom came through for me and I was saved an icy walk to the train station and an earlier than reasonable start.
Location
If you’re flying out of Copenhagen Airport in the morning you really can’t get a better location than the Hilton.
Hilton Copenhagen Airport – Location
Hilton Copenhagen Airport – Look how close it is to the SAS and British Airways desks!
You can get from the hotel to the airport (and vice versa) without ever going outside and that’s just what you need at the height of the European winter.
First Impressions & Check-in
Just by the fact that I didn’t have to venture outside to get to the hotel from the airport meant that the Hilton was scoring highly in my mind before I even set foot in the lobby.
It was close to 10pm when I walked through the doors and into the large open lobby area of the Hilton Copenhagen Airport:
Hilton Copenhagen Airport – Lobby
Check-in was swift and, despite the fact that I hadn’t booked through Hilton directly, I was still given complimentary internet access for being a Hilton HHonors member – Marriott could learn from this!
The lobby area had all the usual airport hotel lobby decor, like sofas….
Hilton Copenhagen Airport – Lobby
and screens linked to the airport departures:
Hilton Copenhagen Airport – Lobby
The hotel is built around a central square void which extends up from the 1st floor right the way up to the roof:
Hilton Copenhagen Airport – Looking up from the lobby
Hilton Copenhagen Airport – Looking up from the lobby
And, when you reach your floor and get out of the elevators, you have to walk around the central void to get to the corridors with all the rooms:
Hilton Copenhagen Airport – The floors
The corridors themselves are all wood panelled and feel a little dated….
Hilton Copenhagen Airport – Corridors
….and the doors are what you get as most middle-of-the-road hotels nowadays:
Hilton Copenhagen Airport
The Room
Compared to the Marriott AC Bella Sky the room had a more traditional feel to it and I wasn’t left with the impression that someone had gone to Ikea to get all the furniture.
Hilton Copenhagen Airport – Room
The room I had booked was described as a “single room” on the booking and I’m reasonably sure that’s how the clerk at check-in described the room too…but it turns out that this just means that you get two separate beds:
Hilton Copenhagen Airport – Room
Hilton Copenhagen Airport – Room
….which can be pushed together with remarkable ease:
Hilton Copenhagen Airport – Room
In the far corner of the room was a glass table with an armchair while, in the corner at the foot of the furthest bed, was a desk and chair (something which you won’t be seeing in Hilton’s latest brand of hotels).
Hilton Copenhagen Airport – Room
Hilton Copenhagen Airport – Room
The room came with the standard free refreshment options….
Hilton Copenhagen Airport – In-room refreshments
Hilton Copenhagen Airport – In-room refreshments
….as well as the standard minibar with standard minbar pricing:
Hilton Copenhagen Airport – In-room refreshments
Hilton Copenhagen Airport – Minibar price list
With 10DKK equalling approximately $1.50 (at spot rate) a bottle of beer comes to around $7.50 🙂
There was a single wardrobe in the room (big enough for most people’s needs) and it housed an ironing board, an iron and a good-sized safe:
Hilton Copenhagen Airport – Wardrobe and amenities
The bathroom was a good size…but that may have something to do with the fact that I appear to have been given a room with an “accessible” bathroom.
The vanity area was spacious….
Hilton Copenhagen Airport – Room
…the bath as a very good size for an airport hotel….
Hilton Copenhagen Airport – Room
…and there was even a separate shower cubicle:
Hilton Copenhagen Airport – Room
The toiletries on offer were by Peter Thomas Roth:
Connectivity
As I mentioned towards the beginning of this post, I was given complimentary WiFi access courtesy of my Hilton HHonors membership (and despite not having booked directly through Hilton). The WiFi speeds weren’t too bad although things occasionally got a little sluggish when I had more than a couple of webpages open at once.
If you’ve read any of my previous hotel reviews you’ll know that I’m a fan of hotels that have made the effort to supply power sockets by the bedside and I’m a big critic of those who fail in this regard. The Hilton Copenhagen Airport failed quite badly here.
The only power outlet I could find near the bed was actually underneath it……
Hilton Copenhagen Airport – Room
…and I had to get down on my hands and knees, reach under the bed and unplug a lamp just to use it. Unacceptable. Hotels don’t need to rewire their entire property to supply power outlets by the bedside…there are plenty of lamps on the market that offer power outlets in their base so there is no excuse for this.
If you want to work at the desk you’re not so hard done by as there are two outlets attached to the desk itself – although if you don’t have a European plug you’ll need an adapter to use them:
Hilton Copenhagen Airport – Room
Dining
I checked-in at around 10pm and I lets the hotel at around 5am so I didn’t exactly have a chance to sample any of the hotel’s dining options. I did, however, do my best to take not of what was on offer.
In-room dining options were plentiful…but staggeringly expensive. A club sandwich would set you back over $32 (including tray charge)!
Hilton Copenhagen Airport – Room service menu (click to enlarge)
On the lobby level there was a large restaurant which was still serving a buffet dinner when I went to take a look (it’s open from 6pm to 10:30pm).
There wasn’t a shortage of seating….
Hilton Copenhagen Airport – Dining
Hilton Copenhagen Airport – Room
Hilton Copenhagen Airport – Dining
Hilton Copenhagen Airport – Dining
The buffet costs 325 DKK or around $48 per person and includes hot and cold options.
I don’t get a chance to take a look at the hot food that was offer at the buffet but the cold items didn’t look too bad:
Hilton Copenhagen Airport – Dining
Hilton Copenhagen Airport – Dining
According to a menu at the entrance to the buffet area the hot options were:
- Braise lamb shoulder (carved to order)
- Steamed mussels in white wine sauce
- Roasted turkey with butter fried savoy cabbage
- Stroganoff
- Crushed potatoes
- Polenta with goat’s cheese
- Tortelini with tomato sauce and parmesan
Bottom Line
The big selling point of the hotel is its proximity to the airport. If you have an early flight to catch this is definitely the place to stay if, like me, you really don’t want to have to deal with public transport at a very early hour of the morning.
The staff that I interacted with all seemed perfectly friendly, the room was a good size and the hotel wasn’t trying too hard to be cool…and those are all big positives for me. The lack of power outlets by the bedside is a definite negative but the Hilton Copenhagen Airport is far from begin the only hotel guilty of this omission.
If I was doing a quick one-night-layover in Copenhagen I’d definitely be back to the Hilton if the price was right. But, unless I had Joanna and B in tow, I’d still be very reluctant to pay over $200 for a night as this simply isn’t that sort of standard hotel.
