The Square - Copenhagen (The Square Hotel (Copenhagen))

Member Name: count_zero

Product:	The Square Hotel (Copenhagen)
Date:	08/09/08 (92 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good location, good standard, clean and pleasant

Disadvantages: A bit anonymous

The Square is a mid priced hotel situated in the heart of Copenhagen, on Radhuspladsen and overlooking Tivoli Gardens. A short walk from the Central Station it is very handy for transfers from the airport and provides an excellent base for touring the city.
Part of the ARP-Hansen Hotel Group it is one of several hotels in Copenhagen and like their other properties offers a good standard of accommodation geared towards the modern business or tourist traveller.

Location ~
Despite the claims that the hotel overlooks Tivoli gardens this is somewhat misleading. Granted, from the top (6th) floor you can see the giant Tivoli sign but that's about it. There aren't really any other views available as it isn't in the prettiest part of town. A few minutes from the station it occupies a large portion of an unprepossessing retail/office building on the corner of HC Anderson Boulevard and Jernbanegade. This is not the most attractive part of town and the local streets are full of over spilling bars and convenience stores. Across the busy main road is Radhuspladsen and the impressive town hall. The location does provide a good base from which to tour the city and as this is one of the main criteria for choosing a city centre hotel it's easy to overlook the less than picturesque surroundings.
Rooms ~
There are 267 rooms available at The Square including standard and executive rooms as well as suites. Each is designed in a predictably minimalist Scandinavian style and offers a good standard of accommodation. Our room (standard obviously, Copenhagen is expensive enough already) was a bit smaller than I would have liked and felt a bit cramped. The narrow room had a king sized double bed, desk and sofa and it was a bit of a squeeze to get past the bed. There is a wardrobe and additional drawer storage but no safe. The en suite was a good size and finished to a good standard. The décor was fairly plain but of good quality, everything was clean and neat and there were precious few signs of wear and tear. The view from the single window was of the back of a restaurant, bins and all, but being on the third floor this was not really a problem. Being this high up also eliminated most of the street noise and despite being next to a busy main road and in the heart of a cinema/bar district we were not disturbed at all. Although I had a good nose around the other rooms on our floor at cleaning time they all looked like standard class so I couldn't get a look at any of the more expensive rooms.

The public areas are well designed and very welcoming. As with so much in Scandinavia care is put into the design and there are many nice touches around the entranceway and in the lobby. Without going over the top there are several nice touches in and around the reception area which deserve a quick stroll around.
Facilities ~
The Square has two meeting rooms, each capable of holding 20 people and offering modern A/V equipment and wireless internet access.
Many room tariffs are on a bed and breakfast basis and the mainly cold buffet breakfast is served in the 6th floor restaurant. This was a fairly standard offering with the usual selection of bread, cereals, fruit and cold meats. Everything looked fresh and was well presented and even if it hadn't been included in the room rate the £10 charge represents excellent value in this most expensive of cities. The room itself was bright and clean with plenty of natural light but it was somewhat soulless and felt very much like a conference facility. I don't think they serve food at other times of day.
There's no bar or spa facilities and no lounges for relaxing around the hotel.
There is an internet PC in the reception area that is freely accessible and wireless access is available in the rooms although I couldn't see what charges were attached to this facility.
There is a car park in the basement of the hotel but this is independently managed and will be charged separately. Charges are about £2.50 per hour or £20 for 24 hours.

Entrance from the street and to all public areas is level so access for wheelchairs and buggies should not be a problem.
Prices and booking ~
Prices will vary throughout the year but for a three night weekend stay in September 2008 for two adults sharing prices start at about £540 for a standard room and rise to £1060 for a suite. We booked through Airmiles so I can't say for sure what we paid in June but I imagine it works out similar. The prices above are taken from the booking facility on the hotel website and a quick check of some hotel booking websites supplied savings of only £20 or so with some being even more expensive. Booking this way it is not clear whether breakfast is included so that would need to be confirmed.

Opinion ~
The Square was a pleasant place to stay, the staff were courteous and efficient and everything was in place on our arrival. Despite having done this for several years now I'm always pleasantly surprised when bookings made over the internet turn out to have been accepted by hotels, I always have a sneaking fear that I'll turn up and they'll have never heard of me.
While it's hard to find anything negative about the hotel, even the price is fair value for the city, it was still a fairly anonymous part of our holiday. The lack of a bar or lounge areas meant that we spent very little time there so it neither added to nor detracted from our time in the city which is a shame.

The Square is well placed for exploring the city and is fairly priced. It's clean, well managed and well maintained. I'm happy to recommend it as a base, just don't expect spend much time there.

Summary: NIce enough but wont be the highlight of your holiday.