Nimb Hotel

Walk along Bernstorffsgade from Copenhagen's central station and the first thing on the left, before the station crowds thin out, is a white palace with horseshoe arches, a minaret-like tower and, after dark, a facade outlined in lights. It belongs to Tivoli Gardens, and it is the Nimb Hotel, Copenhagen's smallest grand hotel and the only one inside the park.

History

The name is older than the building. Wilhelm Nimb and his wife Louise ran a restaurant in Tivoli from the 1870s, and Louise Nimb became one of the best-known cooks in Denmark; her cookbook was in many Copenhagen kitchens. In 1909 Tivoli replaced the family's earlier pavilion with a new one designed by Knud Arne Petersen, the architect who was also the gardens' director. The result was the Moorish palace that stands today, with its arcade and its illuminated outline, built to hold restaurants and a ballroom rather than bedrooms.

For most of the twentieth century it stayed a place to eat and dance. The hotel came in 2008, when Tivoli A/S, the company that owns the gardens, converted the upper floors into a small hotel of 13 rooms and suites. In 2017 a new wing was added along Bernstorffsgade, bringing the count to 38 and adding a rooftop pool and a wellness floor. Tivoli still owns and runs it.

Architecture and design

Petersen's building is an oddity in a city of brick and copper roofs: a white Orientalist fantasy with onion domes, pointed arches and a long open loggia on the garden side. The hotel interiors were designed to feel like a private house rather than a lobby. Most rooms have a working fireplace and a four-poster bed, antique furniture mixes with modern pieces, and the corridors are short enough that staff know every guest by name. The 2017 wing repeats the arches of the original at a larger scale and holds the pool on its roof.

Rooms and suites

The 38 rooms and suites split between the 1909 palace and the new wing. Rooms on the garden side look over Tivoli's lake and the Pantomime Theatre; those on the street side face the station and the Copenhagen skyline. Several suites run to over 100 square metres, with separate living rooms and bathrooms with freestanding tubs. Every room has a fireplace or a balcony, and most have both.

Dining

The building was built for food, and it still serves more covers in its restaurants than in its rooms. Nimb Brasserie is the all-day French-style brasserie on the ground floor, opening onto the gardens. Fru Nimb, named after Louise, serves traditional Danish smørrebrød at lunch. Nimb Bar is the cocktail bar under the big chandelier, with a fireplace that burns through the winter season. Gemyse, the vegetable-led restaurant in the gardens, is also run by the house, with a kitchen garden beside it.

Wellness

The wellness area on the upper floor runs to about 300 square metres, with a sauna, a steam room and treatment rooms. The heated outdoor pool on the roof of the 2017 wing is open year-round and looks across the gardens towards the City Hall tower.

Weddings and events

The ballroom in the 1909 palace is the main event room, with a terrace onto Tivoli, and the brasserie and bar can be booked privately. Weddings are held in the ballroom and on the terrace, and because the building is inside the gardens, guests can walk out among the rides and the fireworks after dinner. Meetings use the salons on the first floor. Capacities depend on the layout and are confirmed by the hotel.

Location

The hotel stands on Bernstorffsgade, on the west side of Tivoli Gardens, across the street from Copenhagen Central Station (København H). The City Hall, Strøget and the harbour are within a ten-minute walk. Copenhagen Airport at Kastrup is about 8 km away and connected by train in roughly 13 minutes. For a luxury hotel in Copenhagen it is unusually easy to reach without a car, and the hotel's own entrance to the gardens is a few steps from the lobby.