Why Locke Copenhagen is the new hotel to know in the Danish capital

Copenhagen is hardly short on handsome hotels. This is, after all, where even the corner bakery has better lighting than most restaurants and seemingly every lobby contains at least one chair worthy of its own design retrospective. So when a newcomer arrives, it takes a little more than crisp sheets and a photogenic breakfast to get our attention.

Enter Locke Copenhagen.

Opened in March 2026, the property marks Locke's first foray into Scandinavia, taking up residence in two of the distinctive cylindrical towers of Postbyen. Inside are 234 rooms and suites, alongside a restaurant, coffee and cocktail bars, rooftop spaces, and a fitness centre.

The location is particularly clever. Locke sits right by Copenhagen Central Station, with Tivoli and Kødbyen – the city's Meatpacking District – within easy walking distance. Translation: arriving from the airport with an unnecessarily large suitcase is relatively painless, and heading out for dinner requires very little logistical forethought. It also puts the hotel in the rapidly evolving former postal district, Postbyen, that is giving Copenhagen an entirely new rhythm.

Related: The Copenhagen commotion: Celebrating 20 years of stand-out Danish design

Naturally, any hotel opening in the Danish capital has to pass the design test. For the public spaces, Locke enlisted London-based studio A-nrd, drawing on Danish design heritage without turning the place into a Scandinavian-modernism theme park. The building’s concrete cylinders and terrazzo floors are warmed up with terracotta, chalky pinks, and mossy greens inspired by Copenhagen’s oxidised copper rooftops and quieter blue-grey tones. The rooms and suites have been designed by Grzywinski+Pons, a longtime Locke collaborator, with options ranging from studios and one-bedroom suites to a Penthouse Suite. The overall effect lands somewhere in that increasingly desirable territory between hotel and home base: polished enough to feel like a treat, but relaxed enough that you can actually settle in.

Then there is the 11th floor. Here, cocktails come with panoramic views across Copenhagen – perhaps the most persuasive argument for postponing dinner reservations by an hour, ready to take in the city by night or by sunset.

Importantly, the space is open to everyone, not just those with a room key. That distinction feels central to Locke’s proposition. The best city hotels are often the ones locals actually want to spend time in, where the lobby isn't simply somewhere to cross on your way to the lift and the bar has a life beyond its overnight guests. There is also something wonderfully efficient about ending the evening with a very good cocktail, followed by an elevator rather than a taxi.

And that, perhaps, is where Locke Copenhagen makes the most sense. It isn't trying to lure you away from the city – quite the opposite. From here, a morning harbour swim, an afternoon in Kødbyen and a night out are all easily within reach. But with handsome interiors, plenty happening downstairs, and those views waiting upstairs, returning to the hotel doesn't exactly feel like calling it a night.

In a city with no shortage of beautiful places to sleep, this is one we're quite happy to stay awake in.