If the stress of opening a brand new luxurious resort within the midst of a world pandemic weighs on Peter Høgh Pedersen, it doesn’t present. Sitting within the gleaming new atrium of Villa Copenhagen earlier this month, the manging director of the property is filled with boundless enthusiasm for the mission and what it means for the Danish capital. Regardless of the dismal outlook for a lot of the hospitality sector in Europe, it has been an thrilling few months he explains. “We opened on July 1st, having taken the choice to maneuver forward whatever the state of affairs with Covid-19 – and we had a blast. The primary seven weeks we welcomed a whole lot of Danish vacationers, as much as 90 per cent of our company have been Danes, whereas the remaining have been from Norway. So we had a beautiful summer time.”
He provides: “We have been a bit shocked, as we had ready in any other case, so we have been calling a number of the workers again who we had stored on maintain. I can not say it has not been a bumpy summer time, as a result of it has, however folks have been impressed with what we have now performed with the constructing and what we wish to create right here.”
When you’ve a mission as grand as Villa Copenhagen, nevertheless, it’s straightforward to be excited. Positioned subsequent to the central prepare station within the coronary heart of the town, the brand new enterprise is housed within the former headquarters of the Danish Publish & Telegraph Workplace. Initially designed in 1912 by architect Heinrich Wench in a neo-Baroque fashion, it has been fully reimagined inside whereas the imposing façade stays. At present, modern Scandinavian design is juxtaposed with the unique structure to create an inspiring and playful atmosphere. Stroll by the primary entrance and the sensation is extra like that of a non-public members membership than a luxurious resort, with a casual, however cultured, environment.
“We wished to supply one thing completely different to the market and I’m very pleased with what we achieved right here,” Pedersen tells Breaking Journey Information. “Very early on we determined to create a whole lot of public areas. This has been tried by the Hoxton or Ace Resort, for instance, creating area to ask folks in, however that is new in Copenhagen. Now we have been very verbal, sharing this, educating the market about what it’s we provide. This was the central submit workplace, and we’re searching for to keep up that connection, however in a contemporary context. We would like folks to come back in, to speak and to create an environment.”
With the work full, Villa Copenhagen is comprised of 390-guestrooms and suites, every embodying one of the best of each conventional and modern Scandinavian luxurious. There are excessive ceilings, herringbone flooring and gold accents, whereas the unique window designs from 1912 have been given a brand new lease of life. All guestrooms are geared up with flat-screen HDTVs with streaming entry, complimentary espresso machines, absolutely stocked minibars and the opposite facilities anticipated of a resort on this bracket. Rooms are centred round the primary lobby – referred to as the Sq. – whereas the Kontrast Brasserie offers a hyperlink to the surface world.
Pedersen continues: “The themes are the identical with the restaurant, we have now an area exterior proper over the railway tracks – you would possibly suppose there can be considerations over the noise, however it has gone down effectively. We try to create a stream of individuals, a social area – it isn’t just like the Savoy in London when a stiff doorman asks if he may help you whereas he’s checking you out. We would like native Copenhageners to come back in and benefit from the area.”
As with every hospitality mission on this scale – Pedersen reveals the constructing price an preliminary €100 million, with the identical once more spent on the renovations – sustainability is to the fore at Villa Copenhagen. Beneath the phrase ‘conscience luxurious,’ the crew seeks to make wise selections that take the surroundings and communities into consideration. It’s hoped company will achieve an understanding that this model of luxurious is about having fun with the whole lot from grand experiences and surprising encounters to high quality meals and galvanizing environment.
Pedersen elaborates: “We wished to redefine luxurious for Copenhagen – there are after all prime lodges right here, however nothing like this. All people expects lodges to take these steps nowadays, however Copenhagen is seen as a pacesetter on this space, so the resort needed to be seen to be one of the best. After we started to speak about what we have been doing right here, companions have been very within the pioneering steps we have been taking. For instance, the pool makes use of a centralised cooling system, taking extra warmth from the resort to heat it, whereas there’s additionally a BioTrans system, which grinds our meals waste to be transformed into gasoline.”
He provides: “We took away the plastic wrapped slippers supplied to company, as a substitute providing flipflops you should buy – we can not inform when you’ve got used them, so we have now to throw them away, which doesn’t make sense and is an amazing waste. On the following degree, we labored with Copenhagen-based Earth Studio to design our convention chairs, taking out kilograms of recycled plastic from the ocean to create 1,000 seats – the resort is stuffed with concepts reminiscent of these. The constructing itself is a sustainability story, with enormous quantities of carbon saved by changing an present construction versus constructing a brand new one.”
In fact, even with such a fascinating asset, not the whole lot can be plain crusing for Villa Copenhagen. Denmark seems to be coming into a second section of its Covid-19 pandemic, with restrictions on journey being re-imposed. There additionally issues distinctive to the town.
“In Copenhagen, coming into 2020-21, we have been already seeing an overcapacity of resort beds. On the identical time, tourism progress is slowing, and the curve just isn’t matching the rise in capability. We have been due to this fact already on our toes, competing extra intensely with different properties out there are these which are getting ready to open. In comparison with someplace like London, it isn’t a big market right here, however folks have completely different agendas, completely different house owners and landlords – so there can be someone who’s slightly hungrier than someone else and we may even see charges fall. We noticed that even earlier than Covid-19, with charges not attaining the standard will increase.”
However, with these caveats, Pedersen and his crew have created one thing new in Copenhagen, one thing sturdy that can possible final out the present storm to change into an establishment in its personal proper.
Extra Info
Villa Copenhagen is part of Nordic Lodges & Resorts, a curated assortment of 25 unbiased properties unfold throughout Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. Based by Petter Stordalen, every property within the assortment displays its robust unbiased id by distinctive locations and cultural authenticity, in addition to thought-provoking design, structure and artwork.
The resort can be a member of Preferred Hotels & Resorts, which represents famend properties that characteristic the best lodging coupled with attentive, participating and unique private service.
Discover out extra about Villa Copenhagen on the official website.
Chris O’Toole
