Introduction: Late Summer in Scandinavia
Flight Review: American Airlines B737-800 First Class, MEM-DFW
Flight Review: Finnair A350-900 Business Class, DFW-HEL
Flight Review: Finnair E190 Business Class, HEL-CPH
Lodging Review: Fairfield by Marriott Copenhagen Nordhavn
Our Time in Copenhagen
Lodging Review: Best Western Hotel Hebron, Copenhagen
Lodging Review: Next House, Copenhagen
Lodging Review: Story Hotel Studio Malmö
Our Time in Malmö and Ystad, Sweden
Lodging Review: IKEA Hotell, Älmhult, Sweden
Our Time in Älmhult, Sweden and High-Speed Train to Stockholm
Lodging Review: Motel L Älvsjö, Stockholm
Our Time in Stockholm
Flight Review: SAS A320neo Economy Class, ARN-OSL
Lodging Review: Comfort Hotel Grand Central, Oslo
Our Time in Oslo
Lounge Review: SAS Lounge, Oslo airport
Flight Review: Lufthansa A320-200 Business Class, OSL-FRA
Flight Review: Lufthansa 787-9 Business Class, FRA-MSP
Flight Review: Delta B737-800 First Class, MSP-MEM
Why This Stay Was Booked
I found business class award space on Finnair on a Saturday, but the best prices for my friends’ economy flights was on the Sunday. So I used the opportunity to review an extra hotel in Copenhagen.
Fairfield by Marriott Copenhagen Nordhavn
How This Stay Was Booked
I used a free night certificate from my Chase Marriott Premier card to book this room. My certificate is good for rooms that cost 40K points or less per night. While this room could be booked on my date for 30K points, it’s still better than letting the certificate go unused. If using cash the room would have cost about $260 per night or $240/night with my corporate discount.
Location
If asked to describe the layout of Denmark, I’d say it’s a giant peninsula on the west side with three larger “islands” and dozens of smaller ones to the east. Copenhagen is on the eastern edge of the east-most large island.
The neighborhood of Nordhavn (North Haven) is northeast of the city center, right on the water. As a point of reference, the main train station, København H, is located in the yellow area below the letters “nh” in the word Copenhagen on the map below.
Transportation
I opted to take the metro from the airport to the hotel to save a little money. Fortunately the weather was grand as there is absolutely no cover along the walk from the metro. There is also no signage from the metro pointing to either the Fairfield or the Residence Inn that’s in the same building, so you’ll want to have a good map or GPS with you.
When taking the metro from the airport, first be sure you are at the right ticket machine. I inadvertently bought a train ticket which cost a little more but nobody on the metro ever checked to be sure I’d even bought a ticket, much less the correct one! At the airport the metro platforms are located upstairs at the far left-hand end of the airport as you come out of international baggage claim. I’m not even sure where the metro ticket machine is but you’ll pass a ton of the red train ticket machines on your right before reaching the escalator down to the trains, also on your right.
Keep walking past those and take the elevator or stairs up to the metro platform. To reach the Fairfield take the M2/Yellow train toward Vanløse Street. Go 8 stops to Kongens Nytorv (The King’s New Square) and change to the M4/Blue line toward Orientkaj St.
The train arrives two levels down but the escalator is only between the lower two levels so I took the elevator up to the street since I had a large bag. Google Maps says it’s a 9-minute walk from the metro to the hotel but, of course, that doesn’t include pulling a large bag over cobblestones or in a construction area. It wasn’t a bad walk by any means but if you’re mobility-challenged (or the weather is bad) just take a taxi or Uber from the airport.
Check-in
I arrived before the official check-in time of 3 PM and the lobby was pretty deserted but I was greeted warmly and helped promptly. Fortunately a room was ready and I was informed I’d been upgraded to a room with a partial sea view, which was nice. I assume this was due to my Gold status or the fact that the room was ready and I was only staying the one night.
Guest Room
I was assigned a room on the first floor (for Americans, that’s the floor above the ground floor, where the front desk is) and I took the elevator up. The hotel is relatively new and the carpet still had that new smell, which was nice.
First Floor Elevator Lobby
I turned left in the elevator lobby and walked down the hall.
First Floor Hallway
I was assigned room 148, which was at the end of the hall. While I didn’t notice it at first, the presence of a waist-high peephole in the door should have clued me in that this was an accessible room.
Room 148 – Queen Accessible Room
Upon stepping into the room it was clear this was not a regular European hotel room, which tend to run on the small side as compared to American hotel rooms. This room was large, airy and had a good bit of unused floor space. Right inside the door on the left was a bench that doubled as a luggage rack. Above that was a full-length wall-mounted mirror and a several pegs on the wall which was the “closet”. Only a couple of hangers were provided but I didn’t need that anyway. The bathroom was straight ahead from the main door.
Entry Area
On the same wall as the main door and opposite the bed was the wall-mounted TV and a long shelf. A small stool could also be used to turn the shelf into a desk, I suppose. There were several outlets easily accessible for charging whatever electronics you needed. There were two sets of floor-to-ceiling windows and though it looked like a sliding glass door, it was really only the kind that tilted in a bit. So it was possible to get a little bit of airflow but not a whole lot.
TV and Floor-to-Ceiling Windows
While the windows looked directly at the large building next door, I did indeed have the partial sea view as promised. If you squint you may be able to see one of the windmills that stands out in the bay. I saw these from the plane as we came in for landing.
Partial Sea View
Between the TV and the bed was a single, comfortable chair and a side table. I used this for storing my backpack and used the table to take notes about my stay. There are no king beds in this hotel and no rooms that can sleep more than two adults. So this queen bed represents the norm.
Queen Bed with chair and side table
The bedside table each had a light and a single AC outlet. I found that rather odd that a brand-new hotel only had one outlet and no USB ports bedside. Fortunately I only needed one outlet so it was not an issue for me.
Bedside Table with lamp and AC outlet
The bathroom was quite large as well. When entering, the shower was on the left, behind the curtain, with a large vanity beyond that. The toilet was straight ahead and there were pull-down arms, for use by those who need them, on either side. On the right wall was a low shelving unit with the bath linens and hanging pegs.
Accessible Bathroom
As this was an accessible room, the shower was a roll-in. It had both a rainfall showerhead and a hand-held sprayer. While there was a small glass panel near the door, the shower curtain actually wrapped all the way around the opening, firmly overlapping with the wall shown on the right. There was a tiny lip on the floor where you stepped down into the shower. It was maybe only a half-inch or so and the floor tilted ever-so-slightly toward the drain that ran along the back wall. These two factors did a good job in keeping the water inside the shower curtain. I was able to put the bathmat down just outside the curtain and it barely got wet. Certainly not my usual scenario with a European shower!
Accessible Shower
The bath toiletries were wall-mounted and were from Nirvae Botanicals. I don’t know if it’s the American Mariott influence but I actually had separate shampoo, conditioner and body wash containers, something I later learned I shouldn’t have taken for granted. The hand soap at the sink was also by Nirvae.
The sink had a lot of counter area around it. I suspect there’s actually room on the counter for dual sinks but due to the location of the toilet the sink on the right would have been a little awkward to use. I also liked that the trash can was not covered. I find it annoying to have to lift the lid every time I want to toss something in there. However, this was the only trash can in the room.
Accessible Bathroom
The wall across from the sink had the shelves that held the bath towels, hand towels and wash cloths. The bathmat and hair dryer were on the lower shelf. Beside that there were two pairs of hanging pegs, one higher than the other.
Bathroom Linens and Hanging Pegs
A word about the air conditioning. The room felt stuffy when I arrived so I opened the windows. Of course being by the water, Copenhagen can be humid and it was that day. Even after closing the windows I could never get the room cooler than what the thermostat was set to when I arrived, 21.4C/70.5F – but it never felt that cool. When manually adjusting the temperature, I could only turn it down to 20C/68F but only once was I aware of the blower even turning on and the air it blew didn’t feel cold or conditioned. That was my only real complaint with the room and since I was only there for a night I didn’t bring it up to the staff.
Common Areas
Lobby
Upon entering the hotel, the front desk is immediately to the left. To the right are the elevators and beyond that some comfortable seating areas.
Breakfast
I believe the breakfast hours are 6:30-9:30 AM but that may vary on weekdays vs. weekends so be sure to listen better than I did when you check in. Breakfast is served in an area just beyond the front desk. It was very busy when I went down so I don’t have photos of the food itself. This is the main area where most of the food is laid out.
Breakfast Buffet Area
Across from it is the waffle station and a seating area. There was a fairly wide selection of foods though I did find the scrambled eggs a bit too salty for my taste. And I’m sure it was around somewhere but I never did find any sugar for my tea.
Waffle Station and Seating Area
Most of the seating is up a short staircase (4-5 steps) beside the buffet. This area can also be reached from the lobby seating area, which is nice in that you don’t have to go back through the breakfast area to get to the elevators.
Gym
The gym is on the first floor, at the end of the hallway when turning right off the elevator. It is shared with the Residence Inn but is surprisingly large, I thought. There are plenty of towels and a water station, but no water bottles provided.
Ironing Room
This is something I’d never seen in a hotel but saw in at least one of our other hotels on this trip. It’s exactly what it says, a room set up with an ironing board and an iron. Yes, you need a key card to access it.
Ironing Room
In the end
I didn’t spend a lot of time in this area. It seems to be, strangely, both commercial and residential. There was a large business next door to the hotel yet I passed several apartment blocks and a grocery store on the walk from the metro.
The hotel is new and clean and can be had for as few as 20K Bonvoy points at its cheapest point but expect to pay up to 42K points during peak times in August.
While it’s not especially convenient to walk anywhere, it’s less than 10 minutes to a metro stop and from there you can be almost anywhere in the city pretty quickly.
I’d stay here again if I had things to do in this area or the price was attractive but while the hotel itself was fine, it’s certainly more convenient to stay closer to the city center.
2B Traveling 
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