HI - Copenhagen City Hostel - Danhostel Copenhagen City

The biggest and feels like it.
The only good thing was the view. elevators can be tied up for a long time if your on the top floors, as with all HI hostels there are school and tour groups everywhere. Bedsheets are 60kn extra so beware. receptionists are cold and down to business. most people are just passing through and i cant blame them. after a night you will want to change hostels too. i only give this two stars because it's clean and the bathroom isnt shared, at least on my floor.

Ok, but suffers from design flaws
Folding beds which flip up against the wall are fine if you are in a railway carriage, or live in a tiny trendy flat where saving space matters. But this a youth hostel! Beds are the very reason for its existence. It doesn't need to save space, there is nothing else to go in the space left by a folded bed. Yet instead of proper bunks, it has folding ones. People were leaving bags by folded beds, only to find someone had come in later, moved their bags, and folded out the bed. It is tricky to stash stuff on a bed to "claim" it. The metal ladders needed for the top level have thin rungs which are painful on the feet. There is also nowhere for occupants of the top bunk to put their watch or spectacles, or anything else which isn't much use stowed away in the lockers in the ante-room. At least the location isn't too bad, and it's easy to find.

Modern and Central
The location can barely be beaten. My dorm was in the best corner (on HC Andersen Boulevard facing Tivoli) and the view was fantastic. No money needs to be spent on public transport because you are so close to the station and to most of Copenhagen's sights. I got quite a pleasant surprise seeing how nice the dorms were. Very, very modern (the bathroom, although I guess it would be quite crowded when the dorms were full, was excellent, sure there were some hairs in the shower, but remember you're sharing the shower!). My dorm was split into three rooms -- "foyer" with lockers and attached bathroom, plus two bedrooms with four and six beds respectively. For me that was a nice touch. Ok not the best place to meet people (although it's by no means impossible!), and maybe a little pricey (although not in comparison to British hostels, but bring sheets -- it's 60 DKK to hire them!), but it is modern, clean, comfortable, and right in the centre of the beautiful city of Copenhagen!

Institutional
Impossible to miss on the skyline, this is seventeen stories of clean yet dull hostel. It does the job fine, but with over a thousand beds, there simply aren't enough staff, laundry space, internet terminals to go around. You'd think with that many people there it would be quite sociable, but it's the opposite. Too many families perhaps.

I was quite wary before staying in this hostel. But I'm glad to report a very successful and enjoyable stay! The counter staff were friendly, chatty, and very knowledgeable, advising us on local buses and local bars. The room we had was unbelievably spacious, especially with some of the bunks being able to fold away -- a novel and excellent idea. The room and bathroom was immaculate and security was always maintained. I suppose being the middle of January and not very busy made things better and I could imagine things getting hairy in the summer time but I have nothing but good things to say. Individual lights at each bed are invaluable, the internet rate was cheap enough. There are extras like renting of the linen and the HI card but they are not hidden, you just need to do your research. The location is this hostel's best asset. Literally around the block from Tivoli and a little extra brings you to the central station and the central Radhausplasden and Stroget shopping street. They should give directions to the hotel on their website. Turn right out of the central station (main entrance facing Tivoli), walk across the street and take the street running alongside Tivoli. At the end of this street (corner of Tivoli) turn right (past the NY Carlsberg Glyptotek) and go about five blocks and you can't miss the tall building on your left. It's not like the picture you expect from the website. It's not standing out by the river on its own.

Do not stay here. I would not recommend this place to anyone. It has some glitzy things about it, but all as always, all that glitters isn't gold. The staff didn't really seem to care about the guests well-beings. I even asked them a simple question and as I walked away I heard them ridicule me in Danish, well I understand Danish but spoke to them with my Canadian accent in English. Really professional. They also lost my friend's HI membership card and issued him with a new one, which didn't pass at the remaining HIs we visited and he lost his discount. My room was disgusting, dust balls everywhere, and the bathroom was appalling. Shouldn't disgust you with the details. I later found out they clean once a week. I believe that is really unacceptable. Here's the best part of all, I left with some new friends, bedbugs. Do not stay here, I wouldn't wish it upon anyone. They need to clean house in many ways at this hostel. I only gave it to two stars for the location.

We had such a frustrating experience here that we left Copenhagen a day early. The staff was fine unless there was a problem, but there was always a huge line so you had to wait forever to talk to them. Our room was clean with nice new furniture, but the tippy upper bunks had ladders that were painful to climb on. The not-terribly-clean bathroom was ensuite, and shared by eight people. That would be fine if there were also shared toilets down the hall, but there weren't. There were problems with our reservation, which would have forced us to move rooms halfway through our stay (by dragging everything all the way downstairs at 9 a.m. to wait in a huge line to check out and then check in again). In a hostel of 1,200 beds, you'd think they could move other reservations around (reservations of people who hadn't arrived yet) so we could continue in the same room. You also had to swipe your room card for every little thing. I'm surprised you didn't have to swipe it to flush the toilet. All this would have been just annoying if it hadn't been for the stupid elevators. You of course had to swipe your card to make them work, and you had to swipe it at just the right speed, at exactly the right time and hold down the button to your floor for just the right amount of time (because you couldn't go to any other floor to visit friends or anything -- heaven forbid) and hope that no one else got off before you because it would reset the whole thing and you'd find yourself in the lobby again. I found at least three sets of angry people who had just been riding the elevators for fifteen or twenty minutes trying to get to their floor. And because Denmark is so expensive, cooking was a very popular option. The kitchen was big enough, I guess, but poorly stocked, with jam-packed fridges that weren't cleaned out every week as the sign said, or even every month (We found three-week-old pate right near the front. I shudder to think what was near the back). But the main problem was the kitchen's location. It was in the basement. No problem, you think, I'll just take the stairs. But no. There are no stairs. Seriously. So you have to wait for one of only two elevators, and ride around for a few minutes before you can get it to go down, while all the angry tired elevator-riders who have been trying to go up all glare at you. I never imagined I would be so put off by elevators. So -- nice location, nice views, but really really ludicrously bad elevators.

Very clean. Sort of awful location. Not overly friendly staff. Good food. Beds are okay, bathrooms okay. The design is a bit weird though and they plastered the word "Great" all over the place to convince you that you are having a "Great" experience when in fact the experience is, as I said, average.

I have mixed feelings about this place. Location is great (five or ten minutes walk from train station, right on a canal), the place is pretty clean. But, the reception people, in my opinion, aren't very nice or, well, competent. We booked two nights in June, and showed up a bit early. No big deal, they have a huge luggage storage room. However, evidently when the girl checked us in, she put it in the computer as July 7th and 8th instead of june. As a result, we had a hard time convincing the guy we were dealing with hours later that we were actually there on the right day. Ugh. To top it off, they lost our HI cards! Good thing we didn't have to leave our passports with them! Besides this, our room itself was a little messy. evidently they didn't clean up after the people who stayed there before us. The one bathroom for ten people thing didn't really come into play because the first night it was just me and my friend, and the next it was like six people total. But, the elevator wait times are a bit of a hassle. Anyway, to sum it up, I wouldn't tell anyone not to go to this place, just to use a little caution and don't let the reception workers rush you through just because there's a line forming!

It wasn't the cheapest (included all sorts of added fees, but isn't that the Danish way?) and the atmosphere wasn't all that cozy (it was more like a hotel than a hostel), but it was more than convenient. It's approximately 3 blocks from the train station and right in the heart of the city. It being a HI you can also be assured of high quality facilities.

I stayed here from September 7 to 11, 2005. PLUSES: The location is perfect, in the middle of the center of Copenhagen. Everything is within walking distance. It is just 15 minute walking (with your bags) from the bus or train station. The hostel is brand new, so there are no squeaking beds, and so on. It is a so-called DESIGN hotel and everything looks perfect — the beds, the tables, and the lamps are in a sort of IKEA-style. I love it! The hostel stands on the riverside and on the 9th floor I had a room with a view. The hostel is open 24 hours a days and that it is nice when you arrive or leave at unusual times. You pay extra for breakfast (all you can eat) and sheets. In total is not cheap, but Copenhagen (Denmark) is not cheap. And for IYHF terms it is pretty average. For dinner you also pay a lot, but there are many cheaper alternatives in town. I guess it must be a pretty safe hostel. My Japanese roommate had on arrival a laptop, a digital camera and several cards and an exclusive phone. And he still has them. But that says maybe more about our roommates. MINUSES: It disturbed me that the large window at hip-height in my room on the 9th floor could be opened all the way. The door of the rooms has a feather so it slams all day and all night, and that could be bad for your hours of sleep. There is one toilet and one shower (in one bathroom) in the room for 10 people (behind one room number goes a room for 4 and 6 people) so you have to be patient. You have to wait in line for a shower, or brushing your teeth or to have some water for tea or coffee. Aaargh. There are four elevators and at times it is very, very, very busy. It takes more patience. You could walk the stairs, but walking to the 9th floor is not an option. Conclusion: For myself it is the most beautiful and best located IYHF hostel in Europe, but the bathroom and the elevators really annoyed me. GOOD!