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Copenhagen? On a budget? It’s enough to make you spit your pastry across the room. Scandinavia’s hippest city is not known for being particularly price-conscious – not for hotels, not for design, and not for dinner. Instead, it’s more about value, which means really that you get what you pay for. But there’s not much on a Primark-style utter bargain level.
There’s very little in the under £100 per night price bracket, but if you can stretch to £150 per night, you’ll find a handful of budget design hotels and small hotels full of charm. For the best deals, travel during the week – like many city break spots, weekends are more expensive – and travel in the off-season. February is the low point for hotel rooms, according to Momondo. Also: book early, preferably three months ahead of travel. Danes love to be organised and forward planning is in their blood. Bag somewhere with a kitchen or self-catering facilities so you can reduce your food costs if you like – perhaps in one of the city’s many youth hostels.
How else to save money? Copenhagen is a small city and exploring it on foot costs nothing; you can also swim in the harbour swimming pools for free, walk up Copenhill’s crazy ski slope hiking route for free, and keep your costs down with communal dinners in spots like Absalon. Staying a little further out of the city centre will also save a krona or two.
These are our favourite budget hotels in Copenhagen.
Best affordable hotels in Copenhagen
1. Kanalhuset
There is so much charm at Kanalhuset that you won’t mind the simple rooms or slight boarding house feel. A historic house dating back to 1754 in glorious Christianshavn overlooking a canal, its cosy bar and communal dining restaurant are a draw for locals as well as visitors, and it has just 12 boutique bedrooms on the well-lit basement floor. It’s an option for families as well as groups: some rooms sleep up to five, and all are simply furnished with a bed, wardrobe rack and occasional furniture. Fourteen larger apartments on the upper floors also have a kitchenette, living room and dining area. Decor throughout has a boutique, reclaimed-retro vibe: pieces come from flea markets, private collections and auctions and include graphic print wall hangings and velvet-upholstered sofas. It’s the kind of place where you can live like a local and fit in with the rhythm of the city; it’s not for you if you want a lift and a lot of mod cons.
Address: Overgaden Oven Vandet 62a, Christianshavn
Read more: I took a family of four on a Copenhagen city break for under £1,000
2. Zoku Copenhagen
It takes guts to launch a new design hotel concept in Copenhagen, but that’s just what Dutch design brand Zoku did in 2021. Billed as a hybrid-hotel chain, it jived with the post-pandemic desire to have a work-from-home space (remember that?) and remains the best example of its type in the city. With a large, lush, communal bar-hangout-work space on the top floor, it attracts its fair share of digital nomads and solo travellers who gather for communal evening meals along long tables each night.
Instead of rooms, it has mini apartments: modular and spacious, they are set up like a studio apartment with a raised loft bed, plus a kitchen/ living room/dining room space with a four-seater table, and a bathroom. You can personalise the space by adding your own artwork from their collection. It’s spacious and fun with a lively international atmosphere, and works well if you’re coming to the city for a longer stay. The only rub is the location: it’s in the modern Ørestad area, a 10-15 metro ride from the heart of the city. But for this space and set up, it’s really great value.
Address: Amagerfælledvej 108, Amager Vest
Read more: How to spend a day in Carlsberg City District of Copenhagen
3. Scandic Kødbyen
A rule of thumb for Scandinavia: if you’re looking for a budget stay, think Scandic. The hotel chain is all over the place – there are 13 Scandics in Copenhagen itself – and offers reliably good value, well-kept hotels that do what it says on the tin. Great for families, often with bunk bed family rooms, they also welcome pets. Scandic Kødbyen, on the fringe of the city’s Meatpacking District, puts you in the heart of the action for bars and nightlife, such as it is in Copenhagen, and a short stroll from Vesterbro. It’s got a cocktail bar, hip gym and – veggies be warned – a lightly meaty vibe, with wall decorations in the bar celebrating slabs of marbled beef and marble slabs in the bathrooms, nodding to the butchers of the Meatpacking District. Rooms are comfortable and stylish, especially some of the family rooms which offer a kids’ lofted bed above the main bedroom.
Address: 3 Skelbækgade, Vesterbro
Read more: The ultimate foodie guide to Copenhagen
4. 66 Guldsmedan
The Danish Guldsmedan hotel chain is known for its eco-appeal: responsibly sourced and cleaned bed linens, fantastic locally-sourced organic breakfasts and eco-certifications flung around like confetti. They’re also styled with a Balinese vibe, rather than a more serious Danish Design style, marking them out from most of the city’s boutique hotels – expect flowing curtains and dark wood four poster beds. In the middle of Vesterbro, this 74-roomed hotel has Airstream caravans parked in the inner courtyard, and an optimistic orangerie for an exotic feel. The cheapest bedrooms are the smallest of course, but they’re still pretty, with four poster beds, Moroccan-style kilim rugs and modern white-tiled shower bathrooms. Check out is at 12, over an hour later than many hotels in this city.
Address: Vesterbrogade 66, Vesterbro
Read more: Best hotels in Copenhagen for stylish city centre stays that suit all budgets
5. Motel One Copenhagen
Motel One styles itself as a modern interpretation of a Mid Century design hotel, but what’s really great about this place, beyond the price, is the location. It’s right in the middle of the city, steps from the Town Hall, the National Museum, Christiansborg Castle and only a short walk from boat tours at Nyhavn. Bedrooms are minimal and simple, with peacock-patterned bed covers – perhaps a reference to the peacocks you’ll find strutting the grounds at nearby Tivoli Gardens – but otherwise sensible neutrals, navys and pinks, all in keeping with the Danish Mid Century design theme. It’s also a spot in the city where you can find a compact single room – they are few and far between. A simple breakfast room, dimly-lit bar and green garden courtyard round the hotel out.
Address: Løngangstræde 27, Copenhagen
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6. Ibis Styles
Bright and cheerful, Ibis Styles is a budget design hotel in the Orestad area of the city, a short 15-minute metro ride from the airport and the city centre, with a metro stop down the street. While it feels a little out of the action, it’s easy to get into the city’s cobbled streets and it costs a fraction of the price of the hotels that lie along them. The decor is fresh and fun, featuring neon lights and graffiti in the main lobby/lounge area, and delightful nature-inspired wallpaper throughout. Bedrooms look out onto Copenhagen’s largest green space, Amager Fælled, a heath-like area criss-crossed with walking and cycling paths. The neighbouring streets are a bit charmless but there’s an exceptional bakery, Andersen, just next door and it’s easy to use the hotel as a base to explore the rest of the city, by bike (which can be rented from the hotel) if you like.
Address: 47 Orestads Boulevard, Amager Vest
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7. CPH Living Hotel
Houseboat living is a feature of this waterfront city and you can experience it yourself at CPH Living, a maritime-styled 12-room boat hotel just off Islands Brygge in the heart of the city’s harbourside district. The converted barge is a quirky and fun place to stay – sit on the rooftop terrace and admire the panorama of buildings, ancient and modern, along the harbour beside you as little boats and friendly kayakers make their way up and down it. Bedrooms are simple with wooden floors and coastal colours, plus hidden storage and showers with a view of the sea, and are available as singles or doubles. The communal lobby also acts as a breakfast room; the main delight is that in summer, you can sun yourself on the rooftop and then take a short stroll along to the harbour swimming pool for a dip.
Address: Langebrogade 1A, Copenhagen K
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8. Generator Hostel
Just off the old town and some of its loveliest streets, a short walk from Kongens Nytorv and the colourful Nyhavn harbour, this hostel is in a great location, especially if you like bar hopping in the evening. It gives a bit more than you might expect from a hostel: bedrooms, especially the eight-bed dorms, are relatively standard, but the communal spaces bring the place alive. The main bar area is full of energy: design-led, colourful and welcoming, it includes a petanque court and shuffleboard centre. Stumble down the street after a few cocktails to get a Gasoline Grill burger for a late night snack. It’s not just for gaggles of twentysomethings, the hostel has a full range of family rooms (though it can be noisy at night) sleeping four and private double rooms as well as its four, six and eight bed dorms.
Address: Adelgade 5-7, Copenhagen
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9. Copenhagen Island
A stroll along the harbourside promenade to the south in a somewhat quieter part of Copenhagen, this L-shaped modern hotel has fantastic water views from its 326 rooms. Favoured by business travellers as well as holidaymakers, it makes the most of its artificial island setting and Danishness with rooms that reference the swoop of a sailboat’s sail, yacht-like rosewood mini bars and metallic ship masts in the bedside table. The design is supremely calming, using a pale duck egg blue that nods to the sea and sky outside. Rooms aren’t the largest – something you’ll find all over the city – and in some cases just about squeeze in the beds with space to walk around them, but you can upgrade to an executive or junior suite to get more space and a balcony. Location is important: here, you’re a short stroll from the Meatpacking District for dinner, and then back to this ultra quiet spot for a good night’s sleep.
Address: Kalvebod Brygge 53, Vesterbro
Read more: Denmark travel guide – everything you need to know before you go
10. Wake Up Copenhagen
The best of Wake Up Copenhagen’s mini chain of basic budget hotels in central Copenhagen, location-wise, is the one on Bernstorffsgade. It is a towering concrete building with 585 rooms set over 11 floors, located between the harbour and central station, down the street from Tivoli Gardens. Rooms are simple, white and clean, with graphic design-style curtains giving a little pop of colour. The hotel itself isn’t packed with charming features, but at these prices, with this location, it hardly matters. What you get by staying here is access to everything in the city and money in your pocket to do that. If what you need is a safe, clean bed for the night and aren’t looking for mod cons, and extras, this place does the job well. Standard rooms are on the lower floors and are the cheapest, while those towards the top of the 11-storey building have better views and cost more. As well as double rooms, triple and family rooms that sleep four are also available. You can also rent bikes and there is a basic 24-hour cafe in the lobby.
Address: Bernstorffsgade, Copenhagen
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11. Danhostel CPH City
There’s no getting away from the fact that this hotel is on one of the city’s busiest roads, but it’s also steps from the harbour and at a pocket-friendly price. It’s a big hostel – 192 rooms – and works well if you’re travelling solo, as a group or with family, offering triples, four bed rooms, small apartments and family rooms. There’s a bar and a breakfast buffet plus kitchen and laundry facilities, and pets are welcome. It’s not the most characterful of places, but the views from the top – this hostel has a huge 17 floors – take in the entire harbour.
Address: H. C. Andersens Blvd 50, Copenhagen
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