Review: Hotel Petra

From the street, Petra holds itself with real confidence. The address, beside King’s Garden and within easy reach of Rosenborg, Nyhavn and the tighter weave of streets around Dronningens Tværgade, clearly helps.

After being there, though, what is most remarkable is the building itself. Petra occupies a 1943 Kay Fisker property within the wider Dronningegården complex and was formerly known as Guest House Christian IV. This is not a random shell with good bones. It is a serious piece of Copenhagen architecture given a fresh public role.

That matters because Fisker matters. He was one of the architects who shaped Danish functionalism into something more grounded, humane and durable than a style exercise. His work is often described as restrained, site-specific and socially oriented modernism, where materials, layout and urban context carry real weight. You feel that at Petra. The proportions are calm, the atmosphere has structure and the building does much of the work before the interiors even enter the picture.

Warmed up functionalism

This is also why the project makes sense for &Tradition. The brand has built its identity around the dialogue between Danish design history and contemporary life, and here that idea is given a full building to work with.

Original terrazzo floors, handcrafted bannisters, brass fittings and curved wooden details have been kept in play, while the interiors fold in furniture and lighting with enough confidence to sharpen the atmosphere rather than flatten it into styling. The result is warm, yes, though not in the usual boutique-hotel way. It feels inhabited, socially switched on and grounded in the city around it.

The staff help seal it. What we noticed was an ease that never tipped into slackness: friendly, sharp and fully in command of the room. Petra understands something plenty of design hotels still miss. Good furniture is not enough. The place has to carry people properly, too.

Life on the ground floor

At the centre of the hotel is Petra Bar & Restaurant, which is clearly meant to do more than simply serve hotel guests. Officially, it runs from breakfast and lunch through to dinner, with coffee, cocktails and wine throughout the day, and the hotel frames it as a place for locals and travellers alike. That all sounds sensible. A hotel like Petra needs some social pulse at ground-floor level.

During our stay, the lobby cum reception cum bar area felt busy and fun with guests checking in and out and locals having cocktails and meals against a backdrop of loungey music.

Admittedly, we did not have our evening meal in-house, but the restaurant menu is curated and offers both a tasting menu and a la carte options with snacks such as oysters and duck liver toast, starters and mains with vegetarian options, as well as fish and meat.

We did enjoy our breakfast, which is served from an à la carte menu – a refreshing experience and welcome alternative to the busy buffet-style breakfasts that are de rigeur in many Nordic hotels. We each had a cup of flat white coffee, which honestly could have some more oompf to it. Still feeling the filling meal from the night before, we opted for the same bowl of delicious overnight oats with yoghurt, poached pear, almond butter and granola. Apart from an extensive list of hot and cold beverages such as various coldpressed juices and shots, other breakfast options include a charcuterie plate, croissants and breads, organic eggs, pancakes and more. Next time we’ll try more.