Park Lane Copenhagen – a cinema's second act in Hellerup

On Strandvejen, Hellerup's seafront boulevard a few minutes north of Copenhagen, a single building has spent a century changing roles without losing its character. Since the 1920s, this address has served as a cultural and social hub – first as a local club, then as a cinema, and most recently as a well-known hotel. After an extensive renovation, Park Lane Copenhagen officially opened its doors on 15 January 2025, welcoming guests into a world where Danish design and cultural heritage intersect. The result is a 69-room boutique hotel, part of Small Luxury Hotels of the World, with three restaurants, a wine bar and a basement dining room that already carries its own MICHELIN star. The MICHELIN Guide gives Park Lane Copenhagen One Key, recognising a stay built on restraint rather than spectacle: restored stucco, salvaged chandeliers, and a quiet five-star service that rarely raises its voice.

01The house

The building Park Lane now occupies began life in the 1920s as Strand Teatret, where silent films flickered across the screen, and later a private members' club for the city's creatives, before spending decades as Hellerup's own local hotel. The transformation of this historic building was masterfully orchestrated by the renowned design studio &TEMPEL, led by the visionary Camilla van den Tempel. Her team worked to keep the building's own memory intact: beautifully restored high ceilings, intricate stucco detailing, and grand chandeliers repurposed from the former ballroom now preside over the lobby and suites that once formed its dance floor.

The palette follows the park across the road rather than any passing trend. Akin to the landmark Øregårdsparken park at its opposite, Park Lane is characterized by a natural palette of cream tones, deep browns and energetic splashes of green, with a relaxed blend of wood, brass, leather, marble and mohair throughout the rooms and public spaces. Bathrooms carry the same conviction, with custom-made furniture, handcrafted wallpapers, wooden chevron floors, and bathtubs from the Italian brand Antoniolupi behind doors that, not so long ago, led to rooms let out under an entirely different name.

02Rooms and suites

Sixty-nine rooms are arranged over three floors, graded from the compact Superior and Deluxe rooms at 17–19 m² through Executive Studios and Junior Suites to the 52 m² Executive Suite and, at the top, The Hilliger Master Suite at 74 m², each with a king or queen bed and a rainshower bathroom. It is here that the renovation's attention to fittings shows most clearly: in the Hilliger master suite, jet-black marble, a bathtub and twin washbasin complement a host of fixtures finished in radiant Brushed Brass, with a wall-mounted AXOR One thermostatic module, AXOR Starck hand-held shower and AXOR Citterio M bath spout, while the twin basins take AXOR Citterio C faucets with a textured handle.

Insider tip

Direct trains to Copenhagen Central; free parking on site; basement restaurant Parsley Salon holds a MICHELIN star.

Guests staying longer can book one of two serviced apartments, the 85 m² Park Studio or the 60 m² Robert's Studio, both built for an extended Hellerup stay rather than a single night.

03Where to eat

Breakfast, lunch and the hotel's main dinner service run through 2900 at Park Lane, led by chef Tom Fransson, where international flavors meet Nordic craftsmanship on a menu built for a relaxed pace, whether that is a business lunch or a long brunch on the restaurant's own terrace.

Next door, Rosé Rosé, awarded Best Lunch Restaurant in Copenhagen in 2024, presents a modern take on the traditional Danish lunch in an intimate setting, with classic French dishes such as steak frites, salade nicoise, tatare and profiteroles alongside the open sandwiches Hellerup has always ordered for lunch.

Down in the basement, Allan Schultz runs Parsley Salon, an intimate restaurant where beautifully crafted Danish oak furnishings sit beside shelves packed with cookery books, the walls covered in hand-painted English parsley wallpaper. Schultz, the chef behind the 1990s hotspot KONRAD and the iconic Café Victor, returned to the stove with his daughter Lola at his side; awarded a Michelin star in 2025, Parsley Salon is among Denmark's most intimate fine-dining restaurants, with only six tables. At the table, guests step into a world shaped by cold waters and wild ingredients prepared by the hands that gathered them, with the menu moving through forest floors and Nordic coastlines. It is one of the newer names in a city that, across the 2025 Guide, was awarded 30 Michelin stars across 18 restaurants, maintaining its position as the leading Michelin city in the Nordics.

04The bar

Park Lane's Wine Bar borrows its confidence from elsewhere in the city: the bar staff were poached from Copenhagen's famous champagne and cocktail address, Balthazar, and from behind the sleek marble bar they shake and stir all the classics, alongside more inventive sips. It is the room built for the hour after dinner, or for the guest who never quite made it to a table.

05Wellbeing

There is no traditional spa, but Park Lane runs its wellness offer as a menu of on-demand treatments rather than a fixed facility: among them The Glow Ritual, The Deep Cleanse, IV Treatments On Demand and The Recovery Recharge, each booked like a restaurant table and delivered to the room or a quiet corner of the hotel.

06The neighbourhood

Hellerup has always sat a half-step back from central Copenhagen, and Park Lane uses that distance well. The landmark Øregårdsparken park faces the hotel directly; the Øresund coast and Tuborg Harbour are a short walk away, and the hotel can be reached via a direct 15-minute train ride to Hellerup from Copenhagen Central Station. Embassies line the surrounding streets, a reminder that this was always an address for people who preferred their luxury unannounced.

07Making the most of a stay

Book Parsley Salon's six tables as early as the rest of the trip allows; the restaurant is open Wednesday to Sunday from 6pm to midnight, and its evening sittings fill long before the week does. Days are more forgiving: Restaurant 2900 serves breakfast from 7am to 10am, lunch from noon to 2pm and dinner from 6pm to 9.30pm, enough to carry a guest from an early walk by the coast to a late glass at the Wine Bar without needing to step outside once.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.