“The bar is the heart of any Brøchner property and the bar counter doubles as front desk – yes, about one percent of guests do not like this, but everyone else appreciates the familiarity, with a cosy library area to one side,” says Karim Nielsen, CEO of Brøchner Hotels, headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The library is used for relaxing and informal meetings day and evening long, and at cocktail hour there is complimentary wine, an idea that Nielsen admits he copied from Kimpton. Brøchner, however, goes two steps further. Its wines, poured from 5 to 6 p.m., are bespoke, One labels from the Portuguese winery Adega Mayor. In addition, from 10 to 11 p.m., there is a Night Cap Hour of free late-night drinks, as many as you like, sampling unusual bottles that the CEO has probably brought back from his travels to Jamaica or wherever. It seems Brøchner followers are in the main social animals, and they do not spend unnecessary time in their bedrooms.
“At Hotel Herman K, Copenhagen, our 31 bedrooms start from 180 square feet, and they all feature magnificent statement beds, custom-made in Denmark (they cost a fortune),” said Nielsen. He wanted the beds to look like First Class airline seat-beds, with wrap-around metal-base leather bedheads that flow into two arms. On either side, these arms have fiber-optic lights, telephones, electric sockets and USB ports, plus Bose sound controls.
Brøchner Hotels, which was started by his parents in 1982 with a single 53-key property, has been owned since 2013 by Søren Brøchner, who as a passionate wood craftsman has a keen eye for conversion and construction as well as, fortunately, finance.
There are six open hotels (487 keys total), with two more to come, all in Denmark. Expansion is deliberately at walking, rather than running, pace, says Nielsen, who became CEO in 2010: He eschewed equity as he wanted freedom.
“Our specialty is taking unlikely buildings. Hotel Herman K, named for famed ceramicist Herman Kähler, 1846-1917, was Copenhagen’s main electricity transformer, built in 1963. We keep a building’s character,” he explained.
You enter Hotel Herman K to a 40-foot-high space with concrete side walls. One still bears, from its transformer days, the original ceiling-high pair of green metal doors. Ahead is an open-center counter that has a barista – plus check-in – and breakfast buffet. The hotel’s restaurant, to one side, is, as is the Brøchner wont, leased to an outside operator.
After Herman K, which opened in 2018, Nielsen turned to converting the famous Carlsberg brewery, a mile from Copenhagen’s main railroad station, into the 156-room Hotel Ottilia.
“Note we do not work with hotel brands, although they all court us. They are simply too expensive. OTAs may charge 20%, but if I pay that to get one Brazilian guest who later, by word-of-mouth and social media, helps open up a new market, I consider that extremely good value,” said this freedom lover.