Hotel Skt Petri

In downtown Copenhagen's Latin quarter, just off the Strøget (the famed shoppers' walk), is the Hotel Skt. Petri. The very large building was previously home to the Daells Varehus department store, and the hotel's exterior retains the quaint, retro-futuristic look of the 75-year-old building.

The interiors are more modern, and the rooms are the perfect picture of the contemporary Scandinavian hotel room, from the blonde hardwood floors and eccentric-yet-sensible furniture to the golden sunlight streaming at a sharp angle through the windows. The color schemes are by renowned Danish graphic artist Per Arnoldi, whose characteristic blocks of colored fabric hang above the headboards.

Though a large hotel, with 288 rooms, Skt. Petri feels cozy and amiable, with the kind of personal service and unique detail that one expects from a little 30-room boutique. The old Scandinavian ideal of functional design for the masses is very much at work here — this is a comfortable and well-put-together hotel, from the humblest double room to the rooftop suite with its enormous open terrace.