SAS Royal Hotel: Birthplace of The Swan and The Egg

SAS Royal Hotel, now the Radisson Collection Royal Hotel, was Denmark’s first skyscraper and a sci-fi “travel machine” for SAS passengers. Today, the building is renowned for its iconic architecture and the comprehensive furniture design by Arne Jacobsen.

The SAS Hotel was truly sophisticated. There was a travel agency, bank and car rental company. There was a booking office and a super-fast shuttle service from the cocktail lounge to the airport. But craziest of all was the state-of-the-art computer that could say in a split second exactly how many seats were available on a given flight.

From the outside, the building stands out sharply against the sky: towering, symmetrical and strong. But if you stand at a distance and let your eyes glide along the facade, you may notice something else. There is an almost unnaturally delicate element in the spot where the long bands of windows meet at each corner. You can just imagine what the view must be like.

Finesse Down to the Smallest Detail

Arne Jacobsen designed every single detail: the colors, furniture, door handles, lamps, silverware, ashtrays and curtain tassels. Everything! With the exception of the lighting in part of the foyer, which was pure white due to fluorescent tubes. He wasn’t happy about that, but tolerated it because the hotel was more than a hotel. It was an airport terminal for SAS travelers.

Arne Jacobsen’s exceptional designs were not fully appreciated for a couple of decades, so the hotel lost some of its original pieces. However, today, you can again experience his iconic designs with the organic contours at the exclusive hotel.

Facts:

• The SAS Hotel (now Radison Collection Royal Hotel) is nearly 70 meters high, and with its 22 floors it was the highest in Denmark when it was built in 1960. There are 261 rooms.
• At the top of the hotel, there was once a public restaurant, but today, you’ll find a large panoramic suite with a 180-degree view of the city.
• Arne Jacobsen build the SAS Hotel based on inspiration from Lever House in Manhattan, New York.
• Internationally recognized design icons, like The Egg, The Swan and The Drop, were designed specifically for the hotel. Today, only Room 606 remains almost as it was in 1960. The only differences are that the room’s furnishings have been slightly rearranged. The 3300 chairs were not originally part of the hotel room, and the curtains have been replaced. Instead, the room originally featured three Egg chairs, a Swan sofa, and a medium-height table specially designed to complement the Egg chair.
• You might know the building with the large SAS letters as the “SAS Hotel” or “SAS Royal Hotel.” Officially, the building has been called Radisson SAS Royal Hotel since 1994, after SAS purchased shares in Radisson Hotels. Today, the building is named Radisson Collection Royal Hotel.
• In 2001, German-Iranian designer Yasmine Mahmoudieh renovated the hotel, reintroducing the original furniture, which had been phased out for a period of time when their value was underrated.
• SAS Royal Hotel has been listed in 2024 and will be preserved as a part of Denmark’s cultural heritage.

Nearby:

Experience the ultimate contrast to this modernist hotel with a visit to Copenhagen City Hall just a few hundred meters away. The city hall was created by Martin Nyrop 60 years before the SAS Hotel and was designed in just as much detail as the hotel – only with an entirely different love of carvings and opulence. Admission is free, and it is open to the public during the day.

On the corner near Tivoli, there is a food hall with street food vendors, where you can take cover from the wind and rain. The atmosphere is not as urban as one might wish, but you will be greeted by a warm informality and a wide range of options for grabbing a meal without maxing out your credit card.