Historic Danish beach hotel reopens as luxury stay in old artist colony

A 1935 beach hotel that once housed soldiers and later served as a hospital has reopened as Denmark's newest luxury escape.

The five-star CORI Hornbæk Hotel welcomed guests in late September with 77 rooms and five townhouses in the village of Hornbæk. Five-star is the top end of hotel ratings, a promise of full service, restaurants and wellness facilities. The townhouses sit alongside the main building and offer more house-like stays for families and small groups.

The building was designed by Ole Falkentorp in 1935 as a badehotel, the Danish term for a beach hotel built for summer stays by the sea. It was occupied by Nazi soldiers during the Second World War and later converted into a hospital, according to The Art Newspaper. Developer Jesper Brunander and his property group Copi acquired it in 2022 and oversaw its return to hotel use. That history gives the address more than 90 years of continuous change, from holidays to war to healthcare and back to holidays.

Hornbæk lies on the eastern coast of Zealand, about a 45-minute drive north of Copenhagen. That puts it within easy weekend reach of the Danish capital. The town sits in North Zealand, an area promoted to visitors as the Danish Riviera for its sandy beaches and summer houses.

Painters got there first. In the late 19th century, a group of painters including Peder Krøyer gathered in Hornbæk, drawn by its exceptional light. Such gatherings are called artist colonies, informal hubs where artists live and work close together for a season. Hornbæk was one of several places on Denmark's coasts where that light pulled artists outdoors.

The new hotel is built around that coastal appeal. It offers a seaside getaway with a spa, a space devoted to pools, heat rooms and treatments for rest, as listed by VisitDenmark. It is also part of Leading Hotels of the World, a network for independent luxury hotels, as reported by Forbes. Membership of that group signals a certain price level and style of service to international travellers.

What makes this stand out for travellers is the layering. A favourite summer address became a wartime base, then a place of care, and now a place to stay again. The light that once brought the painters is still the main attraction.