Review: AC Hotel By Marriott Copenhagen Bella Sky

Review: AC Hotel By Marriott Copenhagen Bella Sky

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NAME: AC Hotel by Marriott Bella Sky Copenhagen
LOCATION: Copenhagen, Denmark
DATE: February 2022
REVIEW RATING:
BEN SAYS: The AC Hotel Copenhagen is close to the airport, is affordable, and has a good breakfast buffet. Just keep in mind this is an 800+ room hotel intended for conferences.
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We had a two night stopover in Copenhagen, and decided to stay at the AC Hotel Bella Sky. This hotel has 814 rooms and is geared toward conferences, so obviously this wasn’t going to be the most charming place to stay. However, it was located close to the airport, I’ve never reviewed an AC Hotel before, and it was also pretty affordable.

How I booked my stay at AC Hotel Copenhagen

For our two night stay, the AC Hotel Copenhagen had a breakfast inclusive rate for $140 per night. This was my far the most affordable points hotel option I could find in Copenhagen. As a point of comparison, the Marriott was more than twice as expensive.

If redeeming points, a stay would have cost 25,000 Bonvoy points per night not including breakfast. Based on my valuation of 0.7 cents per Marriott Bonvoy point, paying cash was the better deal.

AC Hotel Copenhagen location

The AC Hotel Copenhagen is located adjacent to Bella Center, Scandinavia’s largest conference center. Even though Denmark has lifted virtually all coronavirus restrictions, suffice it to say that conference business hasn’t fully recovered, so the area was eerily empty.

The AC Hotel is a roughly 10 minute drive from the airport (which costs around $30 in a taxi). There’s also a train, but it requires a bit of walking to get to the station.

The hotel is hard to miss — it’s massive, and has two towers containing rooms, with a bridge connecting the two structures.

AC Hotel Copenhagen exterior
AC Hotel Copenhagen signage
AC Hotel Copenhagen entrance

AC Hotel Copenhagen check-in & lobby

The AC Hotel seemed to be very quiet, which didn’t really surprise us. Reception was located just inside the entrance to the hotel and to the left, and the front desk associate who helped us was friendly. My friend and I are both Bonvoy Titanium members, and both of our rooms got upgraded to junior corner suites.

Our rates included breakfast, and then for our welcome amenity we could select either 500 Bonvoy points or a $10 daily food & beverage credit, so we selected the latter.

AC Hotel Copenhagen reception

The lobby is quite spacious, given that there’s a staircase leading to the second level, where two of the other food & beverage outlets are located, as well as a bridge leading to the other tower.

AC Hotel Copenhagen lobby
AC Hotel Copenhagen lobby

Soon enough we had keys in hand and headed to our rooms.

AC Hotel Copenhagen junior corner suite

I was assigned room 1420, located on the 14th floor in the first tower. The elevators were located in the very back of the lobby.

AC Hotel Copenhagen elevators

I can’t say my first impression heading up to the room was great… here’s what the elevator looked like.

AC Hotel Copenhagen elevator

The hallways weren’t much more inspiring.

AC Hotel Copenhagen hallway

My room was located at the end of the hallway on the left.

AC Hotel Copenhagen room exterior

By comparison to the elevators and hallway, the room kind of impressed me. The interior was simple but well maintained. I think it might be a bit of a stretch to call this a junior suite, but I also know that in Northern Europe a lot of rooms are compact. The room had a desk with chair at one end, a chair in the corner, a loveseat facing a TV in the middle of the room, and then a queen bed at the other end of the room.

AC Hotel Copenhagen junior suite living area
AC Hotel Copenhagen junior suite living area
AC Hotel Copenhagen junior suite desk
AC Hotel Copenhagen junior suite living area

The mattress was incredibly thin — maybe a couple of inches thick — but despite that I slept like a baby.

AC Hotel Copenhagen junior suite bed

Back near the entrance was a luggage rack, as well as a closet.

AC Hotel Copenhagen junior suite closet

There was an empty mini-fridge, plus a kettle with instant coffee and tea.

AC Hotel Copenhagen junior suite mini-fridge
AC Hotel Copenhagen junior suite tea & coffee

The room also had its own air conditioning, which worked reasonably well. Then there was a “press for rescue” button.

AC Hotel Copenhagen junior suite air conditioning

I liked the amount of natural light that the room had, and there was even a view of the airport in the distance.

AC Hotel Copenhagen junior suite view
AC Hotel Copenhagen junior suite view

The bathroom was also near the entrance, and was simple and functional — it had a sink, toilet, and walk-in shower. There was a partial glass partition separating the shower from the rest of the bathroom, but a bit of water still easily got into the rest of the bathroom.

AC Hotel Copenhagen junior suite bathroom
AC Hotel Copenhagen junior suite bathroom

Toiletries were in AC-branded tubes.

AC Hotel Copenhagen junior suite toiletries

Wi-Fi in the room was fast and free. Overall I thought the room was pretty good.

AC Hotel Copenhagen gym

The AC Hotel has a spa and gym in the second tower on the ground floor. You can access this via a walkway one level above the lobby, which connects the two towers.

AC Hotel Copenhagen hallway

Or if you prefer to go the long way, you could take the bridge on the 23rd floor.

AC Hotel Copenhagen hallway

In front of the spa and gym area was a replica of the building… it seems they’re proud of the design!

AC Hotel Copenhagen replica

While the spa is temporarily closed, the gym could be accessed by guests 24/7, and was pretty decent. It didn’t get very full, but I’d imagine if this hotel ever gets busy again, this gym would be beyond packed, given the number of rooms.

AC Hotel Copenhagen gym
AC Hotel Copenhagen gym
AC Hotel Copenhagen gym
AC Hotel Copenhagen gym
AC Hotel Copenhagen gym

AC Hotel Copenhagen AC Lounge

The AC Hotel Copenhagen has the AC Lounge on the ground floor, which is the hotel’s lobby bar. I liked the green wall behind the bar, and found it to be pretty cute. There’s also a dining area, but at the moment there’s a very limited menu here, presumably due to lack of demand.

AC Hotel Copenhagen AC Lounge
AC Hotel Copenhagen AC Lounge
AC Hotel Copenhagen AC Lounge
AC Hotel Copenhagen AC Lounge
AC Hotel Copenhagen AC Lounge

We did have a credit to spend here, so in the morning I had a cappuccino and a water, and in the evening had some cocktails, which were quite good.

AC Hotel Copenhagen AC Lounge drinks
AC Hotel Copenhagen AC Lounge drinks

It was pretty quiet here in general, with the exception of one conversation that I overheard…

The AC Hotel also has a market where you can buy snacks, drinks, and other supplies. A couple of notes:

  • Annoyingly the hotel doesn’t offer complimentary toothpaste, but rather you have to buy it in the store; I’ve always found that even limited service properties have toothpaste for free, so is this an AC thing, or a Denmark thing?
  • They had some pretty mediocre wine for $45 per bottle, so we ended up going to a supermarket and buying three bottles of wine, two meals, and all kinds of snacks, for roughly the same amount
AC Hotel Copenhagen market
AC Hotel Copenhagen market
AC Hotel Copenhagen market

AC Hotel Copenhagen BM Restaurant (breakfast)

BM Restaurant is the AC Hotel’s breakfast restaurant, open daily from 6:30AM until 11AM. I try not to have juvenile humor (sometimes), but… am I the only one who finds that to be a strange name for a restaurant?

AC Hotel Copenhagen BM Restaurant signage
AC Hotel Copenhagen BM Restaurant

The restaurant is large, and has plenty of seating. The only other guests in the restaurant were an airline crew that was headed to Greenland and back for the day. I’ll let y’all guess which airline they worked for (I was super jealous of their flight and wish I could have tagged along!). “Guess what airline this crew works for” is basically my version of Wordle, and this one took a bit of work!

AC Hotel Copenhagen BM Restaurant seating
AC Hotel Copenhagen BM Restaurant seating
AC Hotel Copenhagen BM Restaurant seating
AC Hotel Copenhagen BM Restaurant seating

I’ve gotta say, I’m not usually a huge fan of Northern Europe breakfasts, but I found the buffet to be excellent, with lots of yogurt, fruit, eggs, etc.

AC Hotel Copenhagen breakfast buffet
AC Hotel Copenhagen breakfast buffet
AC Hotel Copenhagen breakfast buffet
AC Hotel Copenhagen breakfast buffet
AC Hotel Copenhagen breakfast buffet
AC Hotel Copenhagen breakfast buffet
AC Hotel Copenhagen breakfast buffet

Breakfast ordinarily costs 185DKK (~$27) per person, so it was quite a deal that we got a rate that included it.

For what it’s worth, the AC Hotel also has two other dining outlets:

  • There’s Basalt, which is intended to be more of a “fine dining” experience, but we weren’t really interested in that, especially in a deserted conference hotel
  • There’s Sukaiba, the rooftop bar, though it was closed on the days that we were there

Bottom line

The AC Hotel Copenhagen did the trick for our needs. The hotel was affordable, had a good breakfast buffet, and was fairly close to the airport. The hotel was also almost completely empty, so that helped to make it pleasant. I was also happy to experience the AC brand, finally.

Of course the catch is that this is a conference hotel, so ordinarily I imagine this hotel would be packed, and I’d never stay here if my intention were to sightsee. I could only imagine staying at this hotel otherwise if I were attending a conference at Bella Center.

If you’ve stayed at an AC property, what was your experience like?

Conversations (28)
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  1. Susanne McLaughlin Guest

    We stayed at the AC hotel in 2019 for 3 nights and loved it. Short walk to public transportation into the city, we went every day with day passes and explored different areas. You can even use some of the boats with a day pass. Nice hotel, great views from our room, free airport shuttle ... and about half the price than any other Marriott property. We would definitely stay there again.

  2. miamiorbust Guest

    This is an example of where loyalty is a disservice. If for some reason you insist on staying in this area (apart from attending a conference) the crowne plaza is incrementally closer to airport and in a meaningfully more interesting area with access to some murmur of life near the mall. Stay there vs being "loyal" to marriott. Having said that, if you are not inclined to take the train and will be taking a...

    This is an example of where loyalty is a disservice. If for some reason you insist on staying in this area (apart from attending a conference) the crowne plaza is incrementally closer to airport and in a meaningfully more interesting area with access to some murmur of life near the mall. Stay there vs being "loyal" to marriott. Having said that, if you are not inclined to take the train and will be taking a taxi anyway, go the extra 15-20 minutes toward city center. And skip the big chain hotels. City has so many interesting places to stay run by local/regional chains and also independent hotels. Nearly all of Scandinavia is a loyalty wasteland, at least for global chains. This is an example of what makes sense for a blog review likely does not make sense for most people unless using points is the only realistic path to affording a hotel stay. Honestly, if I didn't have much money I'd still probably take a hostel in city center over this hotel

    1. Peter Zeuthen Guest

      Crown Plaza, AC Bella Sky and Marriott are all owned by the same (new) owners.
      AC Bella Sky has a fantastic restaurant, Basalt, where our order for a 7-course dinner somehow became a 13-course dinner, all pre-Covid. What a treat, incl a tour of the kitchen with the chef.
      In-town Marriott has lost a lot of its earlier upscale ambiance and as stated in the blog, prices are much higher.
      I am...

      Crown Plaza, AC Bella Sky and Marriott are all owned by the same (new) owners.
      AC Bella Sky has a fantastic restaurant, Basalt, where our order for a 7-course dinner somehow became a 13-course dinner, all pre-Covid. What a treat, incl a tour of the kitchen with the chef.
      In-town Marriott has lost a lot of its earlier upscale ambiance and as stated in the blog, prices are much higher.
      I am Lifetime Titanium but do try other local chains in Copenhagen, like Arp-Hansen Group's excellent collection, from WakeUp to the Phoenix.

  3. Felix Guest

    I am not surprised that you did choose the AC Hotel. I stayed at the nearby Crowne Plaza a day or two later.

    They give upgrades to points bookings (which is ruled out by IHG Rewards T&Cs).

    I ended up in a King Lounge Room (usual upgrade for Spire Elite) for 23.000 points. Cash was around 165 USD. So a pretty decent deal.

    They have a small lounge happy hour with many several wines...

    I am not surprised that you did choose the AC Hotel. I stayed at the nearby Crowne Plaza a day or two later.

    They give upgrades to points bookings (which is ruled out by IHG Rewards T&Cs).

    I ended up in a King Lounge Room (usual upgrade for Spire Elite) for 23.000 points. Cash was around 165 USD. So a pretty decent deal.

    They have a small lounge happy hour with many several wines and beers. However, almost no food. My friend would have paid a fortune for the drinks otherwise.

    As breakfast is not served in the lounge, you get the regular breakfast at the restaurant.

  4. John N Hyde Guest

    Stayed here in 2019 and loved it. Easy walk to train to get to the city plus airport. And there are some cute, funky local cafes within walking distance.

  5. Drew Guest

    What a soulless hotel. I get that you were doing a review and that was the cheapest redemption in Copenhagen, but for two nights it seems like it was too much.

    Even on one night layovers with an early flight the next day, I stay in the city centre which is only 15-20 minutes on the metro (runs 24 hours). Copenhagen is such a nice city and with the great transport links there is really no need to stay at an airport hotel.

  6. JOHN B Guest

    I stayed at this hotel back in 2012 before it was an AC hotel and enjoyed my stay. Just looked at the photos I took of my room which is exactly the same as the one in your photo only it didn't have the sofa, but the same corner room, desk, chair, bed and bathroom and back then it was not a junior suite it was just a superior or deluxe room. I guess the sofa makes it a junior suite.

    1. Peter Guest

      What!? I also stayed in the same room last month, which also had the sofa. However, my room was not upgraded to a suite (not shown in app). Maybe I missed something...

  7. MelH Guest

    What a treat to have a review of this hotel just days before I arrive there for a convention! Thank you for the great review and tips!

  8. Suning Guest

    I was expecting a review of Nobis or The Socialist. This is the most boring Marriott option in cph and bets me why anyone would stay here unless attending a conference.

  9. FLLFLYER Guest

    Was there prune juice on the buffet at the BM restaurant?

  10. dander Guest

    Should have tried the crown plaza. A few dollars for the shuttle and the train is a short walk. Food is better.

  11. Randy Diamond

    Interesting hotel, have seen it many time going out of the airport on the bus (but the train is quicker to train station). But as pointed out - not a good location if you want to do sights and night life in downtown. Mostly stay at Marriott. Have stayed at the tall Radisson (megado) over the bridge - but you can still walk over the bridge to get downtown. I would certainly look for a lower budget hotel in town if Marriott is too high.

  12. karl_nj New Member

    I've stayed in this area (at the Crown Plaza) for sightseeing and found it very convenient. Between the metro line and the s-train, it was quick and easy to get to most areas and its near a mall with a supermarket.

  13. Clem Diamond

    Honestly, the room looks so much better than the ones in your review of the Chedi, hah! Would be curious to know why you decided not to stay in the city since you were there for a couple of nights, Copenhagen being a really awesome city.

  14. Endre Guest

    “In front of the spa and gym area was a replica of the building… it seems they’re proud of the design!” — it’s made of 100,000+ Lego bricks (Danish company), Ben. I remember the model, I stayed there once too.

  15. Erica T Member

    I've stayed at this hotel so many times for conferences (pre-covid of course). The hotel is fine - never felt over crowded to me.

    Of the 100s of conferences that bar stands out as being very accommodating of large groups, staying past close, all with separate checks. For the record, they had their plant wall before centurion lounges were everywhere.

    I think the location for tourism is a good balance between price and convenience. As...

    I've stayed at this hotel so many times for conferences (pre-covid of course). The hotel is fine - never felt over crowded to me.

    Of the 100s of conferences that bar stands out as being very accommodating of large groups, staying past close, all with separate checks. For the record, they had their plant wall before centurion lounges were everywhere.

    I think the location for tourism is a good balance between price and convenience. As others have mentioned, the train is a few hundred yards walk and then a few stops to the city. Very nearby is a mall, restaurants, and a grocery store.

  16. DENDAVE Member

    The plant wall looks identical to the ones found in Centurion lounges. I wonder if there was any cross inspiration.

    1. FNT Delta Diamond Guest

      It's just in fashion at the moment. Westin newly built and renovated properties all have feature plant walls in the lobby.

  17. AJ Member

    I've stayed at this hotel quite a few times and a few thoughts...

    "The AC Hotel is a roughly 10 minute drive from the airport (which costs around $30 in a taxi). There’s also a train, but it requires a bit of walking to get to the station."

    The train station is, literally, at the end of the property. In fact, you can see the station in your picture of the parking lot (walking maybe...

    I've stayed at this hotel quite a few times and a few thoughts...

    "The AC Hotel is a roughly 10 minute drive from the airport (which costs around $30 in a taxi). There’s also a train, but it requires a bit of walking to get to the station."

    The train station is, literally, at the end of the property. In fact, you can see the station in your picture of the parking lot (walking maybe ~2 football fields?) It's also super cheap (like $2?) to get to the airport and the train drops you in the basement of the airport. Super convenient! Additionally, I'm not sure if the hotel airport shuttle is still available (given covid) but they had a complimentary shuttle (for guests) at one point. I had to ask the from desk bc they didn't make it well known.

    I'm not sure if the pool is considered "the spa" but it's unfortunate that you weren't able to access it. It's heated and experiencing it (particularly in the middle of the winter) is a treat.

    You are correct in the fact that "point hotels" are hard to come by in the city. This hotel sits in between the city and the airport. It's far enough from the city that once you visit the city the first day, you're unlikely to visit it again. lol

  18. FNT Delta Diamond Guest

    Wow. It looks like they spent all the money on designing the exterior architecture and nothing on the interior, at least the hallways and guest rooms. Am I the only one who thinks the guest rooms like a college dorm or even a hospital? The design isn't even Nordic minimalist chic. While at first I was surprised to see the hotel attached to the big convention center is a limited-service brand (AC), I suppose it...

    Wow. It looks like they spent all the money on designing the exterior architecture and nothing on the interior, at least the hallways and guest rooms. Am I the only one who thinks the guest rooms like a college dorm or even a hospital? The design isn't even Nordic minimalist chic. While at first I was surprised to see the hotel attached to the big convention center is a limited-service brand (AC), I suppose it makes sense. Full-service branded hotels are relatively rare in the Nordic countries because the cost of labor makes them very, very expensive to operate. There are very few legitimate 4-star or 5-star full-service hotels in countries like Denmark and Sweden when compared to other European countries or even the United States. Airports in Nordic countries have had automated boarding gates, automated security checkpoints, and automated lounge access checkpoints for years because it costs too much to pay someone to do that job.

    1. Gordon McF Member

      It looks cold and industrial. The restaurant could pass for an office cafeteria. Won't be on my list to stay at.

  19. Steven Guest

    I have stayed in the hotel pre-covid. It also had a shuttle bus service to and from the airport back then, don't know if they still have this service. The hotel is just a few stops from the city centre and the station is just across the street.

  20. Criced Criced Guest

    To go to the hotel from CPH you could just have taken the train one station for no cost

  21. Scott Guest

    That replica looks like Lego, which is from Denmark

  22. eric Guest

    BM so you should right fit in :-) sorry couldn't resist, really like AC brand. I usually order omelets and so on. Didn't need it but think I saw also toothpaste (although was AC in USA)

  23. pstm91 Diamond

    I'm confused by this layover. In your TK post you said you were heading to Copenhagen for a few days and here you mention that you had 2 nights. Why did you want to stay close to the airport and not in the city, especially when it's like ~20 minutes into the city? This review cracked me up though - I unexpectedly spent a night here a while back when a flight was cancelled after rolling delays and was equally surprised/impressed with the buffet!

  24. VT-CIE Diamond

    I guess that since the airline crew is not the obvious choice (Air Greenland), it could very well be Hi Fly, which is operating for Air Greenland currently.

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AJ Member

I've stayed at this hotel quite a few times and a few thoughts... "The AC Hotel is a roughly 10 minute drive from the airport (which costs around $30 in a taxi). There’s also a train, but it requires a bit of walking to get to the station." The train station is, literally, at the end of the property. In fact, you can see the station in your picture of the parking lot (walking maybe ~2 football fields?) It's also super cheap (like $2?) to get to the airport and the train drops you in the basement of the airport. Super convenient! Additionally, I'm not sure if the hotel airport shuttle is still available (given covid) but they had a complimentary shuttle (for guests) at one point. I had to ask the from desk bc they didn't make it well known. I'm not sure if the pool is considered "the spa" but it's unfortunate that you weren't able to access it. It's heated and experiencing it (particularly in the middle of the winter) is a treat. You are correct in the fact that "point hotels" are hard to come by in the city. This hotel sits in between the city and the airport. It's far enough from the city that once you visit the city the first day, you're unlikely to visit it again. lol

5
Clem Diamond

Honestly, the room looks so much better than the ones in your review of the Chedi, hah! Would be curious to know why you decided not to stay in the city since you were there for a couple of nights, Copenhagen being a really awesome city.

2
Endre Guest

“In front of the spa and gym area was a replica of the building… it seems they’re proud of the design!” — it’s made of 100,000+ Lego bricks (Danish company), Ben. I remember the model, I stayed there once too.

2
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