Hotel Kirsten Piil Bed & Breakfast

Honestly I'm surprised not to see more foreigners, apart from Swedes, at Kirsten Piils: a friendly, family-run B&B located in Denmark's wealthiest postal code (thus extremely safe) yet very accessible to Copenhagen (5-min walk from Klampenborg Station which is served by both S-tog and regional train to the airport). And its neighbourhood has so much to offer that it warrants an overnight stay. At dawn, walk to Bellevue Beach, famous for Arne Jacobsen-designed lifeguard towers, to watch the sun slowly rising above the Øresund Strait. Then take a leisurely stroll (or a Hackney carriage) to the World Heritage-listed hunting lodge Eremitageslottet. Yet, the closest of all, literally 100 metres away from the guesthouse, is Bakken: the world's oldest amusement park (since 1583!) attracting a mostly working-class crowd lunching on hot dogs and cotton candy - make sure to find "It" the creepy clown. Some of Copenhagen's most underrated restaurants including Den Røde Cottage - reservation required - are also nearby. Enough praise about the location, the B&B itself is like an artistic enclave with homey black-and-white Scandinavian design. The upstairs room has a balcony, but we stayed at the lower-level superior room which is huge and has a separate living area although the bathroom is outside. Unfortunately, this is the very reason why I can't give Kirsten Piils 5 stars. Because the tiles are all black, it gets very dark inside and the shower area extremely slippery, hence dangerous for the elderly. The creaky floor upstairs means lots of noise though luckily this didn't disturb us in the bedroom. One minor complaint we have is some corners (e.g. coffee table) are rather dusty. Breakfast is separate if you book on Booking.com so I advise you to contact the owner directly as you don't want to miss it. It may lack the variety of breakfast buffet found in Scandinavian chain hotels but here freshness of the ingredients is never compromised. If looking to "escape" from the hustle and bustle of the city without being too far from civilisation, Kirsten Piils is definitely the place to be. But the elderly should come prepared to climb some steps and to use the slippery shower.