A kingdom in northern Europe, spread over four hundred islands, ruled by a monarch and a unicameral parliament. “There is a beautiful land. Her name is old Denmark.” This is how the Danes, heirs to a thousand years of Christian history, sing. “Bingo!” – Odin, supreme god of all Scandinavia, echoes in his lilting voice, recalling more than a thousand and a half years of Viking conquering history. “Odin’s Sanctuary,” or Odense, is the name of the kingdom’s third largest city. An ancient city that has seen over a thousand years of history from these very Danes. Odense is famous for its parks and pedestrian-only streets. It is also famous for the fact that on these very streets at the beginning of the 19th century a lean and lanky teenager, the son of a poor shoemaker, rattled with wooden shoes. Rumbling towards Copenhagen to “become famous”!
Location and infrastructure
The streets and alleys of Odense retain the charm left by the nineteenth century. Take, for example, the Ansgar Hotel building in the historic city centre. The building is well-preserved – a quarter of a millennium for it is not an obstacle, it seems not in vain named in honor of Ansgar, “Apostle of the North”, the baptizer of all the Scandinavians.
The Milling Hotels chain combines several similar buildings in Odense, Midelfort and Kölding – built in the same era, in the same architectural style, one would think – for the same money.
Room stock
The hotel in Odense is not the largest in Europe in terms of size. However, the 74 medium-sized rooms are not only equipped with everything you need, but they match the interior design of Ansgar and the whole of Odense. Venetian armchairs, baroque cupboards and secretaries, light shades of walls and ceilings, on the floor – certainly a rich red or olive-salade with white carpeting. The illusion that this is part of the palace chambers of a Danish monarch, rather than a modern hotel room with hi-tech bathroom, telephone, TV connected to a satellite, and a solid minibar hidden somewhere in the wall behind the niche. Immediately you want to behave very, very maturely, straighten your back and generally hold up the mark. So when the maid comes in with the daily cleaning of the room, or to change the linens, all-things-except the prim and polite phrases beginning with “Could you please…” or “I’d really appreciate it…” are out of your head.
Entertainment and services
One gains even more respect for Ansgar when one discovers that this essentially fairytale castle has a decently equipped and fully functioning business centre, with meeting room, broadband Internet access, fax machine, safe deposit box etc. And that’s not all! The lobby bar, open 24 hours a day, is a hallmark of all premium hotels – resolutely! My pleasure! A lobby bar in a hotel that looks like a slice of Napoleonic Europe!
So, we entrust our beloved child to the care of a nanny, thanks to this profession is included in the long list of hotel staff professions! The dear spouse, be it a companion, pre-supplied with cash, we send to a tanning salon or fitness center. Both – oh, joy! – The city has a lot to offer in terms of the number of places to go, and if you really want to, Odense only looks so old at first glance, and apart from the monuments, there is a huge number of places that attract the attention of curious young and not-so-young people. And.. Or you can all go down to the hotel restaurant together, serving food for both local and visiting tastes.
Or you can go nowhere and go nowhere. Lie down on the wide bed, breathe in the coolness of the room, and listen. They say that lying here in any of the Ansgar rooms behind the noise of a modern European city centre, you can hear the resounding clatter of wooden shoes on the stone pavement. To hear the retreating footsteps of the great dreamer-Andersen, to rise above vanity and join something more lasting than yourself.
