A Spa in a Crane? It’s the Perfect Place to Find Calm in Copenhagen
The Krane is not what you’d expect from a hotel spa. Not the location (an industrial harbor in Copenhagen), not the building (a former coal crane), nor the entrance (a set of steel stairs that open and close like a drawbridge).
It sounds like a sinister set-up. But, really, it’s not. Mostly because the Amazing Krane spa was opened by Laura Bonné, founder of cult Danish beauty brand Amazing Space, in collaboration with The Krane. A sexy one-room hotel in Copenhagen’s far-flung Nordhavnen, The Krane (from property developer Klaus Kastbjerg and architect Mads Møller) has a glass-walled meeting room and upstairs bedroom set in an old engine room atop a formerly-working steel crane. Inside the 50 square-meter bedroom space, it’s all charcoal walls, wood, steel and jet black cushions and chairs, as well as wraparound windows that gawk over the ocean. A few steps below is the private spa suite.
Contrary to what the building might suggest, there’s absolutely nothing industrial about the light-filled, glass-fronted spa room. The long narrow space has two deep oval tubs (which double as massage tables) and a glass sauna that peer over the harbor and gentle Nordic Sea.“I was convinced from the outset that we could create the ultimate synergy effect by combining the minimalist Nordic expression from The Krane with the gentle, calming mood from our spa atmosphere,” says Bonné.
The treatments, which can be booked out by guests and non-guests (provided The Krane hotel isn’t occupied), use organically-developed Amazing Space products and are based around the elements of Nordic sea salt, minerals and, unsurprisingly, charcoal. “We firmly believe in holistic therapy, so all treatments begin with a shot of skin lemonade,” says Bonné. Made from aloe vera, lavender flower water and licorice root extract, the elixir is meant to have purifying qualities which strengthen the gut and liver. This is followed by a detoxifying liquid charcoal and lava mask and scrub (to absorb toxins), then a full body massage using juniper, lime or lavender oil. Once the treatment is over, the therapist leads you to the sauna and draws a hot bath. He or she then departs, so you have the space entirely to yourself to continue to sauna, scrub, soak, or simply stare out over the harbor and watch the boats sail in. “Gazing over the Nordic sea, and Copenhagen skyline, is pure meditation for the soul,” says Bonné.
It is indeed meditative, and you’ll probably find yourself staring over the harbor until a rainstorm passes and the bath runs cold. And that’s okay, because only two flights of stairs up is the private one-room hotel, where you can keep on meditatively gazing out from your hotel bed all evening long. You’ll soon discover that time spent in a steel crane over an industrial harbor can indeed summon the ultimate state of calm.
Originally Appeared on Vogue
