The first two wings, along the City Hall Square and Frederiksberggade, were designed by the architect Vilhelm Fischer, who won an architectural competition, and built from 1901 to 1902 as Hotel Bristol.

The three-wing building is constructed in red brick with granite rustication on the ground storey.

The most distinctive feature of the building is its tower which stands 50 metres tall and is capped by a copper roof.

[1] Hotel Bristol provided Leon Trotsky with an alibi following his 1936 Show Trial.

Trotsky was accused of plotting against Joseph Stalin at the cafe of the Bristol in Copenhagen where E. S Golzman confessed to meeting both him and his son Sergei Sedov.