Company ordered to vacate Copenhagen apartments used as illegal 'shadow hotel'

A Danish company, Dehn-A ApS, has been ordered by the Copenhagen City Court to immediately vacate seven apartments it was using for illegal short-term rentals. The court found that the company's actions constituted a "significant breach of the lease agreement."

The ruling comes after a prolonged public discussion in Denmark about "shadow hotels" – instances where ordinary apartments are effectively operated as hotels without the necessary permits. These operations often disrupt residential neighborhoods and bypass regulations applied to traditional hospitality businesses.

City Apartment A/S, the owner of the seven rental properties, successfully argued that Dehn-A ApS's practice of offering the apartments for short-term stays on platforms like Booking.com was a substantial violation of their rental contracts. Consequently, the court upheld City Apartment's right to terminate the leases.

During the legal proceedings, Dehn-A ApS refused to disclose who they had entered into sublease agreements with. The court's decision, delivered on Friday, mandates the immediate departure from the premises due to the "nature and severity" of the case.