In 1823, a Ribe merchant named Niels Christian Holm built a house on Sct. Nicolaigade to store wool and entertain travellers passing through Denmark's oldest market town. For 200 years, this building has been a place where people arrive tired and leave rested.
We bought the property in 2023 after it had stood empty for nearly a decade. The roof leaked. The beams were sound but the wiring wasn't. The courtyard was overgrown with elderflower and nettles. But you could still see what it had been — and what it could become again.
We spent 18 months restoring it. Not gutting it, not turning it into something it never was. Just repairing what was broken, polishing what was good, and adding what was missing: proper beds, good showers, reliable WiFi. The timber frame, the brickwork, the cobblestones in the courtyard — those are original.
Ribehus Hotel opened its doors in May 2025 with ten rooms, an organic breakfast, and a simple idea: a hotel should feel like the place it's in. Not like every other hotel.
What we believe.
A hotel should feel like the place it's in.
Ribehus doesn't look like a Copenhagen design hotel or a German chain. It looks like Ribe — because it is Ribe. The brick is local. The bread is from the baker around the corner. The books on the shelves are about the Wadden Sea.
Direct booking is better for everyone.
When you book through a platform, 15–25% goes to the middleman. When you book direct, that money stays in Ribe — in better breakfasts, better beds, and ongoing restoration of a 200-year-old building.
Restoration over renovation.
We don't gut rooms and start over. We fix what's broken, clean what's dirty, and let the original character do the heavy lifting. A floorboard that creaks in the right way is better than a silent one.
The timeline.
Two centuries in a few paragraphs.
Built by Niels Christian Holm
A Ribe wool merchant builds the house as a combined residence, warehouse, and guesthouse for travelling traders.
Becomes Ribe Gæstgiveri
Converted into a formal inn. The ground-floor room becomes a taproom. Travellers on the newly opened railway stop here for the night.
Family home during the war
The inn closes during the occupation. A local family moves in and stays for three generations.
Left empty
The last residents move out. The building stands vacant for nearly a decade. It's structurally sound but slowly deteriorating.
We bought it
A small Danish family company acquires the property with the intention of restoring it as a hotel. Restoration begins.
Ribehus Hotel opens
After 18 months of careful restoration, Ribehus Hotel welcomes its first guests in May with ten rooms, each named after a piece of Ribe.
Come and be part of the next chapter.
Book direct and save. Ten rooms, organic breakfast, and 200 years of stories waiting.