Year: 2014 (Page 2 of 7)

My boyfriend and I didn’t stay in this hotel, we only came by for lunch. The dining room is very nice and stylish, but service was very bad. We ordered a pizza and mussels. The cutlery we didn’t need, wasn’t taken away. The waiter forgot to bring us bread (had to ask for it myself). Staff just disappeared when we wanted to pay the bill, so it took us ages to pay for our meal.

The meal itself wasn’t that great either. Never before in my life have I eaten such small mussels. And there were also a lot of broken shells in my portion. Not a great experience. The pizza of my boyfriend was ok, I guess.

Hotel Framtid, Vogaland 4, Djupivogur 765, Iceland

Stayed July 2014. You can find my review about Hotel Framtid also on TripAdvisor. My scores: service 2/5.

We arrived at the hotel on a sunny afternoon in July. Firts impression in the hallway where our room was located, that is was very hot. In our room it was also very hot. We immediately checked the heating in our room and noticed the heating in the bathroom was very hot although it was turned off completely.

We called reception to ask how we could turn it off. The guy at reception was very kind and came up to our room to address the problem. Since it seemed impossible to turn the heating off, he asked maintenance to come and fix it. We opened all the windows to get the temperature down. After a while we got a call back from reception that maintenance wouldn’t be able to come by untill the next day (we were only staying for one night). He did offer us a different room though, but with the open windows it was ok for us.

Wifi in this hotel was absolutely terrible. We were unable to even surf, let alone upload some pictures. Better to tell your customers you don’t have any wifi than to get them frustrated about it not working.

We had a room with a shared balcony, which means you can have other guests appearing at your window. So make sure to close the curtains before taking a shower. The room felt a little dated also.

Breakfast was nice, lots of option to choose from.

The elevator was tiny. Just possible to fit four persons in there, without any luggage.

Fosshotel Husavik, Ketilsbraut 22, Husavik 640, Iceland

Stayed July 2014. You can find my review about Fosshotel Husavik also on TripAdvisor. My scores: location 5/5, sleep quality 3/5, service 4/5.

I really loved the architecture of this hotel situated in the country side. The building was brand new with a gorgeous view on lake Myvatn. The room was beautiful with nice big windows (with good curtains to keep the early sunlight out). Especially loved the rain shower. Very comfortable room. Slept very well!

Breakfast was nice with lots of options (warm and cold) to choose from. You could even bake your own waffles. Staff seemed to need more training though. They didn’t clean the tables fast enough and when some dishes ran out, you had to wait a long time before they were filled up again.

Hotel Laxa, Olnbogaas, Lake Myvatn 660, Iceland

Stayed July 2014. You can find my review about Hotel Laxa also on TripAdvisor. My scores: sleep quality 5/5, cleanliness 5/5, service 3/5.

We were very charmed by the lady at the reception desk. She was so kind as to offer us some great advice on walking in the neighbourhood of the hotel. Surely without her advice we would have missed out on a great evening walk. We immediately felt very welcome.

Room was very basic, but clean and with a lovely view on the fjord. Breakfast was ok, nothing special, but you could make your own waffles.

Wifi was only available in the lobby. This was the case in lots of Edda Hotels. To be honest I don’t understand why there isn’t any wifi in the rooms in this day and age.

Hotel Edda Neskaupstadur, 740 Neskaupstadur, Neskaupstadur 740, Iceland

Stayed July 2014. You can find my review about Hotel Edda Neskaupstadur also on TripAdvisor. My scores: location 4/5, sleep quality 3/5, service 5/5.

Nupar Fosshotel is literally situated in the middle of nowhere. The outside of the hotel doesn’t look like much (the building resembles some containers thrown together), but the rooms on the inside are nice. It is rather special staying in the middle of lava fields with a view on the glacier. From your room you can step outside into the wilderness. We visited Jokusarlon from this hotel, but be warned, it is quite a ride from the hotel to Jokusarlon (90km).

We had dinner in Nupar Fosshotel twice. The buffet was really nice. Especially enjoyed the arctic char. Loved the roasted vegetables also. Dessert wasn’t much, but I didn’t need one anyway, because of all the other really nice food. The first day of our stay the breakfast buffer was very well attended by the staff, second day, staff seemed not to notice that there where people waiting for a clean table and the buffet wasn’t filled up fast enough.

When we stayed in the hotel they had recently made sure you could use the wifi in the rooms. Worked very well, so we were happy about that.

Fosshotel Nupar, Nupar, Kirkjubaejarklaustur 880, Iceland (Formerly Islandia Hotel Nupar)

Stayed July 2014. You can find my review about Fosshotel Nupar also on TripAdvisor. My scores: rooms 4/5, cleanliness 5/5, service 3/5.

Absolutely loved our stay in this hotel. Our room was spacious and very nicely decorated with a lovely view on the city center. Loved the clearly new shower. Moreover the bathroom was very clean. Staff was very friendly. The day we left, we were still in our room getting ready, when the cleaning crew entered. Afterwards when we checked out we got apologies for this mistake from the staff at reception, explaining they were using a new system.

We didn’t try the restaurant though, so can’t comment on that. Since I had read that the restaurant was very good, I had high hopes for breakfast, but was a little disappointed. Options for breakfast were very basic.

O, the wifi works fine, but it is a nuisance that you have to log in time and time again to use it.

Hotel Vestmannaeyjar, Vestmannabraut 28, Vestmannaeyjar 900, Iceland

Stayed July 2014. You can find my review about Hotel Vestmannaeyjar also on TripAdvisor. My scores: location 5/5, sleep quality 5/5, service 5/5.

At first we had some trouble finding the restaurant, but please don’t give up, Randulf’s Sea-House is absolutely worth the visit. It is great having dinner in a historical building. The whole house breathes history. If you’re looking for an authentic experience this is it. Moreover the food is great.

In the setting of this old fisherman’s house we, of course, choose to try some typical Icelandic food. We decided to share our starters. As starter number one we had hákarl, dried fish and herring. Hákarl (fermented shark) turned out to be not nearly as bad as I expected. We of course had a glass of brennivín with it. Starter number two was the cured goose and smoked reindeer. Very nice indeed.

As a main course I went for the fish of the day, can’t go wrong with that. My boyfriend tried the reindeer sausage. Both courses were very good. And service was very friendly.

After the meal we visited the second floor which was preserved in its 1920’s state. Very interesting!

Randulf’s Sea House, Strandgata, Eskifjordur 735, Iceland
http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/randulf-s-sea-house
+354 477 1247

Visited July 2014. You can find my review about Randulf’s Sea House also on TripAdvisor. My scores: value 5/5, atmosphere 5/5, service 5/5, food 5/5.

We stayed in by far the tiniest room of our whole trip. There was barely room to open our suitcases. The bathroom was tiny also. With the toilet being place almost in the shower. This hotel is very basic, but its location makes up for that. This is the right starting point to visit the beautiful and rugged Landmannalaugar. Actually this hotel is more a hostel, with long, unwelcoming halls.

We also had dinner here, since there were no other options around. Too bad the vegetables on our plate were cold. Probably the vegetables were placed on the plate some time before the meat. We would have send it back, but we were so hungry that we ate our cold dinner. A pity. Breakfast was also basic, but ok.

The Highland Center Hrauneyjar, Sprengisandur, Hella 851, Iceland (Formerly Hrauneyjar Guesthouse)

Stayed July 2014. You can find my review about The Highland Center Hrauneyjar also on TripAdvisor. My scores: value 3/5, cleanliness 4/5, service 3/5.

The Laki hotel is situated on the country side close to Kirkjubæjarklaustur. The location is gorgeous and the building itself is nice. Our room was small, but clean. Bathroom was also a bit claustrophobic with a typical Japanese shower. Too bad they didn’t fix the curtain with the flowers which was hanging loose. It was possible to darken to room very well at night, so we were happy about that.

We really enjoyed the dinner buffet here. It was a real treat! So many options to choose from. (Be warned, they do serve whale.) All beautifully presented and very tasty. Loved, loved, loved the buffet!

After dinner we sat in the bar, because we found this more pleasant than sitting in our tiny room with only one chair and a small desk. We enjoyed the view on the gletsjer and the beautiful sunset. Stunning.

Also loved the breakfast buffet. Best breakfast we had during our trip in Iceland. There were so many options (hot and cold) that it was impossible to try everything. Loved the smoothies!

Staff was very friendly and professional.

Hotel Laki, Efri-Vik, Efri-Vik 880, Iceland

Stayed July 2014. You can find my review about Hotel Laki also on TripAdvisor. My scores: value 3/5, rooms 3/5, service 4/5.

We had an absolutely wonderful experience with North Sailing. We made online reservations, which was fast and convenient. We were lucky to have lovely weather: very sunny and a clear blue sky. We were advised to wear warm clothes though. I’m very thankful the lady at the counter stressed this, because it was very cold and windy on the boat.

It didn’t take long before we saw our first whale, no, two humpback whales swimming together. What a spectacular view! We got to see them lots of times and got to marvel at the beauty of these creatures. We also saw a minke whale.

Very succesful trip!

North Sailing, Husavik Harbour, Husavik 640, Iceland
https://www.northsailing.is/
+354 464 7272

Visited July 2014. You can find my review about North Sailing also on TripAdvisor.