Hotels Near Mermaid mural in Reykjavik

My sister and I stayed here for two nights at the end of our Iceland holiday. Centrally located just a 5-minute walk from the Hallgrimskirkja and a 20-minute stroll from the harbour. I had been a bit worried about parking so I had emailed the hotel in advance to ask and got a very prompt response. It was astoundingly easy to park close by and we got a lovely friendly welcome from the hotel staff; in fact all the staff we met were really friendly and chatty. The room was a reasonable size (initially made up as a double but this was swiftly altered to a twin while we were out whale-watching) and had everything you need (including a fridge). It was a bit stuffy in the room, even with the little window open so we had the room door propped open for a while but, as I think Iceland was experiencing record hot weather at the time perhaps it's not fair to criticise! Our room was on the first floor but we didn't experience any of the noise from the restaurant/bar that some other reviews have mentioned. Would definitely recommend as a good location for a stay in Reykjavik.

This one is somewhat tough to review. Service was 1-star. We received no instructions to enter and had to spend a fair amount of time on the phone (at costly international rates) to receive instructions. The instructions we received were not detailed enough. They did not mention entering through the restaurant to get to the first-floor rooms. Rooms on the second floor do not have to do this. The room itself was okay to decent. The kitchenette was nice, but the dishes were in the dishwasher when we arrived. The room lacked commonplace security features like an interior deadbolt, security chain, or a peephole. Combined with the strange way to enter the ”hotel” this made us feel uneasy. The fact that this hotel is not staffed and entry is through code would have been fine if detailed instructions were provided. Plenty of AirBnBs do this well. For the price, this would be much better value if they had better customer service and detailed instructions along with some additional security features. As it is I wouldn't recommend.

Kex… Ugh such a frustrating review to write. I really wanted to like the Kex hostel it has its good points, but overall was the worst hostel stay I have had in Iceland. I’ll give you my very detailed opinion. The Bad… -Lacking in the toilet paper department!!! We were on floor 4 there were several private bathrooms with showers and also separate locker room style bathrooms. At 7:30 AM I ran to the bathroom after finishing my business realized there was no TP! Ugh. Anyway afterwards I looked through the different open stalls with toilets. Only 3 toilets on the whole 4th floor had TP! To me having adequate TP is an essential thing. The bathrooms weren’t restocked until 10AM ish. And we aren’t even in peak tourist season. We mentioned the issue to the staff and they said “just call next time you need something” kinda hard to “just call” when you have already done your business in the bathroom and you need something to wipe with! They need to have staff check the bathrooms more frequently. -The kitchen is sad in the “equipment” department. One of the reasons we stay at hostels is to cook our own food. Maybe they are trying to push buying food from their restaurant. I get that they get a lot of traffic. But the cooking pan selection is -Terrible- nasty old pans that the thrift shop would discard. Janky handles, and interior coating mega gouged out. Don’t come here expecting to cook at least on level 4. -No way to make coffee!!! Again they probably want you to pay for their breakfast. But there is no option to make coffee. No coffee pot, machine, or way to make a filter pour over etc. Don’t bring coffee grounds expecting to make your morning brew. There was an electric kettle, but again no way to make coffee unless you brought instant. -The showers need a good bleach and scrub. The walls had black mold growing on them. Considering the fact that Kex was our most expensive hostel in Iceland (we paid 20,906 for a private double, with linens, and shared bathrooms…or $153 US) compare Kex to the Svjarborg in Stykkisholmer $90 US or Halfdan HI Hostel $63 US ( in both we had a private double & shared bath) but both were awesome and had a fully equipped kitchen with decent quality pots, options to make coffee, and plenty of toilet paper. I understand that being in the city we can expect to pay more. BUT I expect that price to include: -enough toilet paper -a means to make coffee -decent cookware. The good… -The location is great. Easy walking distance to the main shops/streets. And the ocean right across the highway. -Awesome “vibe” cool decor, lots of couches/lounge areas. -Entertaining/Social. In the evening there was group song trivia in the main area, and in another a live band. -Our room a private double with shared bathroom was large, and we slept well. (Note: I have never stayed in a “quiet” hostel so I always travel with a sleep soundtrack on my phone and a melatonin) -The staff was all polite In conclusion, I have traveled on 4 contine

The hostel was clean and warm, the rooms were well laid out, with a safe for each person. It's such an odd looking building, but that's definitely part of the charm! The large kitchen/common area looks cool both from within and from the street looking up at it: the huge windows, and the warm coloured, up-lit walls make it so cosy! The hostel is spitting distance from Hallgrimskirkja, you can see it from the common room windows. This means you're in the heart of the city - great if you have no transport! It does mean you're in the heart of the tourist traps too... so any shop nearby (with the exception of Kronan stores) will be more expensive than those further afield. The staff leave you to do your own thing, the cleaners are all super friendly, the showers are always hot, and in decent condition. It really exceeded my expectations. I might have wished for an onsite bar or cafe for socializing, but everything is so expensive in Iceland that I was glad of the lack of temptation! And if you do need that sort of diversion, the B47 Hostel, which occupies the lower floors of the same building, has something like that. I'm sure it would have been okay to use it.

We visited friends in Iceland and spent 2 nights at the Holt Hotel at the start of our visit. Staff was fantastic,warm and friendly. Hotel is on the older side, but location is fantastic and it’s been well maintained. We enjoyed the unique art and older feel, but if you want sleek and modern this is not your place. The room was small compared to America, but completely functionable. Traditional breakfast especially the pastries were amazing. We have no complaints and thought we got a great deal.

The guesthouse itself was nice enough. Note that if you stay in one of the economy rooms, you will only have access to one bathroom per 5 rooms (unless you are willing to walk back to the main house and use one of the bathrooms there). This was not an issue during my stay, but I woke up super early to avoid it becoming an issue. The real issue for me was the lack of communication. I ended up needing to spend an extra 50 dollars on long distance calls because this business failed to check their email or Facebook messages. On top of that, I had to call twice because I was given incorrect information the first time. Note that booking this property is a risk if you book through a third party (Expedia etc) because you may not receive the email with instructions on how to check in (this is why I had to call repeatedly after they failed to answer my emails).

This hostel has a practical and functional location only. The only reason to stay here is for it’s convenient pickup and drop off stop for tours and the airport. The room was a 4 bed dorm and was stark. Located opposite the kitchen and above the main entrance meant it was quite noisy too. The bunks are very, very basic. There aren’t charging points at each bed in this particular dorm (3) and the blanket provided is a decorative throw. The cleaning left a lot to be desired. Regularly had to ask reception for hand soap in the toilet, paper towels and toilet paper. The Wi-Fi is non-existent and the reception staff are totally ambivalent; they are pleasant but absolutely no desire to help. Plausible deniability comes to mind. You only stay here for the location that allows you access to all that Iceland has to offer.

I enjoyed my stay at Hotel Cabin very much, largely due to the eager-to-please staff, especially Lenny at the front desk. Rooms are small but quite adequate; I didn't expect to be spending a lot of time in the room except to sleep. (The bed was excellent.) The lobby area is a great [place to congregate and/or meet new people. After a long day of touring the many wonders of Iceland, I was very pleased to come back to the Cabin to relax. My only problem was with the continental breakfast, which was OK but lacked variety. I would definitely stay again, largely due to the terrific staff (Lenny, Bianka, Katya).

This hotel has a lot going for it, but it's held back by the fit and finish of many of the hotel's spaces. Overall, the hotel just feels dated. The red carpet in all of the halls is faded and stained, the wood floor in the room had a lot of damage, and the spa is way past its prime. On a positive note, the furniture in the room has been updated recently and the pieces were nice plus I found the bed to be very comfortable. Also, breakfast was really good! The service at the hotel was also great. But that spa, ugh. It's a perk of being a gold/diamond member, but the spa is just not in good condition. Most urgently, something needs to be done about the steam room, it smelled awful while we were there and even made other parts of the spa smell. But overall, the spa was just not in good shape with damage everywhere. Also, the location of this hotel isn't great if you're looking to explore Reykjavik but, if like us, you want somewhere with free parking for you to explore the rest of Iceland, then this is a great location for you.

When we return to Iceland, we will most likely look first at staying here. It was very clean and comfortable, the people at the front desk were super helpful, the lobby was beautiful, and we enjoyed the free garage parking very much. We stayed here our last night before flying back home, and we had to leave at 6am so we were unable to enjoy the complimentary breakfast, but they did have coffee and pastries waiting for us in the lobby before we departed. The location was just a short 5 minute drive to the center of town, and the person at the check-in desk gave us very good directions for parking and even made a great dinner reservation for us at the Seafood Grill. We had a wonderful time.