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Where to Stay in Reykjavík
Curated by Our Guild Explorers · Updated August 2026
Reykjavík is a capital city of about a hundred and forty thousand people, and the part of it a visitor cares about is roughly a mile across. That is the first thing to understand: you are not choosing between distant districts here, you are choosing between streets, and almost every hotel in this guide is within a twenty-minute walk of every other. What actually differs is noise, height and quiet — whether your window faces Laugavegur on a Friday night, whether you must climb the hill to Hallgrímskirkja to get home, and whether the handsome old townhouse you booked has a lift. Those three questions decide more Reykjavík stays than star ratings do, and this guide answers them plainly.
Choosing Your Street
Five pockets carry nearly every good address, and they are all within walking distance of one another.
Downtown 101, the harbour, the hill, Laugardalur — or a little way out?
The 101 downtown core — Austurvöllur square, Aðalstræti, the cathedral and parliament — is flat, pretty and puts everything at your door, including the noise. Laugavegur, the long shopping street, is the liveliest address and the loudest: on Friday and Saturday the bars run until about half past four in the morning and the street outside is not quiet. Ask for a courtyard room, or stay a block off it. The old harbour and Grandi, five minutes north, is where the whale-watching boats and the better new restaurants are; it is flat, breezy and considerably calmer at night. The hill below Hallgrímskirkja — Skólavörðustígur and its side streets — is the prettiest quarter and the only genuinely steep one; lovely to walk down, less lovely at the end of a long day. Túnin and Laugardalur, ten to twenty-five minutes east on foot, is where the larger hotels, the big geothermal pool and the botanic garden are: quiet, level, better value, and a real walk from the bars, which for many of our readers is the point rather than the problem.
Luxury
Reykjavík’s top tier is small, modern and mostly clustered between the harbour and the parliament square.
The Reykjavik EDITION
The city’s most ambitious hotel, standing on the harbour front directly beside the Harpa concert hall, with a spa, a pool and several restaurants under one roof. It is new-build, which in Reykjavík is a practical virtue as much as an aesthetic one: proper lifts, level entrances, wide corridors and rooms that are quiet even when the town is not. The harbour-facing rooms look north over the water to Mount Esja, and in winter that is an aurora window as much as a view.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Hotel Borg by Keahotels
The grand old hotel of Iceland, built in 1930 on the parliament square and still the most characterful address in the country — white art deco outside, dark wood and brass within. It is the choice for anyone who wants a sense of place rather than a spa. Two honest notes: it is an old building, so rooms vary a good deal in size and shape, and the square outside is the city’s living room, which is charming by day and can be noisy on a summer weekend night.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Boutique & design
Small, particular and well made — Iceland does this category unusually well for a city of this size.
Kvosin Downtown Hotel
A small suite hotel tucked behind the cathedral and the parliament, in the oldest corner of the city. The rooms are unusually large for downtown Reykjavík, many with a kitchenette and a sitting area, which makes it a sensible choice for a stay of several nights when eating out three times a day has stopped being a treat. You are a two-minute walk from Austurvöllur and a five-minute walk from the harbour.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Ion City Hotel, a Member of Design Hotels
The city sister of the well-known ION Adventure Hotel out in the countryside, and the same restrained, dark, Icelandic-modern hand at work: concrete, wool, low light and a good bar. It is right in the middle of things, which is the appeal and the caveat — ask for a room away from the street if you are a light sleeper on a weekend.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Budget & value
Reykjavík is an expensive city and there is no pretending otherwise. These are the honest mid-range addresses where the money goes into the room rather than the lobby.
Hotel Klettur
A plain, well-run modern hotel a short walk east of the centre, near the Hlemmur food hall and the bus interchange. Rooms are simple and comfortable, the breakfast is generous, and the price is consistently a good deal below the equivalent room downtown. The trade is that you walk ten or twelve minutes to the heart of things — on flat ground, which many of our readers will count as a gain.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Storm Hotel by Keahotels
Part of the reliable Kea group, sitting in the quiet office quarter east of the old centre. It is unglamorous and it is genuinely peaceful, which in this city is worth paying for rather than being paid for. Fifteen minutes on level pavement brings you to Laugavegur; the airport coaches stop nearby.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Family-friendly
For families and for anyone travelling with grandchildren, the larger hotels east of the centre give you space, lifts and a pool within reach.
Fosshotel Reykjavík
The biggest hotel in the country, a sixteen-storey tower a quarter of an hour’s walk from Laugavegur. Being large and modern, it does the practical things well: fast lifts, family and connecting rooms, a proper buffet breakfast and a restaurant that stays open. Higher floors have long views over the bay to Esja. It is also on the pet-friendly list, which is unusual for a hotel of this size.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Grand Hótel Reykjavík
A large, comfortable hotel about twenty minutes on foot from the old centre and much closer to Laugardalur, where the city’s biggest geothermal pool, the botanic garden and the family park are. That position is the reason to choose it: children swim, adults sit in the hot pots, and nobody has to negotiate the downtown crowds to do it. Rooms are generous and the building is fully lifted.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Adults-only & grown-up quiet
An honest word first: Iceland has almost no adults-only hotels, and Reykjavík has none we can point you to with a straight face. What the city does have is a handful of small, grown-up places where you are unlikely to meet a party of any kind. These are the two we would choose.
Tower Suites Reykjavík
Eight suites on the twentieth floor of the city’s tallest building, with glass on two or three sides and a view over the whole bay. There is no restaurant, no bar and no crowd — breakfast comes to the room. It is not formally adults-only, but it is emphatically not a family hotel either, and it is the closest thing Reykjavík offers to a quiet, expensive, grown-up hideaway.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Sand Hotel by Keahotels
A small, adult-feeling hotel on Laugavegur with an excellent bakery at street level — which is a better breakfast than most hotels manage. Ask for a courtyard-facing room and the weekend noise of the street below stops being your problem. Again, not adults-only by policy, but the size and the tone of the place mean you will rarely hear a child.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Pet-friendly
Iceland has strict animal import rules and most visitors will not be arriving with a dog, but the city does have a genuine pet-friendly tier. Always confirm the policy and any fee directly with the hotel when you book.
Centrum Hotel Reykjavík
A hotel assembled from a row of old timber houses on Aðalstræti, the first street in Reykjavík, and immediately next door to the museum built around the Viking-age longhouse foundations found on this block. It appears consistently on pet-friendly listings, and it is as central as the city gets. Being a set of old houses knocked together, floor levels and room shapes vary; ask about steps if that matters to you.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Fosshotel Barón
A straightforward, well-priced hotel at the eastern end of the downtown area, a few minutes from the Hlemmur food hall and about the same from the seafront path where a dog would actually like to walk. Several room types have kitchenettes, which suits a longer stay. Confirm the pet policy and fee with the hotel at the time of booking.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Spa, pools and hot water
Bathing is the national habit, and a hotel with its own hot water saves you the walk on the evening when you have none left in you. Note that the city’s municipal pools are excellent, cost a few dollars and are open to everyone.
Midgardur by Center Hotels
A modern hotel just east of the centre with a proper spa floor — sauna, steam and hot tubs — which is exactly what you want after a day in an Icelandic wind. It is a five-minute walk from the Hlemmur food hall and about twelve from the cathedral, all of it flat.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Reykjavik Natura
Set beside the little domestic airport and the wooded slopes of Öskjuhlíð, about fifteen minutes’ walk from the centre and surrounded by more green than anywhere else on this list. It has its own pool and spa, and it is the natural choice if you are flying on to Akureyri or the Westman Islands, since the domestic terminal is next door.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Don’t see your perfect fit?
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Browse all Reykjavík hotels ›Reykjavík Hotel FAQ
Which part of Reykjavík should I stay in for a first visit?
Downtown 101, but a block or two off Laugavegur. That gives you everything within a ten-minute flat walk — the harbour, the cathedral, the restaurants, the tour pick-up points — without putting your bedroom window over a bar that closes at half past four on a Saturday morning. If quiet matters more than proximity, Túnin or Laugardalur, fifteen to twenty-five minutes east, costs less and sleeps better.
Is Reykjavík walkable?
Yes, genuinely. The visitor’s city is about a mile across and mostly flat, and you can walk from the old harbour to Hlemmur in twenty-five minutes without hurrying. The one real climb is up Skólavörðustígur to Hallgrímskirkja, which is steeper than it looks in photographs. Pavements are well kept, but they ice up between October and April, so bring cleats.
Do I need a car if I am staying in Reykjavík?
No, and you will be better off without one. Parking downtown is metered and scarce, the city is walkable, and every day tour in the country will collect you from your hotel or a nearby bus stop. Hire a car for the days you actually leave the city, or do not hire one at all and let the tours drive.
How do I get in from the airport?
Keflavík is about forty-five minutes away. The Flybus and Airport Direct coaches meet every arriving flight, run to the central bus terminal, and for a small extra fare will transfer you to your hotel door. Taxis are extremely expensive by American standards. Book the coach when you book the flight; it is cheaper than at the desk.
Are Reykjavík hotels noisy at the weekend?
Some are, and it is a specific and predictable problem. Icelandic nightlife runs late — bars on Laugavegur and around Austurvöllur do not empty until four or half past — and the crowd is cheerful and loud on the street afterwards. Rooms facing those streets hear all of it on Friday and Saturday. A courtyard room, a higher floor or an address two streets back solves it entirely.
Do the hotels have lifts?
The modern ones do; the pretty old timber houses often do not, or have one that begins after a flight of stairs. Reykjavík listings are not always clear about this. If stairs are difficult for you, ask the hotel directly how many steps there are from the pavement to the lift, and how many from the lift to the room.
Should I stay near the Blue Lagoon instead?
Only if you are flying out very early or arriving very late. The Blue Lagoon is about forty-five minutes from the city and close to the airport, not to Reykjavík, and the surrounding area has little else. Most visitors do better to sleep in town and visit the lagoon on the way to or from the airport. The Sky Lagoon, fifteen minutes from downtown, is the easier soak if you simply want hot water and a sea view.
What does a hotel room in Reykjavík actually cost?
More than you expect. In July and August a decent central double is frequently over US$300 a night and the good addresses sell out months ahead; in November or February the same room can be half that. The price swing between high and low season is one of the widest in Europe, and it is the single biggest lever you have over the cost of an Iceland trip.
Ready to book your Reykjavík stay?
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