Cross the threshold and enter a world of luxury. Original paintings, drawings and sculptures adorn the rooms here (Holt houses the largest private art collection in Iceland), set off by warm-toned decor and rose-coloured carpets.
Open year-round, this lovely apartment hotel offers seven modern apartments, with tasteful furnishings and stocked kitchens. They range in size from petite to sprawling, with each lavish penthouse apartment in a category of its own.
Popular with business travellers, the four-storey Grand Hòtel Reykjavìk offers comfortable, modestly furnished rooms, attentive service and all the requisite creature comforts in a quiet setting outside of the centre.
KEA has spacious business-style rooms with a dated design and large bathrooms. There’s little local character about it, but some rooms have balconies and good views over the fjord.
The over-the-top Viking Village complex Fjörukráin offers 42 hotel rooms. Rather than being stuffed full of swords and battle-axes, they’re surprisingly smart modern rooms, with TV, tea-making kit, phone and bathroom.
The 101 is devilishly divine. Its sensuous rooms – with yielding downy beds, iPod sound docks and Bose speakers, rich wooden floors and glass-walled showers – may mean you skip the bars and opt for a night in instead.
This central hotel has striking architecture – mezzanines and a glass roof unite two buildings, giving the whole place a spry, light feel.
Although the rooms in this big custom-built building are staid and slightly old-fashioned, unusually for Iceland they all have bathtubs.
In the peaceful old town, within a few blocks of the city’s core, the Metropolitan received a top-to-toe makeover in 2004.
Outside the city centre, this unpretentious three-storey hotel has decent, comfortable rooms. It's a short bus ride or a 15-minute walk to the centre.
Although this is part of a large chain, the catchily named Radisson SAS 1919 Hotel is a boutique place with plenty of style. Attractive rooms sport wooden floors, large beds, flatscreen TVs and wireless access.
The city’s most historic hotel was completely overhauled in 2007.
This ridiculously central apartment hotel offers one- to four-bedroom apartments, decorated in Scandinavian style and with private bathrooms, kitchenettes, CD players, TVs and washing machines.
Midway between Hella and Hvolsvöllur, Rangá is a kind of luxurious ranch. It has cosy wood-panelled rooms (all with verandahs, bathtubs and the extras you’d expect from a top hotel), three outdoor hot pots and a superior restaurant.
A short walk from the BSÍ Bus Terminal, this guesthouse is run by a friendly family and has large bright rooms. Rooms can be arranged at a nearby private house if the main building is full.
The 104-room Plaza has the feel of a smaller, family-run affair. Rooms have all mod-cons (digital TVs, kettles, bathrobes and free broadband connections) and come in two styles.
A business hotel from the KEA chain, this place is less appealing than its sister hotels; its big, bright rooms have tired furnishings and little atmosphere. All have private bathrooms and are comfortable enough.
Rooms at this guest house are simple and sunny with honey-coloured parquet floors. Nine have private bathrooms, and several at the front have good views of Hallgrímskirkja.
This is the main place to stay in town. The real draws here are the cosy Scandinavian-style log cabins on the lake shore, with hot tubs built into the verandah and views over the water.
This new guesthouse tries to tempt you 1.5km out of the city centre by offering large 'studio' rooms with great kitchenettes, satellite TV, and free laundry and internet access.
This is a 99-room behemoth, with four-star business-style hotel rooms and great facilities. Make sure you get a room overlooking the broad and lovely river Ölfusá, rather than the car park.
In the quiet, well-to-do ‘Embassy District’, and within easy walking distance of town.
The prefab exterior is slightly off-putting, but surprisingly sleek decor and a cache of mod cons hide within. Hamar sits on a well-maintained golf course flanked by snowy peaks in the distance.
Reykjavík’s eco-friendly youth hostel sleeps 170 people and has excellent facilities.
A brand-new HI hostel opened in March 2009. Located on a quiet street, it has the same fine amenities as the City branch – but fall out of the door and you’re in the heart of town.
This green-and-yellow guest house is neat as a pin inside. Rooms are all parqueted and non-idiosyncratic, but there are some quirky touches in the common areas – like the peacock tapestry over the stairs and the cosy curvy settee in the TV room.
In an industrial estate off busy Rte 41, this hostel has an unfortunate location but decent facilities – good, clean rooms (holding up to seven people), left luggage (Ikr250), internet access (Ikr600 per hour) and free wi-fi, laundry (Ikr600) and.
The rooms in a converted office building are good value for such a central location. White is the dominant colour, with startling splashes of red here and there. All rooms have washbasins.