One-Minute Hotel / The Reykjavik EDITION, Iceland
The most beautiful hotel in Reykjavic, much?
So, where are we?
Right in the Old Harbour Port of Reykjavik, looking out over boats and docks and water towards the distant hills. Or mountains. Or volcanoes. It’s a three-quarters-of-an-hour (and hugely expensive!) taxi ride from the airport, minutes from the little bars and boutiques of Laugavegur Street (check out Fischersund, the weird little perfume store owned by Jónsi, the gay one from post-rock band Sigur Rós) and round the corner from the colourful Harpa Concert and Conference Center, if you have any concerts or conferences that need doing.
And where we’re staying...?
The Reykjavik EDITION, an all-new, all-beautiful five-star addition to the EDITION family, which is actually the city’s first five-star hotel.
What’s the style?
It being new and this being Reykjavik, the building is slick, sleek, modern and exciting. The exterior is clad in dark wood with a canopy of lights over the entrance, pops of gold and an amber glow coming from the rooms (remember, we’re way up so winter days are short and summer days never end). Inside it’s a Scandi dream of fire pits and rugs and squashy furniture, with strangely arty touches like gold columns and a stack of slate that looks a bit like a volcano.
And the rooms?
Again, it’s all Scandi deliciousness: wood-clad walls, floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over the water and distant hills (if you’re on that side of the building, obviously), rough-woven rugs, chairs with animal skins and a reduced palette of whites and woods and natural tones. Bathrooms are light and contemporary while the lighting (the further north you go, we’ve noticed, the better the lighting) is low and sexy.
Is there a story?
Not really in that it’s a new build but you know that EDITION was set up by Ian Schrager, the man that invented the very concept of boutique hotels with The Royalton and The Paramount in New York back in the day, so the attention to detail is laser-sharp.
And to eat?
The main restaurant Tides, where you have your breakfast (remember Americans, European hotels include breakfast: such a great idea!), and where you can have a smart dinner is a huge space, dotted with columns and slabs of natural stone, that runs with the Scandi flavour of light-coloured wooden chairs hung with sheepskins and pale wood panelling. The vibe is sexy and expensive, the menus an eclectic mix of global favourites with plenty of veggie options and the wine list probably the best in Iceland. There’s also a rooftop restaurant and snooky bar, Tölt.
So, to sum up...
With so much natural beauty to explore in Iceland – the Golden Circle, the Blue Lagoon – whether it’s snowy winter or endless summer, the EDITION knew it had to step up to the plate, design-wise, even in this funny loveable little capital that has probably never seen glamour like it.
