The Reykjavik Edition occupies the best location in the city, right next to the city’s landmark concert hall Harpa, at the edge of Reykjavik’s bustling marina. It overlooks the harbour, sea and mountains and is within easy walking distance to pretty much everywhere in the downtown area.
The hotel is the country’s first ever five-star hotel, and was designed in partnership with local architecture firm T.ark and New York-based studio Roman and Williams, and the interior has been overseen by the experienced Ian Schrager Company.
The eye-catching lobby is centred around a four-metre basalt sculpture layered with black sheepskins, damask and silk pillows, surrounded by the equally sculptural reception desk and a lobby bar created with white oak flooring, ceiling beams and a chandelier of walnut.
The hotel’s 253 rooms and suites have views either across the harbour area or over the city, through floor-to-ceiling windows that ensure plenty of daylight when required. The colour schemes are gentle and the furnishings tasteful: think ash woods and pale grey oaks set against concrete walls, Italian custom-made furniture, copper bed light sconces and colourful rugs.
Tides, the hotel restaurant has large windows for wonderful views. It continues in the same aesthetic of concrete columns and oiled woods, and has a central hexagonal-shaped bar set below a custom-made bronze and alabaster chandelier by French artist Eric Schmitt. It serves contemporary Icelandic cuisine with a focus on seasonal local products.
The Roof bar, up on the hotel’s seventh floor, has panoramic vistas via floor-to-ceiling windows as well as from the wrap-around terrace.
Tölt is a speakeasy bar designed as a hidden sanctuary with a series of intimate nooks, cocooning walnut ceilings and walls, and warm, ambient lighting. The menu here focuses on specialty cocktails inspired by Reykjavik’s nature.
