The Reykjavik Hotel Eyja Gulsdsmeden is in the heart of the city on Brautarholt right off the main street of Laugavegur.  I found the hotel easy to get to from the main highway when I arrived in Iceland and easy to venture out from to see other parts of the island.  I was extremely impressed by their zero-waste philosophy, even providing guests with bamboo toothbrushes and packets of natural toothpowder.

LOCATION

Although the Reykjavik hotel website states that they are in an “up-and-coming downtown area,” I found the location to be farther from the heart of downtown than I had initially hoped.  That said, the location is still central to the areas that I wanted to visit.  And I noticed many tour buses arriving at the entrance to transport people to various island sites.  Otherwise, I felt that you would need a car or ride-sharing service to get to most locations within Reykjavik, except for some marvelous restaurants close by.

ACCOMMODATIONS

This Reykjavik hotel offers 65 rooms with various size options, all of which have a private bathroom (with shower only), four-poster bed, free Wifi, flat-screen TV, telephone, side chair, and a desk.  And the rooms are spacious and updated, offering a Nordic style of various fabrics.  In particular, the bed was very comfortable, and the room was quiet.

FOOD

A breakfast buffet is available for purchase and/or offered with your room.  Furthermore, the hotel buffet had the right amount of selections and was not extensive nor sparse.  I enjoyed the eggs, bacon, various locally baked artisan breads, plenty of fruit and juice choices, and they offered other cereal breakfast grains.  Likewise, coffee and tea were free flowing and available to take on-the-go.  However, this Reykjavik hotel does not offer dinner on the premises, but other restaurants are close by.

NEAR BY

Less than a block away at the corner of Brautarholt and Nόatύn, I found a wonderful traditional Icelandic restaurant called the Potturinn og Pannan (or Pot and Pan).  But you may want to make a reservation because it was always full, even during the week.  Not surprisingly, the food was very good, and many locals dined there.  Luckily, I was there in the early evening and could be served since several big parties were scheduled and they had to turn away many other people. I had the mixed seafood gratin with haddock, prawns, lobster, and scallops with rice and garlic bread for 4,200 Icelandic krόna (about $34).  Check out TripAdvisor, which shows the restaurant as 4.5 out of 5.0 stars.