My experience with accommodation in Iceland: campsites, hotels, and guesthouses

We arrived in the early hours of June 18, picked up the camper, and headed to the airport campsite.

There wasn’t a soul at the campsite. You arrived, did everything through an app, went inside, and there was no one there. There was a washing machine and dryer, but the room was locked, and I later read in the reviews that you had to notify the campsite owner to come and open the laundry room.

The campground only had two toilets, two sinks, and one shower.

The next morning, I saw that this capacity was obviously not enough because when I went in to brush my teeth, there was already someone else there. When I got out of the shower, both toilets were clogged. I mean, there were only four women at the campground and the toilets were already clogged.

This campsite only had a small covered area with tables and chairs for eating. At least it had that, because the other campsites we visited didn’t even have a covered area for eating.

I thought it was reasonably clean, but that was because there weren’t many people at the campsite. By the morning, with four people using it, it was disgusting.

The good:

Self check-in
Washing machine and dryer available (although with limitations).
Small covered area for eating.

The bad:

Very limited facilities for the number of people.
Insufficient bathrooms and showers.
Lack of constant cleaning staff.

The second night at the Vík campsite was even more uncomfortable.

There were many more people, and although the campsite had more capacity, it still wasn’t enough.

The price wasn’t included in the camping card, and I think it cost us 50 or 60 euros per night, which is very expensive for a campsite, because basically you’re paying for parking with access to a bathroom, a sink to brush your teeth, and a shower (which was paid for separately).

You had to shower in 5 minutes, so you had to go naked to the machine, insert the coin, activate it, and run to the shower so as not to waste time. In the end, 5 minutes was enough, but it was stressful to have to shower like that.

There was an enclosed area like a restaurant where people could sit down to eat and cook. There were small stoves, but it was packed with people, there was no space at the tables, no space to cook, no space to wash the dishes.

In the end, we had to do everything in the camper van, even though we had paid for the night, but there was no capacity for anything. The next day there was a line for everything, a line to shower, a line to pee, a line to brush your teeth. The bathroom smelled horribly of excrement.

The good:

Large campground with cooking area.

The bad:

Expensive for a campground.
Showers limited to 5 minutes and extra charge.
Overcrowded common areas, no space to cook or sit.
Queues for bathrooms and showers, dirty and smelly bathrooms.
Constant noise and movement.

The Skaftafell Campground was the best of the three.

It was very well located for hiking, seeing the waterfall, visiting the glaciers.

It was larger than the previous ones and the facilities had more capacity.

The showers were for men and women, but they were private with each person having their own cubicle in the shower.

The only downside is that they only clean once a day, which is nowhere near enough for the number of people using the facilities 24 hours a day.

When I arrived at noon, they were cleaning the showers, and by the time I showered in the evening, they were disgusting.

There was a free washer and dryer, and I was lucky enough to be able to do my laundry when I got back from the hiking trail without having to wait in line, but then it turned into chaos, especially because people saw that it was free.

The good:

Excellent location for hiking and nature trails.
More private bathrooms and showers.
Free washer and dryer.

The bad:

Insufficient cleaning (only once a day).
Chaos due to massive use of free washing machines and dryers.
Constant noise, uncomfortable sleeping conditions.

From the fourth night onwards, we started booking hotels because we couldn’t take the precariousness and discomfort of the campsites anymore.

Snæfell Hotel by Aldan

One of our fears was booking a hotel that would end up being worse than the campsite. And that’s what happened at this hotel because even though we had a private bathroom, even though you have your own bed, and even though there is no noise, this hotel was disgusting.

The carpet was filthy, the room smelled bad, the mattress was worn out and soft, the pillows were of terrible quality, the furniture was dirty, and the sink was ridiculously small so you couldn’t even wash your hands.

This hotel was a post office that had been converted into a hotel with virtually no renovations. The structure was made entirely of wood, so every step you took made the whole hotel creak and groan. Fortunately, we were on the top floor, but if you have people walking above you, you won’t even be able to sleep.

The only good thing about this hotel was the kitchen, which had been recently renovated. It was comfortable, seemed reasonably clean, and at least here we could eat like normal people at a table with chairs, which was a luxury after the campgrounds.

The good:

Renovated and equipped kitchen.
No external noise.

The bad:

Dirty carpet and furniture, room with a bad smell.
Very worn mattress and poor-quality pillows.
Old building with floors that creak a lot.
Very small sink and lack of general maintenance.

Guesthouse Brúnahlíð

This was my favourite accommodation. They were like little houses with beautiful views, quiet and peaceful, but newly renovated and nicely decorated.

The kitchen was perfectly equipped, with amenities such as salt, oil, sugar, coffee, and tea. There was enough soap in the bathroom, enough toilet paper, the bathroom was spacious, it had also been recently renovated, there were enough towels, the bed was made and decorated, the room was beautifully decorated, it was comfortable, there were enough chairs, there was a table and chairs for eating; in other words, everything you would expect.

The good:

Detached cottages, quiet and with beautiful views.
Recently renovated and tastefully decorated.
Perfectly equipped kitchen with amenities.
Spacious and clean bathroom with enough towels and soap.
Impeccable cleanliness and comfortable atmosphere.

Hotel Halond

There was no one here to check us in either. You could park your car in front of the terrace and bring your things into the accommodation more easily.

There was a shared kitchen that we didn’t use.

The room was spacious. It had a sofa, a dining table with chairs, a desk with chairs, a small coffee/tea station, and a spacious closet.

The only thing I didn’t like about this accommodation was that the decoration was cold. Because everything was dark gray.

The bathroom was spacious. The floor was dirty.

The good:

Convenient, contactless self-check-in.
Spacious room with sofa, desk, and coffee/tea area.
Spacious bathroom with hairdryer and soap.
Quiet at night.
Easy access from the car.

The bad:

Cold decor and uninviting gray tones.
Dirty floor.

Húnavellir Guesthouse

This place used to be a school. It was the only accommodation in Iceland where there was a person, a human being, at the reception desk.

The room was very simple and modest, but it had everything we needed.

What I loved about this accommodation was that the bathroom was huge. The shower was enormous.

The good:

Reception with a real person.
Simple but functional room.
Adequate heating.
Huge bathroom with a spacious and practical shower.

The bad:

Very basic decor and furniture.

Blue Mountains Apartments

This is an apartment building for tourist rentals only.

Again, there was no human being there. All the facilities in the building were very dirty, the hallways were full of dust balls. There was a washer and dryer, and they were very dirty.

Our apartment was spacious, although the bathroom was small. The shower had mold, which we hadn’t seen until then. It’s a good thing that showers in Iceland didn’t have mold, which I always find in hotels when I travel.

The bed was well made, we had everything we needed, but the cleanliness was very poor. The floor was disgusting, the sofa had stains of dubious origin, the bench in the hallway was stained, the chairs were dirty, the walls had dents from knocks, and the parquet flooring was swollen from some kind of flooding. You could see the wear and tear and misuse of the apartment and that no one had bothered to fix it or maintain the facilities.

The good:

Spacious apartment.
Kitchen equipped with the basics.
Well-made bed.

The bad:

Poor cleanliness: dirty floors, sofa, and furniture.
Small bathroom with moldy shower.
Dirty and poorly maintained hallways and walls.

Icelandic Apartments

Our last accommodation in Iceland was disappointing. It was a building right next to Blue Mountain Apartments and was also a building with only apartments for tourist rental.

It was much worse than Blue Mountains Apartments.

The laundry area was a little better organized. The dryer wasn’t as disgusting as it was at Blue Mountains Apartments, but then there was a problem with the dryer and washing machine because at 6 or 7 in the evening, people would turn off the washing machines and dryers. I would start my washing machine at 6 p.m., and when I came back, they had turned it off. People actually disconnected the electricity from the laundry station so that people couldn’t use it. I don’t know what the explanation for this is, but it happened to me every day I was there.

The apartment was horrible and poorly decorated; they hadn’t even bothered to make the bed.

It was also poorly designed because when you lay down to sleep, your head is next to the wall facing the hallway, so it was very noisy. They could have placed the sleeping area facing the window overlooking the street.

It was much smaller than the previous apartment. The bed was soft, the pillows were poor quality, it was very dirty, the sofa was also disgustingly dirty and stained, the tables were dirty, and the walls were damaged, with pieces missing as if they had been hit with a hammer.

The shower was a good size.

In northern Iceland, it is very common for hot water to smell like rotten eggs because it comes directly from geysers and geothermal activity. However, at Blue Mountains Apartments, the hot water did not smell bad. Here at Icelandic Apartments, when you used hot water, the smell of rotten eggs was so strong that it was nauseating.

This didn’t happen to us anywhere else in Iceland. There might have been a slight smell of rotten eggs, but the intensity of the smell in this apartment was not normal.

The kitchen was well equipped and had a dishwasher.

The good: