Review: The Reykjavik EDITION

I stayed at The Reykjavik EDITION in rather unusual circumstances on my summer 2022 trip to Iceland. This brand-new EDITION property opened in Reykjavík at the end of 2021 and quickly claimed the title of Reykjavík’s best hotel.

I had a very positive overall experience at this hotel, which spanned across two separate stays in three different room types at the start and end of my week-long visit to Iceland.

The Reykjavik EDITION – Booking

The journey began long before I arrived in Iceland – booking this hotel was quite the process.

In summary, I had originally scored a $3 (CAD) per night deal on Expedia at the Hótel Berg near Iceland’s Keflavík International Airport.

As expected, Hótel Berg didn’t want to honour the reservation. I therefore endeavoured to convince Expedia to move the reservation over to The Reykjavik EDITION instead, eventually succeeding with sufficient persuasion.

I originally booked a four-night stay that was only $3 per night, for a total of $12. However, Jessy and I ended up using only one of those four nights, since we decided to head off on our road trip throughout the rest of Iceland, where most of the country’s interesting sights and sounds are to be found.

I gave the remaining three nights of my booking to a fellow Prince of Travel team member, Rachel, who happened to be in Iceland at the same time.

Meanwhile, another Prince of Travel team member, Ben, had also made a series of bookings, originally at the Hótel Berg, that eventually led him to The Reykjavik EDITION too.

Ben happened to have a handful of bookings taking place on the weekend after our road trip. Upon returning to Reykjavík, Jessy and I crashed in Ben’s Ocean View Corner Suite for two nights, before taking over another one of Ben’s bookings that he generously offered to us and moving over to the Harbour View Suite.

Outside of mistake rate shenanigans like these, The Reykjavik EDITION is currently charging around 110,000 Icelandic króna ($950 CAD) per night during the peak summer season. During the lower season, rates are significantly lower, but still in the range of 50,000 Icelandic króna ($469 CAD).

It’s also quite expensive to redeem Marriott Bonvoy points here, with a free night redemption going for anywhere between 80,000–100,000 points.

The Reykjavik EDITION is certainly an expensive destination, which is perhaps to be expected for the best luxury hotel in a country that was already notoriously expensive for tourists to begin with.

The Reykjavik EDITION – Location

Situated on a north-facing harbour, The Reykjavik EDITION is a little bit away from the city centre. However, despite not being entirely central, it’s still a great location as it’s just a short walk to get to most major points of interest.

The city centre is easily accessible by foot. Anything worth seeing in Reykjavík, such as the Hallgrímskirkja church, the Laugavegur shopping street, or the Icelandic Phallological Museum, is within a 15–20 minute walk from the hotel.

For those using this hotel as a base to explore the rest of Iceland, it’s easy to get to the highway and head out of the city to explore Iceland’s beautiful countryside.

The hotel has valet parking, which costs a staggering 6,500 Icelandic króna ($65 CAD) per night. Alternatively, there’s a parking lot where you can park for free about a five-minute walk away by the convention centre.

The Reykjavik EDITION – Check-In

Our flight landed at 7am, and we arrived at the hotel at 9:30am. As we made our way to check-in, we were immediately welcomed by the modern and sleek design that the EDITION brand is known for.

The well-lit black-and-white décor and minimalistic art fixtures in the lobby provided us with a taste of what we could expect throughout our stay.

Since this was an Expedia booking, there weren’t many upgrade options available, as our Titanium Elite status wasn’t supposed to be recognized on a third-party reservation.

However, upon seeing my membership number and Titanium Elite status, the hotel attempted to upgrade us to a better room, since we had actually been pre-assigned one of the “worst” rooms in the hotel.

They were able to find a Superior King Room, but indicated that it wouldn’t be available until 3pm. Since we wanted to rest after our red-eye flight in economy class, we decided to just take the room we were assigned.

This turned out to be the base-level King Accessible Guest Room, which meant it lacked quite a few features that most standard rooms have – as we’d eventually discover upon taking our keys and heading up to the third floor.

Here’s a tip if you’re checking in at the Reykjavik EDITION: ask them about their welcome beverage.

Apparently, it’s not always proactively offered, but if you ask, you’ll often be able to score a drink on the house – whether it’s an alcoholic beverage at the bar or a coffee in the morning.

I enjoyed a very strong cappuccino as my welcome drink while we briefly waited for our room to be prepared, and it was a great note on which to begin our stay.

The Reykjavik EDITION – King Accessible Guest Room

As we entered our room, my first thought was that I couldn’t really see how the hotel could possibly charge $1,000+ per night for this room, which was the current advertised rate.

The room was stylish and inviting, though it was a very cozy space without a lot of square footage. If I had paid the full price for this room, I’d probably be a little disappointed.

The room’s Nordic design was highlighted by the colourful wool bed scarf, and the uniquely shaped and very comfortable chair in the corner of the room.

The chair was also draped with fur, which was a common theme throughout the hotel.

I thought the fur rug underneath the chair and table was a nice touch, and a well-placed reminder of our northerly surroundings.

On the side tables that flanked the bed, we found a Bluetooth speaker, power outlets, USB ports, light controls, and a telephone. 

Inside the wooden dresser underneath the television was a drawer with a sleek Nespresso coffee machine. 

The room looked out into the hotel’s courtyard, which was a fairly uninspiring view. Suffice to say that we’d come to appreciate the views from our other rooms later on during our stay a lot more than this.

The bathroom was where the accessible features of the room were most noticeable. The floor and walls were completely decked out in mosaic tile in this open-concept bathroom.

I appreciated the clean white surface of the vanity next to the black faucet fixtures. These classic renditions of the EDITION brand provide a very clean and sleek look, similar to what we had experienced in the lobby when checking-in.

However, the fact that this was an accessible room meant that there was no enclosed shower, which was a bit of an odd experience. Of course, it’s important for hotels to have accessible rooms, but it can sometimes be a bit of a bummer when you’re involuntarily assigned to one.

Overall, the bed was very comfortable and gave us some good rest after an overnight red-eye flight in economy class, but I really wasn’t too impressed from the outset with this initial room at the start of our Iceland trip.

It was a sufficiently humble abode for our first night, but we soon found out that other suites in the hotel are much more desirable.

The Reykjavik EDITION – Ocean View Corner Suite

The Ocean View Corner Suite is the second-highest suite type here at The Reykjavik EDITION, where we were generously hosted by Ben as his roommates for two nights.

Upon entering the suite, you first encounter a hallway featuring a half-bathroom. The hallway then leads to a huge dining room and living area.

The sleek marble table can seat up to 10 people, and is situated next to a flatscreen television. These are surrounded by amazing views of the harbour out of the large floor-to-ceiling windows.

On the other end of the meeting table, opposite the television, is the living room. This was a rather nice area to sit in and chat, as it was adorned with luxurious couches and fur rugs.

With plenty of seating options, this would be a great place to sip on some hot chocolate and watch a movie, or simply to stare out across the ocean.

The two bedrooms are fairly similar to the other rooms and suites in the hotel, offering the same stylish Nordic design and the same very comfortable king bed.

In each room, you’ll also find the same uniquely-shaped chair, extra-plush bathrobes in the closet, and Nespresso coffee machine.

The bathrooms look very similar, too, as they’re also finished with the same mosaic tile design.

The main difference is the addition of a bathtub and the dual sink vanity. I also appreciated having a more enclosed shower space compared to our original room, which also encompassed the bathtub in a single “wet room”.

The Ocean View Corner Suite treated us to sweeping views across both the harbour and the ocean facing north. Since it was July, there was still quite a bit of midnight sun, so it never really quite got dark.

We enjoyed keeping the windows open during the day, waving at passersby downstairs and observing the beautiful scenery outside. 

Overall, this suite was extremely impressive and was definitely the highlight of our stay. As the second-highest suite type just below the Penthouse, it’s definitely worthwhile to try your luck at “suite-talking” your way into this upgrade. 

The Reykjavik EDITION – Harbour View Suite

After our stay with Ben, Jessy and I moved to a Harbour View Suite for our last night, which is a more modest version of the Corner Suite.

Instead of the views across both the harbour and the ocean, you’re treated to a sweeping view of the harbour, as the room name would suggest. The hotel also has Ocean View Suites that face north, which has a very similar layout to this one.

As you enter the Harbour View Suite, you’ll first encounter a half-bathroom. 

Further in the suite is the living room, with two sleek white couches and plenty of wooden furniture.

A door leads into the bedroom, which is arranged in a very similar layout to our previous rooms. 

The master bathroom is almost identical to the bathroom in our previous suite. It’s equipped with an enclosed shower and a bathtub.

The Harbour View and Ocean View Suites are perhaps more within reach as an upgrade option for the average guest with Marriott Bonvoy elite status, and it certainly makes for a very comfortable residence.

The Reykjavik EDITION – Breakfast

Breakfast at The Reykjavik EDITION isn’t included for Marriott Bonvoy elite members, as the EDITION brand is generally excluded from breakfast benefits. Plus, since we didn’t book directly through Marriott, it wouldn’t have been included for us anyways.

Nonetheless, we decided to sit down and partake in the buffet breakfast for one of our mornings. Breakfast is served daily from 7–11am in the Tides restaurant.

For a luxury hotel, the breakfast pricing wasn’t entirely unreasonable at 4,800 Icelandic króna ($48 CAD) per person.

It was a pretty delicious breakfast, but didn’t have the widest selection of items available. There was a small counter top of hot breakfast items, including eggs, bacon, and pancakes.

There was also a range of pastries available from the hotel’s Tides Café. The local feature was Icelandic yogurt called skyr. Along with the skyr were ingredients and toppings that could be mixed in to create a breakfast parfait.

In addition to the food, there was also a range of juices and coffee on offer. While this wasn’t the most impressive buffet selection, the quality was certainly very good.

Given that the breakfast wasn’t included, I don’t think it would’ve been worth the price for every morning of my stay, but I’m happy that I gave it a try once.

The Reykjavik EDITION – Dining

Tides is the hotel’s signature restaurant, boasting modern Icelandic cuisine for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You can also find more luxurious menu items, such as caviar.

The entrance comes as two white walls converge to a peak, opening up to black curtains, wood, and amber lighting, which I found to be a very visually appealing design.

The timber-framed interior of the restaurant has accents of blue on benches. You’ll also find fur draped over the backs of the wooden seats.

Tides Café is open from 6am–5pm. If sitting down to dine isn’t your thing, grab-and-go options, including freshly baked pastries and fresh sandwiches made with sourdough or rye bread, are available.

The Reykjavik EDITION – Bar

EDITION as a brand is known for its beautiful hotel bar and lounge areas. In this regard, The Reykjavik EDITION didn’t disappoint, with no fewer than five bars spread throughout the hotel.

Lobby Bar is open from 11am–11pm. This bar features an open-flame fireplace, and serves Icelandic craft beers, specialty cocktails, and some snack items.

The second bar is situated in Tides and is open until 10pm. The bartender stands inside the pentagonal bar to shake and stir whichever elixir you desire.

The third bar is located on the seventh floor, aptly named The Roof. This was my favourite bar, as the bartender here whipped up some mean Old Fashioneds for us when we spent an evening up here.

The Roof has outdoor seating with amazing panoramic mountain and ocean views.

It’s quite a sight to behold, particularly when the midnight sun is poking out, when the sun performs its signature bounce off the skyline by descending and then immediately ascending once again.

A fourth bar, Tölt, is a secret speakeasy venue that has yet to open. Marketed as a cozy hidden sanctuary, I’m sure it’s going to be a great time when it opens.

Lastly, the fifth bar and lounge is located in the spa. This bar serves up healthy smoothies by day, and transforms into a spa bar by night.

The Reykjavik EDITION – Other Facilities

Located at the basement level are the hotel’s fitness centre and spa.

The fitness centre is very dim and small, but has enough equipment to get a good workout in. There are free weights, treadmills, exercise machines, and cable machines for use.

I came down here on our first morning to sneak in a workout before we headed out on our road trip.

The spa is open from 12–9pm on Mondays and Tuesdays, and from 11am–9pm on Wednesdays and Sundays.

This was actually one of the highlights of the hotel for me. I’m not typically one to participate in the spa, but Ben was a big fan and he persuaded me to join on one of the evenings.

The spa featured a lounge area, where we were offered tea and water, as well as spa snacks, as we prepared to enter.

I was quite impressed by the amenities provided at the spa, including delicious wasabi peas and warm tea before you go in to relax.

Inside the spa, you’ll find a hot tub, a steam room, and a sauna, as well as an exhilarating cold shower that you can use to shock your system in-between heat sessions.

All of these spa features are complimentary for hotel guests, and further spa treatments can also be booked if you’d like.

Conclusion

The Reykjavik EDITION has redefined Iceland’s hotel scene, offering a much more compelling luxury option for visitors to the country, which are swelling in numbers year after year.

I was quite satisfied with my multiple stays at The Reykjavik EDITION, especially given the price I had paid. I don’t think I’d be keen to pay the advertised rates in cash or points for it, but I’m really happy I got the chance to experience this hotel on such a sweet deal.

Although I think this summer’s prices are a little over the top, I do hope to be in a position to return at more reasonable rates in the future to experience even more of the hotel’s facilities once they’ve fully opened.

This was another favourable installment in my experiences with the EDITION brand so far, and I look forward to checking out even more locations in the future.