Exeter Hotel — Hotel in Reykjavik

It's a new hotel maybe 3 or 4 years old, I couldn't see it on google street view at the time of booking/writing this. Stayed in one of the junior suites with the harbour view. Rooms were clean and modern (concrete finish on some walls and ceilings), with industrial finishings and fixtures. A bit on the small side in my opinion, but not claustrophobic helped by a large Juliet balcony window (black out curtains on them). Street outside will have cars passing, even with the studs on the car tyres you don't really hear it when windows closed, or at least we didn't. Mood lighting, some might find it a bit dark, but we liked it. No room service. Shower open but screened from the living area (nice rain fall shower by the way), toilet enclosed. Temperature was fine in the rooms for us. Really (really) comfortable bed, fridge (not noisy), hair dryer, ironing board, desk with usb charging, safe, clothes hanging area (open), coffee via pod and tea (no milk, creamer only), sofa, chair, and table. Phone. Good shampoo and conditioner products supplied within the shower. Bath robe and slippers provided. Friendly staff arranged airport taxis and brought forward a NL tour for us to maximise our chances of seeing them.

It's not Luxury it's comfortable, the views are ok if you’re looking at the harbour (it’s a working harbour so it's not picturesque). Romantic hotel well that depends on you. Quiet, it's reasonably quiet (you will hear some noise but nothing that is intrusive). Value, depends, I thought it was all considered. High Tech no more than any other hotel, you don't have stay management on the tv for example, you have NFC door access, Wi-Fi and usb chargers, you can probably stream from phone to tv, but the tv has all the apps on it anyway Netflix, Prime etc (make sure you sign out), that's about as techie as it gets.

2 Negatives: Breakfast let it down, I had it on the first day and never went for it again during my stay. Waffles and fruit, cold meat and cheese, bread and cereals, cold hard-boiled eggs etc, so nothing close to a selection of ingredients for an Irish/English Breakfast if that’s what you were hoping for. If it’s thrown in for free when booking go for it and make some sandwiches for any trip you’re going on, that's all it's good for.

TV in this room (305) was in front of the bed on the wall, I don’t watch tv in bed, but there was nowhere else for it, so you couldn’t sit on sofa and watch something easily, would have helped if the tv was on an extending bracket.

Finally if you read this far, whatever about anything else, you book a hotel to sleep, the bed is really comfortable, really really comfortable, if you're into getting a good sleep, you'll be happy, I'm very bed fussy and...

The Exeter Hotel in Reykjavík presents itself as a stylish, four-star property, but in reality, it functions more like a polished hostel than a true hotel experience.

The rooms are visually appealing, with brushed concrete and minimalist design, but they lack basic practicality—there’s no storage, and no space to unpack. Living out of a suitcase is far from ideal, especially at this price point.

The advertised sauna and gym were, in practice, inaccessible during our stay. We were surprised that there wasn’t any daily housekeeping. Finding out that it is only provided if specifically requested at reception on the day—something we were only informed of upon checkout. This felt more like cost-cutting than service.

The on-site bar, bakery, and restaurant were all excellent, but they seemed to be the main attraction. The hotel itself felt like an afterthought—attached to a set of commercial outlets, complete with branded merchandise.

The most disappointing aspect was the handling of a planned celebration weekend. A gesture promised over email turned out to carry an unexpected charge upon arrival, which felt misleading and rather tone-deaf.

Early check-in wasn’t available, which is understandable, but luggage storage was via lockers—again, more in line with hostel practices. Even basic toiletries were only available for purchase.

If this is truly “the best hotel Reykjavík has to offer,” as claimed on their website, I dread to think what the others are like.

In summary, while the location near the harbour is excellent, the Exeter Hotel ultimately prioritises style over substance. It may look the part, but it falls short on comfort, service, and hospitality. A generous...

Pros: Located across the street from the start of the shore walk, close to many restaurants and tourist attractions. A car is not needed. The hotel shares residence with the Le Kock restaurants, Deig bakery, and Tail Bar on the ground floor. The reception/lobby is located behind the restaurant. There's a well maintained sauna with shower facilities on premise. There's also a nice enclosed(for cold nights) meeting room (to have drinks with friends) located in the courtyard. The Harbor view standard room has a desk, large smart TV and a Bluetooth speaker(nice touch). There's a heated towel rack in the bathroom that came in very handy for drying you bathing suit after a day at a hot spring.

Cons: The hotel is very dark, there's no natural light due to the restaurant and bar fronting the hotel and a center courtyard surrounded my apt buildings. The Harbor view room given to me was also very dark with dark furniture and a fake wood linoleum flooring that was not glued on very well. The room had no draws to store clothes, I had to use a foldable luggage rack. Also being on the first floor right above the street and restaurant there was plenty of noise. If you have a rent a car there's no free parking, you can pay $35/day for garage parking or pay $24/day for street parking using the Parka app.

In summary, if not needing a car, being in close proximity to numerous bars and restaurants is important to you then the Exeter hotel is a good fit. If on the other hand street noise, small rooms, and having the odors of the restaurant permeating the halls and stairwell then you may want to find a better...