Galaxy Pod Hostel — Hotel in Reykjavik

This review is unique to the others I left because it was our first ever experience in a hostel and a drastic change from staying in private rooms for the first three nights, but wow, this place was awesome! I am so impressed. My husband and I stayed for two nights in the largest capsule they had, and we took full advantage of all of the amenities. I was a little nervous that the shift from private to shared would throw us off in the middle of our trip, but it was very easy to adjust to and we got to know some of the other guests which was very fun!

We had the advantage of a rental car, so we kept our big suitcase in the trunk and only brought in what we needed. You can store things in your pod or in the cabinets, which are both incredibly secure; to get into the building you need a code that is texted to you prior to your arrival, and then you also need to use the key card assigned to you to enter the Pod Room you are in (there were 4 pods in mine) and then again to enter your pod and activate the lights and electronics inside (very spaceship-like!). Then you are also given a second key card which opens your locker, which is the perfect size for two large backpacks and a pair of shoes. We found our pod very clean, quiet, comfortable, and surprisingly spacious for two people! We loved how safe we felt inside and how easy it was to fall asleep in the complete darkness (it probably helped that we were fully exhausted after so much adventuring).

Now to talk about the rest of the facility; I really loved being here so much! The lobby is large and extremely comfortable, with a bar and many couches that encourage socializing with other guests. There are two TV screens; one is displaying the current livestream of the volcano and the other plays chill beats on YouTube, which is personally one of my favorite things to put on when I’m trying to relax. The whole place is loaded with graffiti encouraged by the staff for guests to leave their own personal mark as a reminder of their stay, so don’t forget to grab a marker and find an empty space to write your name and a kind message!!

Don’t be alarmed by the strong sulphur smell that greets you when approaching the shared bathrooms -- they are very clean and well-maintained, but the water supply just smells like that due to the fact that the heat is generated geothermally. I personally didn’t mind it once I knew that, but it is good to know ahead of time! It’s great for showering and bathing, but unlike most of the water in Iceland, it’s not best for drinking :)

I loved that this place encouraged me not to be wasteful and to embrace sharing with others. The kitchen is spacious and has everything you need to cook a full meal, and many guests would make baked goods and leave them on the table for others to enjoy. Everyone seemed to be really respectful of what was shared and what was private, which you could distinguish by leaving free items on one shelf and your personal labeled items on the other shelf.

We are so used to giving away leftovers and extra food to people on the street who are hungry when we travel in the US, so I was surprised to not see anyone in need the whole time we were in Iceland. Since we did not see anyone to give our food to and our departure was coming up, I was extremely happy to see that we could leave our leftovers for other guests to enjoy and when we came back after a day of fun in the capital, the leftovers were indeed eaten by someone. I also happily left my unused or half-empty shower goods in the bathroom on a communal shelf, so hopefully someone will get to make good use of them now that we’re gone!

The facility itself is situated VERY conveniently, especially for us; you can walk to Loving Hut (vegan restaurant) and Dominos (which also had vegan pizza) and it's a short drive to the medical center where we got our COVID tests to return to the US. Overall, I am extremely satisfied with our stay. It was WELL worth what we paid for and was the coolest, most unique overnight stay I have ever had anywhere in my life! We can't wait...

Stayed for 3 days. After coming directly from a traditional bunk-bed hostel experience, i found this one absolutely perfect and perfect for me. I enjoy privacy, yet some socializing. So this was just ideal.

The Pod itself felt spacious (i am 5'8") and i kept my bag in the pod with me, just for ease of access. It has usb ports for charging, a small fan in the corner. The sheets were clean, but the mattress felt slightly thin. Still had the best sleeps of my trip here though. You get a locker as well, which is big enough for a tall backpack and your shoes. I felt the pods were safe enough not to lock every time.

The bathroom was great, many shower and toilet stalls. The showers all had free shampoo if you needed, but i know most ladies use and bring their preferred. And most importantly, there is a place to put your clothes/toiletry bag (this seems to be something some hostels forget). I know its weird to analyze, but the atmosphere in the bathroom is cool, there's always music playing.

The kitchen was nice to have as i did not want to spend too much and everyone knows how pricey restaurants are in Iceland. It has a stove, microwave and big industrial sized fridge you can put your items in. There are two dining room tables and pots/pans/utensils available for use.

Service was great. Every one at the reception was really nice and helpful. They let me keep my bag after checkout for a few hours. But what is most impressive i think was the action of one of the male employees. I told him i woke up last night with the smell of cigarette smoke filling my pod. I thought i was hallucinating so i did not report it. Then the same thing happened after dinner the next night, my pod became a cig smoke hot box and i am very sensitive to smoke. So i reported it and the rude person below me was smoking in his pod (against the rules and who would think this is okay?). The employee took quick action and i was very appreciative.

Location is okay. Its a bit of a walk to the downtown core, but i am used to walking. It is about 10 minutes to downtown/Bus stops 12+13. But more importantly to me, there was a Bonus and Kronan very close so you can pick up cheap food and snacks.

Only suggestion would be to add a soft close function for the doors. They can be quite loud when you let them close...

The idea of pod is nice. But, there some improvements can be made. We had top pod and steps to get up there was very awkward. It was hard to get up and down. Entrance sliding door to the pod makes laud noise during opening/closing unless you super carefully and slowly operate it. Wished the pod is more sound proof. The worse part in the pod design is that we are given two key cards one for external locker and the other for room entry and power-up the pod (lights and TV and everything). Two people staying in a single pod with one main card is very inconvenient. When one person goes to bathroom, the other person has to stay in the pod dark. We two people exit together the pod we cannot lock the pod while we are out. There was small safe box in the pod but wished we could lock the pod with the key card. [Updates] I could not find a way to respond to the response from Galaxy Pod staff. So, I would like to give some context regarding the top pod placement. After we received a pair of key cards we crawled into the pod with excitement. Then, put the key card to the panel and powered up the pod with lights. So far so good. Then, I wanted to go bathroom so I crawled down. Coming down was even more awkward than coming up. So, I asked the lady at the front desk nicely if we could change to bottom pod. She responded nicely that it is not allowed as I already "used" the pod. Yes, technically I "used" the pod by crawled into to put the key card to power-up the pod for a minute. So, I did not negotiate with her further and took the top pod with...