Hotel Hilda — Hotel in Reykjavik

Hotel Hilda is more like a hostel. We were e-mailed a door code for the front door and our room, no personal touch at all and no reception for help or advice. The only employee we saw was the rather surly and unfriendly young man who put out breakfast. He had long hair that was not tied back, so much for hygiene! The room was tiny, basic, depressing, not at all homely and welcoming, not particularly clean and was tired and needed updating. It is actually the worst room I have ever had the misfortune of staying in. There was only a meagre bit of net curtain at the window, even though our room was on street level and we had street light shining in. This meant there is no privacy when the light is on. There needs to be curtains or blinds at the window. The bathroom was tiny and no working fan, when you used the shower it flooded the floor so we had to use towels to try and stop this happening. The towels we hung up every day were changed even though the sign says they wouldn’t be. I try to be as eco-friendly as I can. We couldn’t access the room until 3, even though our room was ready, so we just had to sit and wait, not great after a long journey. There was a room to put luggage but this wasn’t secure. I am vegan and had messaged the hotel in advance to ask if they could cater for me, they said yes - what a joke!! There was some plant milk, but not enough for us both, some Almond milk was eventually available a couple of days later after we complained and so was ‘gluten free cheese’ we were told, well I am vegan and not gluten free!! They really had no idea! I had to buy my own plant based milk and spread. Breakfast was meagre, the coffee ridiculously strong and not available during the day. Only a 2 slice toaster so everyone had to wait to use it. If there were more than 6 people in the dining room then it was full! The stairs are steep and wouldn’t be any good for anyone with mobility issues. The lift is for baggage only. The only positives I can say about this awful place is the beds were comfy, linen and towels clean and ‘hotel’ was centrally placed and easy to walk into town and bus stop 1 where most of our tours started from. Please do yourself a favour and don’t book this place as in our opinion it is truly appalling. We loved Iceland but dreaded coming back to our depressing room and tried to stay out as much...

The room was a perfect size for just one person. Although there were two beds, I think fitting another adult and luggage would be tight. I was on the first floor / room 1, and was nervous that it was on the ground flood with the windows at street-level. However, the roll down shade prevented onlookers, and there really wasn’t much street noise. The location feels like it’s an older / more mature part of town, and the town is small—so I am not sure how that’s possible. It was a quiet street and quiet hotel. I didn’t think there was anyone else staying there until I bumped into another solo traveller in the breakfast area. I saw two more as I was checking out. Also, I never felt unsafe here. The walk (at night/in the darK) seemed safe, and to get into the hotel you need a magnetic keycard. I have long legs and an athletic spirit, so it was about a 15-minute walk to the church, which is basically on the other side of town. All of the eateries, wineries, groceries are between the hotel and the church. The breakfast was traditional European: ham, cheese, salami, bread, yogurt, musli, Delonghi coffee, tea, orange, banana, cucumbers, tomatoes, and of course milk/OJ. Reykjavik Excursions picked me up at the hotel and did their best to bring me back—big buses cannot navigate small streets but I was dropped off up the street, which was good enough for me. Angela, the front-desk receptionist was great. She made reservations for me, suggested places to eat and things to see. Although the price of food and excursions are a bit high, there’s no way around it. The low (or NO) cost for transportation within the city more than make up for it. $30-40 per day for food (free breakfast at hotel and an early dinner, late night snack) compensations for the $10-20 you might have spent on the metro or tram in any other city. Cons: You cannot control the heat Water throughout all of Iceland smells of sulphur

(Note - I stayed here in...

We booked one of the cheaper, smaller room and based on the reviews here had low expectations. We arrived at 12 ish in the afternoon, dropped our bags in the luggage room and sat in the breakfast room to eat our lunch. The staff acknowledged us, just!||||At 3pm our room was available. It was pretty small (still with a 6ft bed) but clean and functional and I was impressed given what we had paid compared to other hotels in the area. The bathroom was tiny and the basin was way to close to the toilet but the shower area that looked tiny was actually pretty good when the curtain was pulled. The rooms could have done with a tray for boots as we had to leave ours in the shower or outside the room because after walking in the snow the grit and the melting snow got everywhere!||||The location was brilliant, we used the Greyline bus to bus stop no 3 (they didn't charge extra for 3) and it was an easy 10 min walk on heated streets. It was also a short walk to the Harbour. ||||Breakfast was excellent given it was advertised as light continental. Toast, ham, cheese, jams, yogurt and cereals and a waffle maker with syrup and whipped cream. There is only a 2 slice toaster, this could do with being a 4 slice as there was always a queue. Also they could do with putting on a new pot of coffee as they put the first one out as we were waiting 10 mins for more coffee. The other issue was they say breakfast is served from 7am but it wasn't out properly till 10 past which was a problem when needing to leave at 7.30am||||I have no idea why they say tea and coffee is available all day as it was always empty or cold and was probably just what was left over from breakfast as it didn't seem to get refreshed during the day. Same with the milk.||||All this said I would happily...