Hotel Leifur Eiríksson — Hotel in Reykjavik

I'm sure this would be a five star review if it wasn't for the room we got. Unfortunately it was one on the top floor, or what I'd call an attic, but for the positives first. The staff were so great and were very nice. There is a dinning area with a bar at the entrance that offered free coffee, tea, and water any time of the day. They also have complementary breakfast. Their waffles are delicious and the coffee was great. Add their milk to the coffee, it's so good and unlike milk I've had anywhere else. In the afternoon you can purchase wine and beer. You can go down there anytime of the day. The location is great and WiFi is free. There is a nice convenience store about a minute walk away if you leave the hotel and turn right. There is a nice burger place to the left and tons of other things are in walking distance. The highest building in town is directly in front of the hotel. I think it's a church and it has a parking lot. We parked here for free during our stay. The lot can fill up, so you have to go at a good time. One positive about our room was that it had great views!

Now for the issues with the room. It had a very pitched roof making about a third of the room unusable. The day we arrived the wind was blowing about 60mph and gusts were much worse. Due to the wind and rain, all the roads to leave Reykjavik were closed. We stayed in the first, stormy night to hide from the wind that wold almost knock you over at times and sheets of rain. The first thing we noticed was the TV was unplugged. Turns out, this was for two reasons, one being there were only two outlets in the room, the other that only about two channels sort of came in, but there was no sound. We ended up also unplugging it and using it for charging. The other outlet was for a lamp next to the bed, all the way down to the lowest part of the slanted roof, so I had to crawl to unplug it and plug our items in. Since we couldn't watch TV and were kinda stuck there, we figured the free WiFi would get us through. Unfortunately, the signal didn't reach our room well and it only would load things sometimes if stood next to the door. So with no tv or internet and being trapped in the room, we decided to try to warm up. The only heater we could find was in the bathroom and since it was a water heater it made the room smell like fish (their water smells this way). The bed was also possitioned under a small window which the cold wind would blow through down on you. Note, it was already very cold in the room. Thankfully it did not leak, but the other issue was that there was only a little curtain for it and it didn't get dark until about 1am and the sun would start to rise again about three hours later, so the room was always bright. It's hard to explain how small the bathroom is. If you are sitting on the toilet you can easily wash your hands in the sink and the sink is practically in the shower. When you did shower the fish smell from the water would fill up the room. The shower was completely open, floor wise, so you couldn't have anything on floor when you showered because it would get wet. There was a small curtain to keep items not on the floor semi dry. The tap water is drinkable but you have to get passed the smell. They were also doing construction outside the hotel while we were there, so there was a lot of jackhammering going on.

To fair, we never talked to the staff about the issues with the room. We also realized most issues were out of their hands, but we probably could have asked for extra blankets or something. My guess is as long as you don't get a room on the top floor your stay...

Stayed here in September 2025 with a church view room. We were really excited due to the location being across the road from Hallgrimskirkja, being in the heart of Reykjavik and what was advertised as being a bespoke hotel which high quality rooms, customer service and breakfast. This wasn't the case. The only redeeming factor of the hotel was the location, convenience/ease of access to everything and using it as a place to keep our stuff.

They don't advertise/tell you that there is no easy access to the hotel and make you walk down very steep stairs to check in/out, go across the road to get your room which had an awkward entry and NO ELEVATOR!

We'd travelled from Australia to get here with all our luggage and had to make several trips to get up to our room (more on this soon) which we weren't impressed with. This is also poorly designed and discriminates against people with mobility issues and/or physical disabilities (I'd hate to think of what would happen in a fire/emergency and you were stuck up there!) Then in the morning for breakfast you have to leave the hotel and go across the road to get 'breakfast' (More on this later also).

The room also was a huge let down as your literally paying for the view of the awesome Hallgrimskirkja and easy access to Reykjavik only. The bed was uncomfortable, there was no soundproofing, heating didn't work properly, terrible lighting and atmosphere, the door wouldn't lock properly, the bathroom was an insult as they'd somehow placed a toilet, shower and sink into what looked like a broom cupboard and was gross and unhygienic. Also housekeeping didn't change the bedsheets, make the bed, clean the room/bathroom and change our towels (which resulted in going to reception across the road to get new fresh ones, make a complaint then back again) after getting back to our room on the first day of sightseeing - not impressed considering it costs about $500AUD after conversation from ISK a night to stay here!

Breakfast was also lame with only two small benches with hardly any food to choose from (of what food was available was bland and clearly chosen by someone who hates food) and a coffee and juice machine around the corner (more like a hot dirt and cordial dispenser) and to add insult to injury and had to put away my dishes after breakfast! (I'm on holiday I'm not your maid! I'm paying you to clean!) After the second day we gave up and went down to Braud & Co for breakfast (highly recommended!)

We flew for a total of 30 hours with two stops on the way from Australia to get to Iceland and despite the poor first impressions it gave us of Icelandic hospitality thankfully this horrible excuse of a hotel wasn't representative of the rest of Reykjavik and Iceland as whole. Fortunately we had other plans, tours and hotels booked which all of which were light years better and cheaper than Hotel Leifur Eriksson and we had an amazing time in Iceland and would love to come back one day.

We now know NOT to stay at Hotel Leifur Eriksson...

We were really pleased with our choice of hotel it was centrally located and very quiet. It was opposite the most beautiful church/ cathedral which was lit up at night providing stunning views with photo opportunities. The quirky and vibrant capital of Reykjavik was easily accessible. The main bus stop number 8 was so close and convenient for all pick ups , drop offs and trips. The rooms appear to have been recently refurbished as has the bar/ reception and dining area all very clean and modern. The bedroom we had had a very cosy and comfortable bed and was of a good size. Some of the rooms have a most fab view of the Hallgrims church and we would have booked one of these rooms had we realised. Unfortunately one evening we had water coming through the ceiling of our bedroom - this was from the shower above. The occupant above hadn't realised the shower was trickling out of the door!! However I tell you this because as soon as I rang down to reception it was dealt with immediately and very professionally ( these things happen). The staff in the hotel were friendly, helpful and nothing was too much trouble for them. Farouk (The Butcher from Bradford ) who was on reception was so polite and informative we loved chatting and getting to know you!! You are a real gentleman !! Thank you for all your help!John the barman is very talented and made me the most amazing Gin cocktail which is now frequently being replicated by myself- thank you for that recipe!! The rest of the reception staff Roberto and the young lady whose name I never knew, as well as others sorry not to know you by name but were all respectful, helpful and a delight to chat with and find out information needed to ensure a successful visit. The owner took great pride in her hotel and was often to be found in and around the reception areas. She was chatty and friendly. The breakfast was interesting with lots of choice to fulfill everyone's different requirements. All in all we had a fantastic time in Iceland made special by this hotel and all the staff working there. We would happily return and thank everyone for making our trip exciting and special. I apologise for not writing this review earlier and send everyone our warmest wishes and thanks. If we ever return to Iceland we will be booking room 302 with the amazing view! ( Nov. 17th 2019...