Best Independent Style Hotels in South Iceland
As a long-established luxury travel publication, The Luxury Editor is known for showcasing hotels that go beyond star ratings alone and focus on what really matters to discerning travellers seeking a memorable stay in a independent style hotel in South Iceland. Service, design, atmosphere, sense of place and the overall quality of the guest experience all play a part in whether a property earns its place in our curated list.
Whether you are at the early stages of planning or already comparing a shortlist, our choice of independent style hotels in South Iceland is a credible and useful guide, with easy booking options too.
Let us help you make searching for the perfect place to stay more inspiring, more informed and more enjoyable.
South Iceland, Nesjavellir
ION Adventure Hotel
(4 stars)Located in Selfoss, the ION Adventure Hotel is a remarkable modernist structure that sits on stilts, cutting an impressive outline in the already dramatic landscape. Once a spooky abandoned inn, it’s now a 45-room (choose between standard and deluxe) boutique hotel with outlooks over Nesjavellir Geothermal Power Plant or across the lava fields towards Thingvellir National Park. As with ION’s City Hotel, there’s a clear presence of salvaged materials in the design with the exterior mimicking the brutal conditions of Icelandic winter. Sigurlaug Sverrisdottir is behind the concept and manager to the ION brand. Once air cabin crew, she’d also created a business, arranging adventure tours -and there’s many wonderful excursions to be enjoyed from here. Adventure Hotel juts out on Mount Hengill as a secluded and sustainable retreat for those wishing to get off the beaten track.
South Iceland, Vík
Hótel Kría
If visiting the south of the island, stay at Hótel Kría in Vik. This opened in the summer of 2018, a cool new addition to the area with black sandy beaches just a five-minute walk away. Light wood panelling, charcoal tones and glass feature heavily in the modern design, both inside and out. Meals are taken in Drangar Restaurant, with lamb and fish being especially popular. Innovative creations such as avocado chocolate pudding, skyr and cucumber crystallised white chocolate with dill and merengue appear on the pudding menu – you won’t want to skip dessert at Hótel Kría.
South Iceland, Skogar
Umi Hotel
(4 stars)One of the most beautiful mountain ranges in Iceland is the backdrop to the UMI hotel. The hotel presents bare-foot luxury at its best and is rooted with a deep connection to nature that flows throughout the design, décor and overall experience of the hotel with only 28 simple yet stylish rooms, offering mountain or ocean views, guests will never feel over-crowded. Stunning vistas can also be enjoyed from the hotel’s top-class restaurant which serves Nordic and Icelandic cuisine with a Japanese twist in a warm and welcoming atmosphere and the lounge and bar is the ideal spot to take in panoramas of Eyjafjallajökull, the famous subglacial volcano. For guests wishing to enjoy more than the beautiful views, many action-packed activities such as glacier hikes, kayaking and ice-cave adventures can easily be arranged by the team at the hotel. For those who love nature and adventure, this is the hotel for you!