The Best Hotels Near Torfhús Retreat, by the Record
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The name is literal: floor-to-ceiling glass wraps the whole building on a hilltop outside Selfoss, so the southern Icelandic countryside, mountains, distant water, and occasional Northern Lights are basically the decor. This boutique design hotel pairs that view with plush-meets-industrial interiors and a spa fed by a mineral spring a thousand feet underground. The restaurant runs a set dinner menu built on local Icelandic ingredients, which is the right move when the larder looks like this.
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A log-cabin lodge on Iceland's southern coast, an hour east of Reykjavik with a volcano at its back and nothing much else for miles. The Michelin Guide awarded it one Key. Rooms are wood-paneled and tucked under the eaves; the themed suites go further, each dedicated to a different continent, which sounds odd until you see the tatami room. The real draw, though, is the sky after dark during aurora season.
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Less than an hour from Reykjavík, this boutique hotel takes its name from the indoor plants that soften what is otherwise a very Icelandic piece of modern, utilitarian architecture. Rooms aside, the building also holds a food hall spanning global cuisines and a handful of shops stocking local Icelandic clothing and provisions, which makes it more of a small village than a place to sleep.
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The black-sand beach outside isn't decoration; it's the whole point. This minimalist hotel on Iceland's south coast, forty minutes from Reykjavík, keeps its profile low and its interiors spare, warmed mostly by good textures and DUX beds in fine linen. The restaurant faces the beach through floor-to-ceiling glass, and the surrounding south coast puts waterfalls, geysers, and the Northern Lights within reach.
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Two glass cottages placed so far apart from each other that you'll wonder if the designers were making a point. This rural Icelandic retreat near Seljalandsfoss waterfall has no lobby, no reception, and no restaurant, which is either a selling point or a dealbreaker depending on who you are. Each cottage has a private sauna, a hot tub, and a glass ceiling angled for Northern Lights viewing. You stock the kitchenette yourself and spend your days on the South Coast.