Reykjavik City Hostel

There’s a lot of good things to say about this hostel. It’s in a quiet area, the beds were very comfy, they had the World Cup on every night on a huge projector and the social area was very pleasant. There’s lots of things to keep you entertained like games, a football table, a ping pong table and so on. On the whole, very clean; although the kitchen could perhaps be a little cleaner (although it is hard to keep a shared kitchen spotless). I think the main thing I wasn’t too impressed with was the service. I made a mistake with the booking on Hostelworld and accidentally booked an extra night; but when I contacted Dalur about this they said there was nothing they could do as it was all through Hostelworld. Fair enough, but there was very little effort made to help me with this at all. On arrival, I was also having an issue with my phone and couldn’t access my email to get the check in details and the woman looked at me like I was an idiot (or that’s how it came across at least). Anyway, other than that it was a very good stay and I would still recommend staying here.

The hostel is located about 50 minutes walk from the centre. There are a couple of supermarkets nearby and the Botanical Gardens are close (and definitely worth a visit!). The beds were super comfy! Spacious and have curtains. The social space is cosy and the outdoor area is an added bonus. I have only given it 4 stars as the shared areas (kitchen, bathrooms, and social space) were not always the cleanest. I appreciate this is part of staying in a hostel, but usually it is kept more on top of. You also have to make and strip your own bed which (given the price!) felt a bit cheeky. I would still return if we are ever in Reykjavik again - it felt very safe and overall a nice vibe.

We tried two rooms, the first night with shared bathroom and bunk bed. From the second one to bedroom with private bathroom. Of the first I can say that it is obscene, the beds and pillows will also be comfortable but there is just no space inside the room that beyond the bed can accommodate nothing else. Also in both rooms you had to arrange the bed and make it all over again as well as at check out you had to dismantle it and throw the dirty sheets in the bin below. The shared bathroom is obscene, very crowded, there is no division between male and female and dirty. In the room with the bathroom I can say instead that it is very spacious, the bathroom leaves something to be desired as well as the cleanliness but I have seen worse. Watch out for the shower because the whole bathroom floods. The “lobby” is very spacious to spend a warm evening, and outside the hotel there is plenty of space and we were also lucky because you could see the Northern Lights.