Alda Hotel is a beautiful, modern hotel in a great location on Laugavegur Street, Reykjavik’s main shopping street. In fact, the older part of Reykjavik is so compact and small that any hotel on this street would be in an excellent location. When searching for a hotel, my #1 priority is always a great location, and Trip Advisor helps me to narrow down the choices from there. I have never been disappointed yet!
Alda Hotel was recently renovated from a store few years back, and now it boasts a beautifully decorated hotel, a restaurant called Brass Kitchen, and even a funky barber shop! I loved my simple single room on the 3rd floor. Notice how even the light fixture has an Icelandic sweater! It was just a single room, but I didn’t find it too small at all. It was nice! It had those duvets that you find in Europe where there’s no bedding at all. No sheets or blankets! Just a small duvet to cover up with. Once I got used to it, it was ok, and I was never cold. Just weird to not have sheets and the whole bedding thing.
The bathroom was minimalist, but comfortable. I liked how the shower folded up in order to save space. There was plenty of space for arranging toiletries by the sink, although there was nowhere to put anything in the shower other than the floor. Not a big deal. There is a pump bottle of shampoo/body wash combo product included if you didn’t bring your own.
The big slider door let in lots of natural light, and led out to a shared balcony. The blackout curtains were great for when they have endless daylight in the summer, but since I was there in October that wasn’t an issue. It was beautiful in the fall, and overlooked the residential street behind Laugavegur.
The breakfast buffet downstairs is beautiful! I was quite pleased with it, and I ate there 2 out of the 4 mornings I was there due to early tours. With Hotel Alda, depending on the rate you book, the breakfast may be included, or may not be. Mine was not, and I feel it was worth the price, if only for the refills of coffee alone. If you go to a restaurant for breakfast, coffee is priced per cup, and it is about $5.60 just for one small cup. If you are at least a 2 cup drinker, like me, breakfast suddenly gets pricey. They have a lovely coffee machine where you can get coffee, espresso, lattes, etc. The buffet includes waffles, with an amazing array of toppings, oatmeal with lots of toppings, breads, meats, eggs and bacon, Icelandic butter, and lots of fruit. I thought it was incredible that there is also a bottle of cod liver oil available with little glasses. So Icelandic!
The breakfast buffet costs 2500ISK if not included in your room rate (about $25 USD). This is very much on par with what you will pay for a hot breakfast in a nice cafe, with only 1 cup of coffee! So take advantage of those refills.
I highly recommend Hotel Alda for your visit to Reykjavik!! Do book as early as you can (months in advance) because the price does increase the closer you get to your travel date.
