10 Days – England, Scotland, and Iceland – Introduction
For the remaining two nights in Iceland, I booked the Radisson Blu 1919 Hotel for 66k Club Carlson points total for a Business Class room. The premium rooms feature free breakfast, premium room amenities, slippers, bath robes, etc. The main thing I wanted was free breakfast, which is why I booked the premium room award – and I’m glad I did, since the hotel was full and if I booked a regular award, I wouldn’t have gotten an upgrade or free breakfast.
The hotel has an excellent location – just a two minute walk from the centre of Reykjavík and close to some important locations such as Harpa and Hallgrímskirkja. The only downside to the hotel is that you have to pay for parking since the hotel is basically located in the centre of the city and there isn’t free parking. The nice thing was that the parking was super cheap and we ended up paying only EUR ~12 for three days. Parking is only charged during the day from 09:00 – 18:00, so nights are free.
Radisson Blu 1919 Hotel Reykjavík
Radisson Blu 1919 Hotel Reykjavík
Radisson Blu 1919 Hotel Reykjavík
We were quickly welcomed by a friendly, Polish, front desk agent who issued us our keys and proceeded to explain everything we needed to know about Iceland and what was worth visiting.
Lobby
Lobby
Lobby
Lobby
Our room was super modern and clean, located on the third floor. In addition to the awesome premium in-room amenities, we also had a balcony! The welcome amenity consisted of two bottles of water, a welcome letter, chocolate covered strawberries and coconut treats.
Welcome amenity
Welcome amenity
There was also a sign indicating what the premium features of the room were, as noted, the most important amenity for me was the free breakfast.
Business Class Room
The room was very modern, clean, and spacious. Our slippers and bath robes were conveniently located next to the bed.
Business Class Room
Business Class Room
The desk had some catalogues and maps of Iceland, which we took along on our adventure so that we wouldn’t get lost. The cell phone and mobile internet (3G) signal was great and I was able to use my iPhone’s GPS all the time throughout various parts of Iceland.
Desk
The bathroom was super clean, and featured amenities such as a sewing kit, shower cap, shoe cleaning items, shower amenities, and more.
Bathroom
Bathroom
Bathroom
The awesome thing was that we had a balcony! I mean it was around 12 degrees C in Iceland, so we didn’t spend much time on the balcony, but when the sun was there it was nice to sit and relax for a while.
Balcony
View
View
The selection of food for breakfast was amazing. Literally, everything you could think of was there. Breads ranged from white to dark, there was an awesome selection of pastries, fruit, vegetables, cheese, meat, fish, cereal, juices, granola, milk, tea, coffee, chocolate, waffles, and much, much more. We were genuinely shocked and impressed at the vast selection of food available for breakfast… it was awesome! We definitely didn’t expect the huge variety.. then again, this was probably the best Radisson Blu hotel that I’ve ever stayed at.
Breakfast
Breakfast
Breakfast
Breakfast
Breakfast
Breakfast
Breakfast
Business centre
All in all, the service at the hotel was beyond my expectations. The staff were super friendly and constantly looked after us (and made sure we enjoyed Iceland as much as possible), the facilities and room were very modern and clean, the breakfast was amazing with a vast selection of food, and the location of the hotel was outstanding.
Definitely the best Radisson Blu hotel I’ve ever stayed at, with great service and a great location, you can’t go wrong staying here. It was a great finish to our gorgeous journey throughout England, Scotland, and Iceland. If you are thinking about booking a Business Class room, I would definitely do it – the extra points are worth the grand breakfast, or you could take the risk and maybe get an upgrade when you arrive – although, the hotel is actually popular and therefore we were told that a majority of the time it is quite full. Best Radisson Blu ever!
Were there any noise issues? I have read numerous reviews about this property indicating it can get noisy at night. Thanks.
Nope, the hotel was super quiet! No noise issues.
Actually stayed there in late August. Was upgraded to a Business Class room but did not receive breakfast for free. As a Gold member did not receive the welcome gift. The room was on the 4th floor and while nice; it was back in the corner and was fairly small, no balcony, and on my wife’s side she actually had to watch her head as the room ceiling sloped towards the window. We had to ask for a bar of soap as it was not provided. The hotel did not appear to be full when we were there. As there were always many empty tables at breakfast and the lobby only had a minimal number of folks at the times we passed through. The same could be said of the the bar at night.
The breakfast was fine and it was nice to be able to get checked in as we did arrive in the morning. We were able to have breakfast even on the day we arrived. I liked the location. It was well placed for dinner and walking after your tours.