This hotel has been on my list of places to discover, since its opening 18 months ago, following several articles in the best decoration magazines and prestigious “Rewards” like Condé Nast Traveler 2019 which nominated it as the “Top resort in Europe” or Departures Magazine “Best experience in terms of well-being”, Architecture Masterprize Awards “Best design of the year” …describing it as one of the best hotels of the world.
When it came to planning out a last-minute weekend in Iceland, naturally I chose the Retreat Hotel at Blue Lagoon ! It’s definitely the best way of visiting the South of Iceland, while maintaining optimum comfort with one of the best spas.
The hotel is located in the axis, which prolongs the main Blue Lagoon (one of the key attractions around Reykjavik) and is made up of 62 suites, facing the lagoon and the lava fields, which surround it.
The spa is dug in the lava and is an essential asset of this hotel, that is devoted to relaxation and well-being. The experience is a lot like a spa treatment, with a variety of treatments but I mostly liked:
– Hot stone massages (very pleasant)
– Face treatment
– A massage in Blue Lagoon’s water in 39 degrees, an unprecedented experience! The concept being: you need to lie down on a floating mat with a cover so that you get cold, and a therapist takes you around the lagoon, while massaging you. The feeling is quite surreal, but feeling weightless during the massage, is a unique feeling!
The biggest asset of the spa is that one can swim in 900 square meters of a private Blue Lagoon, any time during the day and tables are at the disposal in the Lagoon to say cheers with some bubbly.
This way, one avoids the crowd of the main Blue Lagoon and bathing becomes a ritual.
The various spaces of the spa has several intimate spots to revitalize and there is also a “healthy” restaurant which will be a major treat for your taste buds, with a wonderful view of the lagoon.
The hotel’s client is almost international, mainly American with a lot of New Yorkers.
Indeed, the furniture is in keeping with the environment, with a refined decoration signed B&B Italia, and omnipresent lava walls. The many high bay windows open up the spaces towards the exterior with a panorama over looking the lagoon and the lava fields covered with green moss.
Teatime (included in the rate of the room) at 4 pm is very pleasant, when one comes back from an excursion.
The Moss restaurant is a gourmet restaurant of the hotel with a menu that is made up of 5 or 7 fixed dishes. Honestly, it’s best spot where I have eaten in Iceland as the other restaurants around, are really not refined. It’s possible to visit their exceptional wine cellar in the basement at the end of the meal. It is built in lava with more the 5 000 references.
What you can visit around :
- Take a walk on the lava fields, it’s magnificent
- The Golden Circle tour: a one-day trip in the car to visit geysers, geo-thermal sources, craters, Gullfoss waterfall etc.…
- A helicopter tour: just extraordinary, it gives a whole new dimension to the island and helps appreciate the extraordinary landscape, which is definitely unprecedented!
Nordurljosavegur 11, 240 Grindavík, Iceland
