Sandhotel - Reykjavik

Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this cosy city hotel in central Reykjavik and unpacked their liquorice and matching yoke sweaters, a full account of their town and country break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Sandhotel in Iceland…

Have you heard the one about the tailor, baker and hotel-maker? Two wanted to loaf-er-round, but the third had reservations. Ba-dum-tish… Ok. What we lack in comedic genius, we make up for in taste. We appreciate the snug-fit of the dress jackets from Iceland’s oldest tailor Guðsteinn Eyjólfsson, the moreish tahini-swirl pastries from revered Reykjavik bakery Sandholt, and the subtle elegance of city-centre boutique stay Sandhotel. The trio sit shoulder to shoulder along Laugavegur, the main artery of Iceland’s compact capital, which is shot through with edgy bars and Scandi-cool shops. 

Like a tray of the bakery’s signature cinnamon buns popped into a piping-hot oven, Sandhotel is rising in popularity for adventurers who want to punctuate the stay’s lavish choice of tours – ice-caving, helicopter rides to volcano peaks, Pokémon-hunting (yes, really) – with a soft, snuggly bed and sugary bunfight of a breakfast. One of the unassuming white houses the hotel occupies was also once home to Nobel laureate Halldór Laxness, but we don’t have an-author joke for him. Sorry.