The Reykjavik EDITION

The Reykjavik EDITION opened in 2021 on the old harbour directly beside Harpa, the honeycomb-glass concert hall that has become Iceland's architectural calling card. It marked the arrival of genuine international flagship luxury in a city long served by charming but modest hotels, delivered through Ian Schrager's EDITION formula: sleek minimalism, serious food and drink, and public spaces designed for evening life as much as morning coffee.

Interiors channel Iceland quietly rather than literally—dark timber, lava-toned stone, sheepskin throws and wide windows that frame either the harbour and Mount Esja across the bay or the low rooflines of the old town. Rooms are calm, gadget-smart and warmer in feel than the brand's big-city outposts, a sensible response to the climate outside.

Tides, the ground-floor restaurant, focuses on Icelandic seafood and local produce, while the lobby bar and a compact rooftop lounge give Reykjavik a level of cocktail polish it previously lacked; a small spa with sauna and treatment rooms rounds things out. The old harbour's whale-watching piers, the Laugavegur shopping street and the city's museums are all within a ten-minute walk, and Golden Circle excursions collect at the door. For design-minded travellers using Reykjavik as a base, it sets the current standard.