The Exeter owns Reykjavik's harbor-cool corner: a boutique rebuilt into the old dockside warehouses where Tryggvagata meets the Old Harbour, its interiors leaning into the heritage — reclaimed timber, rivet steel, leather banquettes, local photography — above a ground floor the neighborhood actually uses: Deig, the hole-in-the-wall bakery whose sourdough-and-doughnut counter queues from early (hotel breakfast credit happily spent there), and the bar-restaurant's harbor-worker-chic room running into the evening. The 106 rooms stack from snug doubles to harbor-view corners with freestanding tubs; a small gym and sauna cover basics; and the position is the pitch — whale and puffin boats three minutes' walk, Harpa five, the flea market across the street, downtown's core behind. Hip without trying, priced mid-tier, and the harbor district's best bed. Booked directly.
Reykjavik's Old Harbour quarter kept its working character while regenerating — fish companies beside design studios, the flea market's weekend sprawl, the whale fleet's gangways — and the Exeter (2018, in the Keahotels family) built its identity from exactly that mix: the facade keeps the warehouse line, the interiors salvage the register (rough timber ceilings, steel, rope-and-leather details, a record player behind the desk), and the clientele runs photographers, design-week visitors, and travelers who chose the harbor over the hill on purpose.
Rooms grade sensibly
Cozy queens in the warehouse core (compact, warm, blackout-equipped against midnight sun); superior tiers adding sitting corners; and the harbor-view categories — upper-corner rooms where the fishing fleet, Esja, and the sunset line fill industrial-paned windows, the best with freestanding tubs placed for exactly that view. The ground floor is the social asset: Deig bakery's counter (the cardamom buns and filled doughnuts are city-famous; the hotel's breakfast arrangement runs through it) and the Exeter's own kitchen-bar handling harbor-sourced plates and natural wine into the night — a lobby that functions as the neighborhood's living room rather than a check-in corridor.
The location math
Whale-watching and puffin boats board three minutes away (morning tours without transit calculus), Harpa and the EDITION's rooftop five, the Kolaportið weekend flea market across the street (fermented-shark samples for the brave), Grandi's family attractions ten along the shore, and Laugavegur's core six behind — downtown access with the harbor's breathing room and gull soundtrack. Mid-tier rates hold below the design-flagship line and soften off-season. For harbor-leaning itineraries — boats, Grandi, Harpa evenings — it's the obvious base; book directly, harbor-view corners first.
Why stay here
- ✓Warehouse-heritage design
- ✓Harbor-view corner rooms with tubs
- ✓Deig bakery downstairs
- ✓Kitchen-bar with natural wine
- ✓Whale boats three minutes' walk
- ✓Sauna & fitness corner
- ✓Flea market across the street
- ✓Blackout-equipped rooms
Good questions
What's the bakery situation?+
Deig — the city-famous sourdough-and-doughnut counter — anchors the ground floor, and the hotel's breakfast runs through it. The cardamom buns justify the queue you'll join anyway.
Which rooms have the view?+
The upper harbor-view corners — fishing fleet, Esja, and sunset through industrial-paned glass, the best categories with freestanding tubs aimed at it. Core warehouse rooms trade view for warmth and value.
How close are the whale boats?+
Three minutes on foot to the Old Harbour gangways — morning tours without transit math, with Harpa and the Grandi district's family attractions along the same shoreline walk.
