The Reykjavik EDITION planted the international five-star flag where it belongs — on the old harbor beside Harpa's glass honeycomb — and translated the brand's hushed-luxe formula into Icelandic materials: black basalt, pale oak, sheepskin, and lobby fires, with the harbor and Esja through floor-to-ceiling glass. The 253 rooms and suites run EDITION-serene (the corner harbor suites frame Harpa's LEDs like installed art); the spa's basalt treatment rooms and sauna anchor the wellness floor; Tides, under acclaimed Icelandic leadership, carries the new-Nordic dining statement; and the top-floor Roof — bar, terrace, and the city's best elevated view — turns weekend evenings into the scene the capital previously lacked. Service runs genuinely five-star, the walkability is total, and winter's aurora occasionally performs over the bay for the upper floors. The city's definitive luxury base — booked directly through Marriott.
Reykjavik's hotel scene matured for decades toward this 2021 opening: a ground-up EDITION (Schrager's minimal-luxe line within Marriott) occupying the harbor's prime corner — Harpa one side, the fishing fleet the other, the Sun Voyager's shoreline walk out front. The design conversation is local-first: architecture by the Harpa-adjacent masterplan, interiors layering Icelandic basalt, blonde timber, undyed wools, and studio ceramics into the brand's signature calm, with the lobby's sunken fire lounge the room where the city's stylish actually gather on winter afternoons.
Rooms stack the hierarchy toward the glass: entry categories run compact-perfect (the brand's bedding-and-blackout science intact), ascending through harbor-view kings to the corner suites and the penthouse tier, where wraparound windows hold Harpa's nightly light programs, the bay, and Esja's snow line — winter's aurora, when it fires, performs directly over this view. The amenity floors complete the argument: the spa's black-stone treatment suites, sauna, and cold-well circuit; a serious gym; Tides' dining room (Icelandic langoustine, lamb, and the tasting menu that anchors the city's fine-dining conversation) plus the lobby bar's all-day register; and The Roof — the top-floor bar-terrace whose weekend DJ evenings and panorama made it instantly the celebratory-drink default.
The practical case matches the polish
Everything walks (Harpa adjacent, whale boats five minutes, Laugavegur ten, the Sky Lagoon a ten-minute taxi), the airport coaches stop nearby, and the service culture — rare at this latitude — actually executes five-star (concierge-built aurora calls, restaurant saves, glacier-day staging). Rates run the city's ceiling, softening midweek and shoulder-season; harbor-view categories justify their step. For the honeymoon, the milestone, or simply the certainty that everything works: this is the address.
Why stay here
- ✓Beside Harpa on the harbor
- ✓Corner suites framing Harpa's lights
- ✓The Roof top-floor bar & terrace
- ✓Basalt spa with sauna & cold well
- ✓Tides new-Nordic dining
- ✓Lobby fire lounge
- ✓Five-star concierge culture
- ✓Walk-everywhere position
Good questions
Is it really Iceland's only five-star of this kind?+
It's the country's first true international five-star — EDITION's full apparatus (spa, rooftop, destination dining, the service layer) executed at the harbor's best corner. The city's luxury conversation starts here.
Which rooms get the view?+
Harbor-view categories upward — the corner suites frame Harpa's nightly LEDs with the bay and Esja behind, and upper floors catch winter's aurora over the water when it fires.
Can non-guests visit The Roof or Tides?+
Yes — the rooftop bar and Tides take outside reservations (book weekends ahead), which makes them the city's celebratory defaults even for travelers sleeping elsewhere.
