Guesthouse Aurora Reykjavik and the B&B Middle Ground

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Compare 458 places to stay in Reykjavik

Every property in the Reykjavik catalogue, in one place.

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Where in the city?

City centre16 Hlidar9 Laugardalur2 Vesturbaer4 Fossvogur4 Kopavogur Outer suburbs2

Where in the city?

What kind of place?

Hotel79 Apartment331 Guesthouse458 Hostel11

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9+ Exceptional10 8–9 Very good12 7–8 Good15

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37places

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Very Good

Snorri's Guesthouse

8.1/10 · 1,243

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Places to stay

A hotel room in Reykjavik books out fast and a hostel bunk means shared everything, so a lot of travellers end up looking at the middle option without knowing what it actually gets them. A guesthouse aurora Reykjavik search usually turns up a mix of private rooms with shared bathrooms, small en-suite rooms, and the odd studio with a kitchenette, all run more like a family business than a hotel chain. This page settles what that middle ground costs against a hotel room, what the rating spread looks like across the 47 of them in the Booking catalogue, and where five specific properties fit into that spread. Breakfast is sometimes included and sometimes not, and that single line item is often the biggest swing in what two guesthouses actually charge for a similar room. None of the 47 properties are luxury stays, and none are dorm beds either: the category sits in between, and the point of this page is to make that gap legible before a booking gets made.

Our pick

Guesthouse Pavi

Private room booking, guest reviews on file

Travellers who weight review volume heavily

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Eric the Red Guesthouse

Private room booking, guest reviews on file

Travellers who want a high rating with a large review base

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Guesthouse Galtafell

Private room booking, guest reviews on file

Travellers comparing mid-sized, highly rated options

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What separates a guesthouse from a hotel listing

A common mistake is assuming every guesthouse listing includes a private bathroom, when several rooms across the 47 properties in this category are booked with shared facilities down the hall. Reading the room type line before the price line avoids the surprise at check-in.

Breakfast is another line item worth checking rather than assuming: some guesthouses build it into the rate and some sell it as an add-on, and the difference shows up as a flat amount per night rather than a percentage.

Alba guesthouse Reykjavik is one of the properties in this catalogue, and like the rest of the category it is worth reading against its own rating and review count rather than against a hotel's, since the two categories are scored by a different kind of traveller expectation.

Location inside the city also varies more in this category than in hotel listings, since guesthouses often occupy converted townhouses rather than purpose-built blocks, which changes what is walkable from the door.

Guesthouse Pavi: 8.00/10 · 3,812
Eric the Red Guesthouse: 8.90/10 · 3,037
Igdlo Guesthouse: 8.20/10 · 1,675
Guesthouse Galtafell: 8.70/10 · 1,352
Snorri's Guesthouse: 8.10/10 · 1,243
Grettir Guesthouse Downtown Charm: 8.10/10 · 1,127
Guesthouse Sunna: 8.60/10 · 1,090
Reykjavik Treasure B&B: 9.40/10 · 865

Reading review counts against ratings

A high rating on a small number of reviews reads differently than the same rating on thousands, and a reader comparing guesthouses by star score alone can end up picking a property that has only been reviewed a few hundred times against one reviewed by thousands.

Grettir guesthouse Reykjavik carries a rating in the high 8s on a review count in the low thousands, which puts it in the same comparison band as several other properties in this catalogue rather than standing apart from them.

The highest rating in the group belongs to a property with the smallest review count, which is worth noting before treating rating alone as the deciding factor. A traveller who values a large sample size over the single highest number will read the table differently than one chasing the top score.

None of the eight properties listed here fall below an 8.00 out of 10, which says more about the quality floor already applied to this catalogue than about any one property standing out from the rest.

★★★★★

GetYourGuide

Igdlo Guesthouse

★ 8.2/10 · 1,675 reviews

Private room booking, guest reviews on file

Check availabilityGuests rate it very good

What "guesthouse" covers in this city

Travellers arriving with a hotel-chain mental model often expect uniform room sizes and a front desk staffed around the clock, and this kind of place rarely offers either. Rooms in the same building can differ in size and bathroom setup, and check-in is sometimes by arrangement rather than a staffed lobby.

A reykjavik guesthouse booking is still a private room in almost every case across this catalogue, which is the main distinction from a hostel, but the building itself is more likely to be a converted house than new construction.

That means stairs without a lift are common, and travellers with heavy luggage or mobility concerns should check the property's own listing for that detail before booking, since it is not standard across the 47 properties.

The trade-off for the smaller-scale setup is usually price: guesthouses in this catalogue price from below what a comparable hotel room costs, which is the main reason the category exists at all in a city where hotel rooms fill up early in the season.

Booking timing and the aurora season overlap

Reykjavik's aurora season runs from late August to mid-April, bounded by hours of darkness rather than by aurora activity itself, and guesthouse availability in this window tightens well before the dates arrive since rooms in smaller properties sell out faster than large hotel blocks. A traveller planning around the aurora forecast from the Icelandic Meteorological Office should book the room before checking the forecast, not after, since the forecast only runs a few days out.

Nordurey guesthouse Reykjavik is one of the properties that, like others in this catalogue, is worth checking directly for its own cancellation terms, since guesthouse policies vary more than hotel chain policies do.

Summer books out for a different reason: daylight runs close to 21.2 hours in June, and travellers filling long days with tours often book the cheapest available room without checking what is walkable from it, then adjust after arrival. Checking a guesthouse's distance to the routes it will be used as a base for avoids that second booking.

★★★★★

GetYourGuide

Snorri's Guesthouse

★ 8.1/10 · 1,243 reviews

Private room booking, guest reviews on file

Check availabilityGuests rate it very good

Where the higher-rated, smaller properties sit

The two highest-rated properties in this catalogue both carry smaller review counts than the rest, which is worth reading as a smaller sample rather than dismissing outright, since both still clear the same quality floor applied to every property listed here.

101 guesthouse hotel Reykjavik sits in the group of properties with a rating in the 8s on a comparatively modest review count, and it is worth reading against the fact-box table above rather than in isolation, since the spread across all eight properties is narrower than the names suggest.

A traveller choosing between a nine-tenths of a point difference in rating is often better served by matching the guesthouse to location and room type first, since the rating spread across this whole category is tight enough that the numbers alone rarely settle the decision.

Cards work everywhere in Reykjavik and guesthouses are no exception, so carrying Icelandic króna in cash for a booking or a deposit is not required at any of the properties in this catalogue.

Common questions

Is breakfast usually included?

It depends on the property. Some rates in this catalogue include breakfast and others sell it separately, so the listing itself needs checking rather than assuming either way.

Do guesthouses have private bathrooms?

Some rooms do and some share facilities down the hall, and this varies by property and sometimes by room within the same guesthouse.

Are guesthouses cheaper than hotels in Reykjavik?

Guesthouses in this catalogue generally price from below comparable hotel rooms, which is the main reason travellers choose the category.

How far in advance should a guesthouse be booked for aurora season?

Well before checking a short-range aurora forecast, since rooms in smaller guesthouse properties sell out earlier than large hotel blocks during the late August to mid-April season.

Do I need Icelandic króna to pay for a guesthouse?

No. Cards and contactless payment work at every property in this catalogue, and carrying cash is not necessary for a booking or a deposit.