Need to know
Rooms
Sixty-two suites.
Check–Out
11am, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 3pm.
More details
Rates include an à la carte breakfast in the lounge or spa restaurant; a welcome drink; the soft drinks and Icelandic beer in your minibar; a daily guided hike and group yoga session; afternoon Icelandic coffee in the lounge; and valet parking.
Also
All of the common areas are wheelchair accessible; the building only spans two floors, and has lifts. Some Junior Suites are wheelchair-adapted, too.
Please note
The hotel is located in a seismically active area with potential volcanic activity. While exact timings cannot be predicted, the Retreat at Blue Lagoon has comprehensive safety measures in place to ensure guest well-being and comfort.
At the hotel
Spa, free WiFi throughout. In rooms: tablet; Bang & Olufsen Bluetooth speaker; minibar; Illy coffee machine; tea-making kit; free bottled water; underfloor heating; Blue Lagoon Iceland bath and skincare products.
Our favourite rooms
All of the Junior Suites are the same size and style, with wooden panelling, floor-to-ceiling windows and a freestanding bath tub in the room. What differs is the view – choose from solidified lava, moss-covered rock or the blue water of the lagoon. If you’re after something really special, it has to be the two-room Lagoon Suite, which has a terrace with direct access to your very own mineral-rich pool.
Poolside
The term 'swimming pool' is a bit of an understatement when it comes to describing the mineral-rich water that circles the hotel. Bounded by volcanic rock and often shrouded in steam, the bright-blue geothermal lagoons offer a particularly atmospheric soak – especially if you manage to be out there when the Northern Lights appear. The lagoon around the hotel is separate from the public Blue Lagoon, ensuring peace and privacy.
Spa
Reaching deep under the 800-year-old lava flow, the underground Retreat spa is about as atmospheric as they come (and a phone/camera-free zone, obviously). Walls of exposed lava merge with broody but beautiful Scandinavian design to create a space that not only feels blissfully disconnected from the outside world, but fits perfectly with the dramatic, lunar-like landscape. Before your treatment, you can lounge in nest-like chairs overlooking the lagoon’s blue waters, warm yourself by the fire, or climb the stairs to the top of the lava flow, where a viewing platform promises pacifying views for miles around. There’s an in-water massage area; a cold well; lava-walled steam room; sauna; and two treatment rooms, where you can have Silica salt rubs, hot stone massages and facials using products by Blue Lagoon Iceland. There’s also a spa restaurant, serving à la carte breakfasts and a healthy all-day menu.
Packing tips
Load up your phone with ethereal tracks to play over the Bluetooth speakers in your suite – there’s no better companion to the mystical landscape outside.
Also
The hotel also recommend pre-booking all activities, meals and treatments due to high demand. Because of their direct access to the water, children under nine can’t stay in the Lava View or Lagoon Suites.
Children
All ages are welcome, but the hotel is best suited to children 12 and over, who can swim in the private lagoons and enjoy the spa. Because of the direct access to the water, children under nine can’t stay in the Lava View or Lagoon Suites.
Sustainability efforts
All electricity, heating and hot water used at the Retreat is powered by geothermal sources. Everything possible is recycled, eco-friendly bath and spa products are used and Moss restaurant uses local, organic and seasonal ingredients. The Retreat also supports philanthropic community, arts and eco efforts, including local sports and youth clubs and Icelandic student research projects.