The Reykjavik EDITION: Simple Luxury But Not Perfect

The Reykjavik EDITION has a lot of good things going for it including an excellent location, but storage in your room negatively stands out.

View other posts in this series:

Booking The Reykjavik EDITION

Official link to hotel: https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/rekeb-the-reykjavik-edition/overview/

For this stay, I needed to find a hotel in Reykjavik, Iceland that standardly was large enough to fit our family of four. Ideally, since we were on vacation, it would also be a nicer hotel. It’s that combination that made me stumble across The Reykjavik EDITION, part of the Marriott umbrella of hotels. We’ve heard of EDITION hotels before but never stayed in one up to this point. Marriott considers EDITION to be on the same “tier” as these other properties:

Luxury: Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, JW Marriott
Distinctive Luxury: Ritz-Carlton Reserve, The Luxury Collection, W Hotels, EDITION

Marriott has to be out of its mind if it considers a JW to be on the same level as a Ritz or St. Regis. Or equating a Ritz-Carlton Reserve with W Hotels. That’s a story for another day. Just take away that there is some creative naming going on here.

Anyways, we booked this property for a total of 321,000 Marriott points for 5 nights. I actually rebooked the hotel because the price came down over time (yes, points prices fluctuate monthly with Marriott and the rebooking saved me 39,000 points).

If we paid cash, the room rate would have been about $950/night (or 117,000 ISK). That works out to about 1.5 cents per point, which for Marriott is a pretty good redemption. Within 2 weeks of our stay, the hotel sent a generic email that asked if we wanted to pay for a day room to use upon arrival. We wouldn’t have been able to use points for this, but the cash price was a discounted rate (79,200 ISK or about $650). We declined the offer.

Destination fee

The Reykjavik EDITION has a destination fee of 7,000 ISK (~$55 US) that includes the following benefits:

A 7,000 ISK credit at Tides, but with the following restrictions:
- Only at Tides Restaurant or Tides Bar (i.e., not Tides Cafe or any other on-property bar)
- Not valid at breakfast in Tides Restaurant
- Must be used on the day of arrival and not the day of departure (meaning you don’t have a full 24 hours to use the credit)
- Credit does not accumulate and must be used daily
Access to EDITION Spa facilities (no children under 18 allowed)

That’s it. All you’re literally doing is pre-paying the charge at the Tides restaurant and not getting a discount for doing so. Hotel staff claim the charge “enhance[s] the enjoyment of Reykjavik’s exceptional beauty and culture”. That seems like an extreme stretch.

Earning Marriott Bonvoy points

Express offer Marriott credit cards.

Full disclosure: in this section are refer-a-friend links where I may earn some points for referring. There is no requirement to use the below referral links to apply but note your offer may differ when going directly to the card issuer.

Chase offers the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless credit card that gives a sign up bonus of three 50k free night certificates for spending $3,000 in the first three months for a $95 annual fee.

Or you can turn your eyes to American Express:

The Marriott Bonvoy Bevy (not an affiliate link) offers 85,000 Marriott points for $5,000 spend in the first six months for a $250 annual fee.
The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant (not an affiliate link) offers 100,000 Marriott points for $6,000 spend in the first six months. It also comes with instant Platinum status but with a higher annual fee ($650).

Since Amex credit cards are generally one-in-a-lifetime, it might be worth waiting for a better deal to come by.

First impressions of The Reykjavik EDITION

Let’s start by saying that we rented a car from Keflavik Airport (KEF). Since we were going to be doing a lot of driving using Reykjavik as our base, it seemed the most economical option. After grabbing our rental, we were on our way to the hotel, about a 50 minute drive. To be honest, there’s not much to see along this highway during the day. At night, you might see the Northern Lights here, but we’ll talk about that in a separate post.

Soon enough, we were approaching The Reykjavik EDITION, which is straight in front of us in this photo. To those wondering, no, I’m not the one taking these photos. That would be silly of me.

The road to the valet turnaround is just down Bryggjugata and marked by almost a mini street sign under the street name. It’s at the same corner as a Starbucks.

From here, there’s only one way to go to get to the hotel. The valet turnaround is just down this road on your right. Let’s just say it’s an adventure sometimes getting someone to come assist. We’ll talk more about that later.

Once inside, the lobby is very open, with an area for seating right in the middle. It’s surrounded by the front desk, the lobby bar, and Tides, the hotel’s restaurant.

We checked in upon arrival, at around 1PM. I got a friendly agent who took my passports and credit card but also let me know that my room isn’t yet ready. I’m not surprised. The agent promised to send a text when the room is ready (and I did get a text about 2 hours later). Thankfully, the weather was nice enough the day we arrived and we could just walk around a bit.

The room

When our room was ready, we made our way up to Floor 2, where we found Room 220. This room overlooking the Harpa Concert Hall would be our room for this stay.

The bedroom

We have a major gripe about this 2-queen bedroom, but it’s not about the beds themselves. The beds are firm with the right amount of give from the mattress topper on them. The pillows are a little flat, but having two per person allowed us to adapt to the right amount of pillow firmness and thickness.

The one downside to these beds is that runner at the bottom of the bed, which is not really needed. It ended up on the floor each day we were here. I get why it exists–in a cold weather climate, you’re going to need a place to change into or out of your heavy clothing and these protect the beds. But at the same time, if it just ends up on the floor anyways, are you really protecting the bed if they just go back up on the beds?

In between the beds is a carafe you can use to fill water. There are no water dispensers on the property. You’re expected to go to the bathroom and fill it from the tap water at the sink. The argument is that Icelandic water is so pure that water at the bathroom sink is perfectly fine. We used that water and it was fine, but this carafe is a bit fragile and placed where you don’t notice it, so move it out of the way if you have kids.

Across the wall from the beds is the TV and a cabinet. You might think the cabinet could be used to store clothes, but that would be an incorrect assumption.

The cabinet is partitioned into different areas, which hold things like the coffee maker…

…or some glassware…

…or a water boiler and items in the mini bar…

…and the mini-fridge is packed with items you can purchase. I’d like to just warn you that if you put your own things into the mini-fridge, housekeeping might think you drank items. It doesn’t seem like it senses the weight but it’s more of a manual check. You should review your bill upon checkout to make sure there are no inadvertent charges on your account as there were some on ours that were quickly removed.

In the corner of the room is a cozy chair, light, and table. If you’re looking for a desk, this is sadly all you get. This room is meant for relaxing and not for working.

Ready for the big gripe about the room? We alluded to it above–the lack of storage space in the room. All you get is this closet with two small drawers and a single coat rack. If you have more than two suitcases, it’s also tough on where to put the third. You’re in a cold weather climate. Shouldn’t there be more space to put all the clothes you’re going to bring? It honestly seems like an oversight. This room is supposed to fit four people (not just 2 adults, 2 kids, but 4 adults too). It feels like there is enough space for the clothes of only 1.5 people. Despite its billing, this isn’t a room that fits 4 and all their belongings.

The view outside the room is of the Harpa Concert Hall. It’s a nice view and one that’s also nice for people watching. However, be advised that they can also easily view you. We could easily see a different guest (male) who was shirtless walking around in his room when we were out here. Voyeurism for the kids starting early these days?

Bathroom

This bathroom is full of small tiles, which has to be a pain to clean all those grout lines. But there’s one really nice feature about this bathroom that stands out from practically all other hotels we’ve been to. It’s the heated bathroom floors. Swoon.

In a country that’s as cold as Iceland during winter season (and late March/early April when we were here counts as winter still), you need to warm up your feet. This floor works miracles at doing just that.

Anyways, the shower is right around the corner to the left.

To your right when you enter is the mirror and vanity. This is where you will be filling up your water bottles and cups with water if you need it.

The shower around the corner is small and its enclosed nature could bring out claustrophobia issues in some. The shower has both a hand wand and an overhead rain shower.

The rain shower works pretty well and help makes up for the fact that the shower does not have a door on it.

Shower amenities are by Le Labo, an excellent brand.

Welcome gift

I am a Marriott Lifetime Platinum member and recently lost Titanium status. As a Platinum member, you don’t really get much at EDITION hotels, especially if you booked on points. You might get a small upgrade on arrival, and that translated to a view of the Harpa Concert Hall for us.

But, on the first evening, an employee knocked on our door with a cart full of welcome amenities. I saw things like boxes of chocolates on the cart, but she handed me the notebook pictured below before continuing on to the next room. I’d think the better way to handle this would be to not show the cart and instead make it a little more personalized by hand delivering the item without making it clear that others are getting something nicer.

To be clear, it’s nice to get something, especially when it’s above and beyond basic expectations. But at the same time it feels a bit self-defeating by showing that many others are getting the same gift (and better gifts for them at that).

Dining options at The Rekyjavik EDITION

If you’re dining at The Reykjavik EDITION, you’re most likely going to be dining in some capacity at Tides, the hotel’s main restaurant. Outside of Tides (and Tides Cafe), the hotel just has a few bars. However, don’t feel confined to dining here! There are plenty of good restaurants in walking distance.

Tides Restaurant

Website: https://www.tidesrestaurant.is/

Hours:

Breakfast: 7AM to 10:30AM daily
Lunch: 12PM to 2:30PM daily
Dinner: 5:30PM to 10PM daily

As a Platinum member, we didn’t get free breakfast. You need a PhD to figure out what breakfast you get but at least it’s simple at EDITION hotels. Rather than pay for breakfast out of pocket daily, we instead went to Bónus (a local grocery chain) to grab some Skyr yogurt.

However, we did dine at Tides one evening. Reservations are highly recommended, but if things are slow, you might still get a table like we did.

The restaurant has an elevated feel to it, especially in the evening after the sun sets.

The menu has an emphasis on seafood and vegetables, but it also has chicken and beef for those wanting something else.

The restaurant also has an unadvertised kids menu with just three dishes on it:

Macaroni & cheese
Crispy chicken fingers
Creamy tomato soup

Dining in Iceland is expensive and nothing signifies that better than this kids tomato soup, which costs 2,200 ISK (~$18 US). I guess it’s good I prepaid that 7,000 ISK via the destination fee?

Drinks

To drink, I got the Slippur, a session IPA that’s pretty darn smooth. IPAs are known for being hoppy but this one is an IPA that even Jenn could get into.

To commemorate the evening, Char took a picture of Alex and I with my phone. Sure, part of my head got cut off, but I like the photo.

Bread

After we placed our orders, we got some deliciously fresh-baked breads delivered to our table. While this bread looks huge, it’s actually not that dense. It just puffs out quite a bit during baking. The whipped butter that comes with the bread is nice, but otherwise not noteworthy.

Lobster ravioli

I ordered the lobster ravioli, which comes in a very rich seafood broth that melds all the flavors very well. The large chunk of lobster is delicious as is each individual ravioli. I wasn’t expecting that many raviolis and got about as much as I expected. That said, I didn’t each much of this dish because Alex loved it. Somehow I couldn’t get the kid to eat lobster up to this point but he absolutely demolished this dish.

Use that as the true test for how good the lobster ravioli is.

Arctic Char

While we’ve had arctic char at other Icelandic restaurants, none were as excellent as the arctic char here at Tides. I have to hand it to them–the pan-fried fish has both that crispy skin and an excellent sear on the flesh. This is what you look for from a well-cooked fish entree. On the side are some roasted parsnips and bok choy to add some freshness to the dish.

And just like Alex eating the lobster ravioli, Char was all about this arctic char. It’s not just because it shares her name because she wasn’t as into other versions we had elsewhere. But she was all about this one.

Kids macaroni and cheese

Char ordered some macaroni and cheese for herself, her standard go-to. This one is very cheesy but still balanced enough so that it wasn’t too heavy. Between this and the arctic char, Char liked the fish so much that she almost ignored the macaroni and cheese. That wasn’t on my bingo card for that evening.

But since we’re into swapping dishes, I ended up finishing this one. If you need some cheese, this will hit the spot.

Kids tomato soup

Look at what Alex decided to order. He wanted that tomato soup. It came delivered with some nicely toasted bread on top of the bowl.

Take off the lid and you’ll see that deep red color of the tomato soup. If we’re being honest, this tomato soup didn’t have much depth to it. You taste tomato and not much else. In that sense, it’s pure tomato flavor, but it just felt like it’s missing something. By far, this was the weakest link at dinner that night. Perhaps that’s the real reason Alex demolished my lobster ravioli?

Dessert

After we finished our meals, we took a closer look at the dessert menu. There are only four selections for dessert and, as you might guess, we ended up getting two of them.

First up was the Basque Skyr Cheesecake. You might recognize the name ‘Skyr’ from yogurt cups like Siggi’s in the US. In Iceland, Skyr is pretty much everywhere. You can’t miss it. The cheesecake is simply perfect. It came with some orange confit on top that added a nice burst of citrus to the dish. The mango sorbet on the side brought some creaminess that smoothed it all out. We enjoyed it.

The other dessert we ordered was the chocolate fudge, which was pretty much reminiscent of a dense brownie with some ice cream and toffee on the side. I didn’t get too much of a chance to try this one as the kids finished it off pretty quickly. But what I did try was good!

In total, we found dinner at Tides Restaurant to be excellent and among the best we ate in Iceland. It’s worth a visit sometime during your vacation in Reykjavik.

Tides Cafe

Website: https://www.editionhotels.com/reykjavik/restaurants-and-bars/tides-cafe/

Hours: 7AM to 3PM daily

Right next to Tides Restaurant is the quick service Tides Cafe. This is a popular option for breakfast especially as people attempt to save money or don’t have the time for a sit-down meal.

If your motivation is saving money, go take a very easy 1 km walk over to Bónus to buy the same grab-and-go items that you’ll find here for up to half off. Store them in your in-room fridge so you don’t need to do this each day. Or, you can pay for the convenience if you prefer.

There are a few prepared items you can choose from. There are displays of some sandwiches in the glass. Starbucks is only a block away but you can also get coffee and pastries here too.

On the counter are a few more dishes you can choose from. It almost feels the full menu is split up in multiple places that causes a little bit of hesitation before you order.

We tried out breakfast here one morning. After placing our order, we sat down at one of the few round tables.

We ordered a couple of pastries. Oddly, the blueberry muffin came with frosting and sprinkles on top. The muffin is sweet enough on its own and wasn’t dry, so we weren’t sure why it needed a cream cheese frosting. We ended up scraping it off. The croissant was fine and had plenty of powdered sugar on it (again, not necessary).

This is the scrambled egg on rye toast (3,200 ISK or ~$26 US). Easily the most expensive eggs-and-toast I’ve paid for. It’s nice to have eggs, but even for Iceland, it’s overpriced. The dish itself is fine–it’s eggs, how could it go wrong?–and the kids enjoyed it. For the price, I was hoping there was a little more to it.

Lastly, we ordered the ham and cheese croissant. It’s exactly what you would expect–a warmed croissant sandwich. The croissant itself is tasty and it’s not dry. Want something not sweet in the morning? This is a decent option.

Tides Bar

Hours: 5:30PM to 10PM

If you’re looking to use up your 7,000 ISK credit at Tides and you don’t want to eat, this is where you come use it up. Alcoholic drinks count towards using up this credit and the bartenders know people do it. Be advised that any tip you add on top (say, a 100 ISK tip on a 6,900 ISK bill) is not covered by the credit. For those wondering, Jenn and I left the kids in the room so we could grab one drink each.

We received mixed guidance on needing to check in at the host stand to come to the bar. Half the time, someone told us we still needed to check in. The other times, we were told we just needed to come to the bar directly and not wait. The problem is that the host typically doesn’t wait around at the stand in our experience.

Around the bar are plenty of bottles of wine.

Tides has some signature cocktails to choose from. During our stay, we tried a few different drinks. Each had a combination of flavors and plenty of depth. Frankly, this seemed like as good of a way to spend that credit as any. That said, if you’re looking to get drunk, there are cheaper ways to do it.

One thing to know about their shots of liquor–it seemed like half a shot compared to other places. We observed someone else get a shot, complained about how little was in it, and the bartender admitted Icelandic shots are small. I can’t comment about what shots are like at other Icelandic restaurants as I didn’t get shots on this trip, but it still seems noteworthy to issue a precaution.

One night we ordered the Northern Clarity and a glass of Riesling.

Another night, we ordered the Steam & Sage and a margarita.

The last night, I came by myself and ordered the Fire & Wool. This is made with the classic Icelandic liquor called Brennivin. The bartender asked if I had it before and I said no. He first poured a glass of regular Brennivin, which tasted harsh like rubbing alcohol. He said despite the taste, it commanded high prices, and that the Icelandic people wanted to make it more palatable (and save the bad stuff for the tourists). They refined it into what they use for Fire & Wool. It’s incredible the two drinks taste nothing alike.

Partly because of the story and partly for its taste, I liked Fire & Wool the most of the cocktails I had here.

Lobby Bar

Hours: 11AM to 11PM

As the name implies, you’ll find this bar in the lobby. It’s a casual place to go grab a drink and the selections mirror what you’d find at Tides Bar. The difference, of course, if that you can’t use your dining credit here but you can at Tides. So why grab a drink here? Well, the Lobby Bar is open earlier in case you want to start the party early. It’s also more convenient to just grab one here than to wait for a host to maybe seat you at Tides.

While there are a few light bites, there’s not much to eat here.

I also like how open the seating is over here. There is much more of a casual vibe and I’m all for it.

The Roof

Hours:

Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday: 6PM to midnight
Friday: 6PM to 1AM
Saturday: 1PM to 1AM
Monday and Tuesday: Closed

This rooftop bar has a bit more of a swanky feel to it. Kids are allowed and the menu, while still on the smaller side, has more of an Asian feel to it. Ultimately, it feels like a nice place to spend an hour or two but it’s more for drinking than for eating.

You could also step outside but you might not want to in the winter unless you bring your heavy clothes. It looks like a lovely area to hang out though.

Spa and Gym

Website: https://www.editionhotels.com/reykjavik/spa-and-fitness/spa/

Hours: 10AM to 8PM daily

Hotel guests aged 18+ have complimentary access to the spa due to the resort fee. The resort fee covers the following: sauna, steam room, hydrotherapy pool, and spa relaxation lounge. Otherwise it will cost non-hotel guests 10,000 ISK to enter and use the facility.

I didn’t get a chance to visit the spa because we were out and about all day long. We’ve heard it’s nice inside, but oh well. Since children aren’t allowed inside, I think we made the right decision for us to spend more time exploring together than relaxing individually. Advanced reservation for services is necessary.

Right next to the spa is the gym, which has a variety of machines and free weights. Thankfully, the gym is open 24/7, so you can stop in and get some exercise even in the middle of the night.

Service is mostly good

Overall, service was friendly, but that’s also true of pretty much everywhere we went in Iceland. Generalizing things a bit, people in Iceland just seem happy and genuinely invested in what they’re doing. Staff at The Reykjavik EDITION was no different.

In particular, I’d say the bartenders at Tides Bar were superb. They were friendly, spent the time to connect to everyone sitting at the bar, and made some great drinks.

Where service ultimately struggled the most was at valet–not because of friendliness but because of process. Sometimes no one is outside when you show up to take the car. Other times, it’s hard to find someone to go get the car for you. It feels like valet is understaffed.

We wouldn’t mind that quite as much if the valet driveway were larger. There are stretches around the circle driveway where it’s not wide enough for a car to be parked and also let cars drive past. We observed several traffic jams caused simply by cars piling up for valet to handle.

And the attendant servicing the room was just OK. Don’t get me wrong–the attendant doing a good job cleaning the room. But some stuff just seemed missing. As an example, we ran out of tissue the first night because there were only a few tissue squares in the container. We left the tissue box out, expecting it to be refilled as that’s a typical thing for any hotel to do. Except… it wasn’t filled the next day nor the day after that… or at any time after that. I could have called to ask for it to be refilled, but for a hotel charging as much as it does, you’d think this would be automatic.

I don’t think The Reykjavik EDITION is a family hotel…

Yes, Tides has a kids menu that will accommodate younger ones. But let’s take a look at the other evidence at The Reykjavik EDITION:

The resort fee doesn’t do anything for families
- Unless you plan to eat either lunch or dinner at the hotel daily, you’re going to end up using the credit at Tides Bar (or let it go to waste). That’s obviously not a kids activity.
- The spa access is only for those 18+, which means you need to find alternative care for your kids or leave them in the room on their own to come visit it.
While the room bills itself as fitting 4 people, there is not enough storage space for everyone.
Most of the on-property food and beverage space is devoted to bars.
There isn’t any entertainment for children at the property.

We knew that last one coming in, but it didn’t really dawn on us until we arrived that it feels pretty darn close to an adults-only property without saying anything about catering to adults. That’s not to say that the staff wasn’t inviting to the kids, it’s more that they seem more invested in the experience for couples.

Recommendation: It depends…

Let’s first summarize the strengths for The Reykjavik EDITION:

The hotel is in an excellent location
Dinner in Tides Restaurant is a treat
Modern and clean with overall good service
Some consider it to be the best hotel in the city

But where does the hotel struggle?

There’s not enough storage space in the room if you have more than 2 people
It feels overpriced in an already-expensive country
Lack of elite benefits for Marriott guests
The destination fee is at odds with child-friendliness

Thus, we wouldn’t recommend The Reykjavik EDITION for everyone. If you’re here on your own or as a couple, you might find it more enjoyable. Additionally, with the lack of elite benefits, there’s not much incremental benefit for loyalists to stay here over other Marriott hotels. Ultimately, every hotel has some trade-offs and this one is no different. As long as you know what to expect coming in, you’ll be fine.

food.wada.travel

experiencing the world via gastronomy with our children