"We stayed for 5 nights at the Iceland Parliament Hotel, in a Junior Suite, as a trip to celebrate my husband's milestone birthday. The hotel has a lot to recommend it and we had a very enjoyable stay overall.
The location is excellent - very central for the downtown Reyjavik area and easy walking distance to the harbour, to landmark tourist attractions such as the Hallgrimskirkja, and to a huge variety of shops, bars and restaurants. Also very central for the numbered bus stops where organised tours pick up and drop off - the hotel is very easy walking distance from stops 1, 2 and 3.
It's a beautiful hotel and the junior suite we booked was a lovely room, with lots of space, a large bed, a nice sitting area and a large and well-appointed ensuite. The staff were friendly and helpful at every interaction and were kind enough to leave a complimentary selection of petit fours and a card wishing my husband a happy birthday in our room on our arrival. The breakfasts in the on-site restaurant were excellent - an expansive cold buffet selection, a smaller hot buffet offering (basically sausages, scrambled eggs and beans) and a very nice a la carte offering included, with the a la carte menu including omelettes, pancakes, eggs benedict, congee, vegetable gyoza etc. The spa facilities (access included when booking a junior suite) were very enjoyable and relaxing (but the spa floors are VERY slippery when exiting the hot pool or rain mist room - I nearly fell a couple of times and my husband did slip and fall).
Our only real issues with our stay were:
A minor niggle but in our corner junior suite (room 340) the clear glass top windows of the ensuite bathroom were overlooked by the upper floors of a nearby building... which felt very exposed when e.g. getting in and out of the shower!
The noise. The majority of our stay was relaxed and peaceful but our final night was a Saturday night and we had an early flight out with a taxi pick-up at 4:30am. And the American Bar, right beside the hotel on the adjoining corner of the square, had music blasting - and guests chatting and shouting and laughing in the outside seating area - until 4am! The noise was inescapable in our bedroom and ensuite and really made getting any sleep difficult. When I stepped outside after checking out shortly before 4am the noise was astonishing - it echoed and reverberated off the buildings surrounding the square and was horribly loud. We did mention the noise to the receptionist when we checked out and she basically shrugged and said it's weekend in downtown Reyjavik and said that if we had mentioned it to reception earlier they could have moved us to a different room or offered earplugs - not really a logistical option when he had to have alarms set for an early wake-up.
Other than that our stay was very enjoyable. The hotel has a lot to recommend it - just be wary if your stay extends over a weekend and you are in a room facing onto the square!"
