FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Please post your Mr & Mrs Smith Experiences 2021 and 2022

Feb 21, 2022 | 9:50 am

#15

TheWiseOne

Join Date: Apr 2016

Programs: BAEC, IHG One Rewards

Posts: 426

The Retreat at Blue Lagoon, Iceland

Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay ?

I am a regular IHG stayer and was delighted with this property. Possibly the best hotels I have had the pleasure of staying at.

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?

Moss Junior Suite booked, I got Moss Junior Suite. I am a AMS Spire.

However, I believe the hotel was sold out. That said, I do not expect anyone of my standing would receive an upgrade; although this was not requested as we loved our room (210.)

How are the rooms?

Rooms are excellent. Very well appointed and have everything you can ask for. Minibar is completely free and restocked regularly (twice a day) and believe that you can request additions if you run out (although I did not need to do this.)

The toiletries are all Blue Lagoon in house brand and of excellent/high quality. Bath salts where some of the very best I have had and made of two wonderful baths whilst there. The hotel does sell cosmetics (and can also be found in Reykjavik). Cost's to purchase are high. Bath salts run to around £60 per pot.

Bed is very comfortable and of a good size with luxury bedding.

No TV in the room however, we found no need for it as we felt it would detract from the ambiance.

In the room, you receive a number of gifts/items to keep such as a notepad, slippers, flip-flops etc.

SmithExtra

This is where things got a little crazy. I booked two nights one vouchers, one on my own and one was gifted to me. The hotel combined this for me at check-in and Elfa (who was fantastic throughout) said as the bookings where seperate and the hotel had planned for this, they would honour the Extra for both nights.

As a result, I and my girlfriend and a free bottle of Moet for each night of our stay.

What was good and what was bad?

Good

Setting

The decor and artichtecture at the hotel is very unique and has been put together in a masterful manner in which everything blends incredibly well together to make the most of the amazing scenery and charteristics of the location. Natural lighting, in particular, has been well thought out to create an incredibly tranquil environment that excludes both high end luxury and interior design.

Food and drink

Food at the hotel is of a very high standard. I and my girlfriend had a la Carte from Lava on the first night and then a Valentine's tasting menu on the second. Both where exceptional and of reasonable value considering prices in Iceland; approx £55 for a Filet steak and £100 per person on the tasting menu (five courses.) To clarify we had both of our meals in our room as we felt that the room offered the better views than Lava (which we felt was a little dark and busy) and as it allowed us to make the most of our Smith Extra and the minibar. However, this was a personal preference of ours.

Breakfast is served in the main lobby and is again of incredible quality. The smoked fish and juices/smoothies are some of the best we have had if not the best. The green juice in particular is of very high quality and I expect a 500ml bottle of this in Central London would cost in excess of £8 (if you are lucky enough to find one of such quality; I haven't thus far.)

Complimentary afternoon tea is served each day between 16:00-17:00. No alcohol is served at this time but you can buy some champagne if you wish (we had no need of this.)

The bites consist of:

two miniature cupcakes, caramel (second night) and cinnamon (first night.)

two additional slices of cakes, ginger (first), lemon (second.)

and;

Two savoury bites, salmon (first), Parma Ham (second.)

The tea is also of very high quality. I sampled both the Jasmine and Breakfast teas, whilst my girlfriend had green. Both agreed that the tea was some of the best we have had but please note to not let it brew too long as they use a lot of leaves which can result in it becoming overpowered quickly; although they're happy to replace the tea if this happens on request.

Coffee is available to those that wish to have this instead. The coffee at breakfast was very good and I imagine this was the same.

Overall, the afternoon tea was very good but light and they do not provide any additional items on request.

Unfortunately we were not able to get a booking for Moss at a time that suited us (we were offer 18:30 on our first night) but heard from other guests it was incredible. It will be on our list of things to do when we return but if this is something you wish to do in future I suggest booking at the time of booking.

Facilities and treatments

Access to the hotel's private lagoon is very valuable in our opinion. We believe this to be the case as it allows guests a much more peaceful experience where they can enjoy the lagoon without many others about. During our two days there we never had more than six people with us in the private lagoon, which was in stark contrast to the public lagoon; which had hundreds of people in it at any given moment. Additionally, the private lagoon is a lot more secluded as it is built within the lava features which provides protection from the elements whilst also adding to the glamour they were all snowcapped whilst there.

The lagoon is sizable considering the number of guests/size of the hotel but much smaller than the public lagoon.

The hotel insists on no cameras/phones in the Spa areas which we felt was great.

If you want photos in the lagoon the hotel has a photographer who will take these for you.

The ritual is a great experience. Every guest can use this as much as they want and it provides a unique experience with high end products. The scrub is only needed once as it is very effective, but the silica and algae lotions/masks can be used multiple times as well as the natural oils. I and my girlfriend did this on both of our full days here.

I did not have a paid for treatment as I like my massages to boarder on assault, whereas the options focus on relaxation. However, from hearing comments from other guests these are meant to be very good and unique, if a little expensive.

Activities

Yoga is provided each morning and (according to my girlfriend who does this regularly) excellent. This was my first time trying it and the class leader was very good at making me fit in.

The hiking tours are currently not available due to covid but are expected to return. The trails they provide you with make for a pleasurable time.

Service

By and large the service is great. The staff are very prompt at resolving any questions you have and endeavour to make you feel welcomed. For instance, each night you get a personalised hand written message with some handmade chocolates.

This said, at times the staff can seem a little short, but I think this was more to do with cultural practices/differences rather than because they were being off-hand.

All guests are provided with a glass of complimentary champagne at check-in. I believe it to have been Moet.

Location

The hotel is around a 35-45 minute drive from the international airport. The local area does have a industrial plant nearby but I didn't see it from my room or from where I went in the hotel, however I think this could be the case from some rooms.

Bad

Their is not much to complain about at this hotel, but there were a few little issues that I will highlight.

1) The Smith Team (not the hotel) will send you an email in advance stating that they will help you with anything prior to your stay with one being transfers.

I did request this and did not get the information until after I had got to the hotel. At which point I discovered transfers where available for £10. In my opinion, this is a no brainer as the drive can be dangerous in the snow (my car slipped a couple of times on the roads in, as heavy snow shower/storm hit.)

I have yet to get back to the Smith Team as I will deal with this now as I wanted to enjoy my trip but they have said they want some more information after I outlined my inital displeasure. I will feedback when I have more details.

2) The in room menus do not state that they have a in-room plate charge, however they do add this to your bill at the end. The cost is 2500isk per order; so 5000isk in total for us. I personally made a mistake here as I did not check the bill properly at checkout as I was having trouble with my payment card and only my girlfriend realised this after it was settled.

Personally, I think this needs to be more clear, as it is not listed anywhere. It may be you can argue this but I didn't due to the way I went about things and only realised after payment was made.

3) The gym was on the small side and did not have much equipment in it. This was ok for a two night stay but I was expecting something more substantial for the type of hotel it was.

4) Check in/Check Out times are pretty much set in stone. I arrived at 1.30 but couldn't get to my room until 2.45 and my request of even a additional 30 minutes for check out where denied. I think this is partly to do with how popular the hotel is, but be warned they're not going to bend over for you on this unless you get lucky.

5) The in room service is a little hit and miss as I am not sure how much training the staff have for this. For instance, one night the girl bringing the food admitted that she didn't usually do it as was clearly uncertain what to do at times. This however, was forgivable for me as she was very sweet and was trying her hardest and I and my girlfriend really enjoyed talking to her. However, for those of you expecting a slick service you may want to note this.

6) We did come across a couple of people who where using their phones in the Spa areas (we didn't, hence the lack of photo's from this area.) The first was doing either a video call or some sort of moronic Instagram video (as it seemed they were showing off from being in the lagoon) whilst the other had theirs' in the fire room taking selfies. We did see them both later during our stay and not a sight of their phones so I believe that they were told/reminded not to do this. This was annoying as it ruined the ambiance of the place.

I thought I would mention this firstly as a warning not to ruin the ambiance if you think this is acceptable and second that you're probably going to get clamped down on if you do.

Value for $ or IHG Rewards Points? Would you return?

This is a difficult one for me to answer as I got my stay on UK IHG Creation vouchers so this was a completely free stay, barring our food orders to the room. As a result, this was my best ever bang for buck stay, especially as they treated me as if I had paid cash.

However, what I will say is that both I and my girlfriend do intend to stay again and will most likely pay cash as we did find this a fabulous place and when considering places like Four Seasons, it is value for money.

Key tips for future stayers

1) Book Moss in advance if you wish to dine here and want to eat at a particular time.

2) Get onto Smith Team asap and pin them down if you want a transfer.

3) Decide if you want a Lava Room or a Moss Room before you stay (if staying in a Junior Suite.) Personally, I preferred the Moss Room as these are on the 1st floor whereas the Lava are on the Ground Floor. This consequently meant that I had better views of the sky and horizon. However, if you wish to have water outside your door/balcony (this is cold at this level, so you cannot dip) and more of the lava features then stay in a Lava.

4) If you want to do the Yoga go 10 minutes early. On each day we went, there were only 7 spaces so I can imagine some people get turned away; even if this did not happen during our stay. The doors also get shut on the stroke of Nine so whatever you do, do not be late.

5) Try and go for a hike. Especially, if you do not have time to do this elsewhere in Iceland during your stay.

6) Be aware that robes and towels are available throughout the hotel so do not worry about leaving the ones you have in your room anywhere.

7) The hotel provide swimsuits for hire (I got complimentary hire but should've been charged 400isk per day.) I think this works well as the silica in the water leaves a lot of residue which caused some issues for my girlfriends more expensive items.

8) In my opinion, a one night stay will leave you tight for time as you may only have access from 15:00-11:00. Obviously, this is an expensive place but I and my girlfriend both said, if we only had the one day we may have struggled to fit everything in without rushing which could detract from the experience.

However, now that we have said once before and have a lay of the land, one night may be enough moving forward.

9) Try and sample all the different rooms. The library, fire room, sauna, steam room and snug are all done to a great level and worth your time (even if it is only for five-ten minutes.)

10) I did not use the honesty bar in the library but saw other people do so and it looked pretty cool and will likely use it for my after dinner brandy if I stay in future to unwind (I didn't this time due to 2x bottles of champagne.)

11) If doing 2 nights, maybe try and book your nights as seperate bookings as this netted me two Smith Extras without me having to request.

12) Be aware that the valet parking leaves your car outside. If it is cold day, I suggest that you request your car 15 minutes before you intend to depart so that the can de-ice and warm up for you.

13) In your room you receive the following to keep:

a) Excellent notepad and pen
b) Good quality slippers and flipflops (no need to pack your own)