TheWiseOne

I stayed here in mid-Feb and have some feedback as a Diamond member.

Firstly, the good.

As a Diamond member I was upgraded from a base room to a twin executive plus. Unfortunately, they couldn't switch me to a Queen/King room as they were booked out. Views from the room are great, however there are some odd things about the room. For instance they have a kettle/tea set that looks straight out of the 1980's and their bathrooms are dated (although clean.) The room is fairly basic but the do have big Phillips TV's and a Bose speaker. Personally, I was fine with this but my GF really didn't like it.

Lounge is both great and poor at the same time. Firstly, it is great in that the beer and wine is pretty good and in plentiful supply, I never couldn't get a drink. However, they don't put out any spirits.

Food is also pretty good, on my stays they put out a sizable amount (I guess 250 pieces) of (good quality) Sushi, with tempura prawns and spring rolls. The problem here was the Sushi got demolished in, I kid you not 10 minutes, due to the amount of people in there and how they were helping themselves. This was not replaced on any night I was there. The rest of the spread includes some very good sandwiches, soup and salads. In my opinion you can make a dinner out of it if you go hard early; although not sure this is a great look.

Breakfast was standard Hilton fare and plentiful. It does get busy so you may want to go earlier. As a side note, be aware they will provide eggs on request and summer fruits if you request them.

The bar areas are in good condition and look recently renovated. Drinks in the bar are expensive and use cheap spirits. My girlfriend had a couple of gin slings and each cost around £17 but only used Gordon's gin.

The gym is actually pretty good here, it is sizable and has a good amount of weights.

Parking is free and plentiful.

Now for the indifferent/bad

The Spa area really needs some work done to it. When I went the steam room it left a lot to be desired and the jacuzzi's are all essentially dipping pools as their motors are non-functioning. Sauna is good but a little dated.

The numbers of people in the hotel will put some people off as it was super busy the whole time. Breakfast and lounge were always the busiest I have ever experienced with no let up

View from lounge

Lounge space 1

Lounge bar

Queen Excutive Plus Twin Beds

Queen Excutive Plus Twin view from Door


View from end of lounge

Tempura Prawn
.

Lounge Space 2

View from lounge at night

Tea set


Location requires a 15 minute walk to town or a 5/10 minute drive. I am fine with walking and like the views that this allowed the hotel to have. However, be aware of this if you don't walk.

dshafiee

I am looking at booking in July. Just wanted to confirm that Diamonds have lounge access without booking an executive room?

Thanks!

:D!

Yes, that is a benefit for diamonds at all Hiltons with lounges

TheWiseOne

Yes, but be aware that although they put out good quality food, this only comes out at the start and they do not replenish. It is also very, very busy (in fact the busiest Hilton lounge I know of; I've probably been in 30+ across the US, Europe and Asia) so unless you get there within the first ten minutes of it coming out, you will probably be disappointed/will have to have sandwiches (although to be fair, these are also good quality.)

EmpressRouge

Has anyone had success using your HH account to book and extend status to perks someone else at this hotel? I'm HH Gold and would like to book a room for my parents with the Honors discount and get them the free breakfast. I can put my father's name as the additional guest, and have him say I'm checking in later. We have the same last name, so that is plausible.
From crowd-sourcing online posts about doing this with HH, the answer seems to be "it depends on the hotel."

:D!

Hmm, I don't recall Iceland hotels asking for ID at check in, but I'm not 100% sure. If they don't he can just pretend to be you.
Only issue is that if they need to lie about "you checking in later", it won't add up if the booked room only has one bed and two people who are not you turn up to check in.

By T&Cs you don't get points or benefits if you don't stay yourself, unless it's a redemption and you make it via the call center where they can edit the primary name on the booking properly (not just adding "additional guest").

EmpressRouge

I'd book the 2 twins anyway, since it's only base room available (they don't really care about upgrades or a bigger room). I guess they can just have my mom sit in the car, and say my dad is checking in for the both of us, and I can book a prepaid/non-refundable rate?

cova

Do HH Gold have any chance of upgrade to Exec Room or get Lounge access?

eefor jfp

Yes, we just got both. So you definitely have a chance and its one reason we chose this property over the Curios and the Canopy in the center (that and the rates and the spa).

I would just echo everything TheWiseOne said in the post from 3/7/23 in terms of the positives and negatives. As HH Gold we were only given 1:00 p.m. when we asked for late check-out but that is a minor point. Room service is daily with towels changed and everything cleaned--they have excellent housekeeping staff.

ChinaShrek

I am also trying to decide between the Canopy and the Hilton. The Canopy location looks a lot better. Did you have problems getting around while staying at the Hilton?

eefor jfp

Not really. It was a fifteen minute walk to the center which we only did two days. The other two days we did excursions, so pickup was actually easier because it was at the hotel vs. some bus stop downtown, allowing you to wait comfortably in the lobby (if you rent a car, the Nordica has free parking).
The biggest limitation was dinner. There are a number of strip mall-type restaurants near the Nordica (Vietnamese, pizza, Mexican, sandwiches, burger, Chinese) but the nicer places and the fun bars are not around here. Even at the end of April, it was cold and windy so walking wasn't great but it was bearable.

Zurich

I was working in 1981/1982 for one year and a half in Reykjavik Landspitalinn but haven't been back to Reykjavik ever since.
Of course, things changed a lot. I was among those very, very few foreigners living there. Restaurants were few and overly expensive for my income. Now the choice seems to be much broader but probably not really cheaper.
Concerning weather: yes, April is cold and even May still is. I remember 1 May 1982 when I went to the Labour day demonstration. It was -1 degrees celsius. And the relentless wind didn't make it any more comfortable. (The lowest temperature I had was -13 degrees C, but the sharp cold wind in my face made me crying when walking outside).

cova

Me too trying to decide between Canopy and Hilton. Will have a car.

Canopy has no parking - there is a pay lot across the street that is closed at night at 12am - and opens at 7am - if your car is parked there you can't get it out. Also Canopy has street parking a few blocks north (P2 then P3 zones) - paid street parking until 4 - 6pm and free at night and Sunday. Explored all that.

Concerned about noise at Canopy, none of the hotels have A/C - and sometimes I have read that it can get warm now in Iceland. So if you need to open the window - you get bar noise. Obvioulsy Canopy has a good location to walk around.

For someone that doesn't drink - driving over and parking on the street at night is not an issue.
But in general I prefer a large hotel to a boutique hotel. But Still TBD.

eefor jfp

Walked by the Canopy yesterday and it's definitely closer to the action than the Nordica. It's off a small courtyard that didn't seem too noisy. But the main walking street is just off that courtyard.
We often opened the windows at the Nordica for some fresh air. Being on the view side, we were also on the street side and even on the top floors the traffic noise is substantial with open windows.

cova

Yes, I have read reviews about the road noise at the Hilton. But the reviews for the Canopy say bar noise late at night. A disco across the street open very late - til 4am - with beating music and loud drunks yelling around. But likely quiet during the day.

If you have a car, any trouble parking the P2 or P3 zone - 1 to 3 blocks north of the Canopy. Or I have read that others park at the Church or streets near it which do not have parking zone - free all the time.