101 Hotel, Reykjavik, a Member of Design Hotels in Iceland [In-Depth Review]

“Hello, is this a hotel? Are we in the right place?”

It was a peculiar start to our stay at the 101 Hotel, Reykjavik, a Member of Design Hotels. Despite the quirky beginning and finding a dog at the reception desk, we mostly enjoyed the 3 nights we spent at this property in early March 2024.

The hotel’s location couldn’t be beat, and our room was spacious. However, staying at a Design Hotel does come with some downsides, such as not being able to use Nightly Upgrade Awards and not getting complimentary breakfast, no matter your elite status. We also noticed that some of the staff members weren’t the most helpful during our stay.

Were the tradeoffs worth it? For us, they were. We were happy to fend for ourselves for a few days while being smack dab in the center of Reykjavik’s tourist sites.

Let’s take a closer look at this very unique hotel.

Booking

101 Hotel, Reykjavik, is part of the Design Hotels brand from Marriott Bonvoy. This meant we could have, theoretically, booked the hotel with Marriott Bonvoy points. Our 3-night stay in early March required 168,000 points for a standard room — or 56,000 points per night.

The cheapest flexible rate for this same room was $288 per night for a total of $865. I wasn’t happy about it, but I paid the cash rate to avoid using my Marriott Bonvoy points at an abysmal half a cent per point — markedly below our valuation of Marriott Bonoy points.

I paid for the stay with my Marriott Bonvoy Boundless^® Credit Card, which earned me 6x points per dollar spent. I earned an additional 10x points per dollar spent as a Marriott Bonvoy member and another 7.5x points per dollar spent as a Titanium Elite member. That amounted to a total of 20,328 points from paying for our stay. I also earned another 1,000 points per night and double elite night credits from a Marriott Bonvoy promotion during our stay.

Hot Tip:

Learn about all of the best ways to earn Marriott Bonvoy points in our complete guide!

Location

101 Hotel, Reykjavik, sits in the center of the tourist hotspots in Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland. It is mere blocks away from the waterfront, the pedestrian-only zones, and numerous shops, restaurants, and cafés.

The hotel is also across the street from a small park, meaning rooms on 1 side of the hotel have unobstructed views. We were lucky and got a room on this side of the hotel. More on that below.

Check-In

At the address on Google Maps, we found a building with no obvious sign it was a hotel, and the door was around the corner. We genuinely didn’t think it was our hotel, so we drove around the block again.

The second time we passed this building, my wife thought the handles on the door looked like a 101, so I threw on the flashing lights while she ran inside to ask if this was a hotel. If not, the plan was that she’d ask for directions.

Before she saw any people, she saw a dog lying next to the reception desk.

Finding the front desk unstaffed, my wife called out: “Hello? Is this a hotel?”

She was certain we were in the right place, but finding no one at the desk became a theme during our stay.

A friendly employee confirmed that this was, indeed, the 101 Hotel, Reykjavik, and indicated that I should occupy the “taxis only” spot out front with our flashers on while unloading our luggage. When I went inside to check in, I mentioned that we weren’t sure if this was the right building, given that nothing outside says “hotel.”

She indicated that we could find a sign for the hotel on top of the building if we looked up from further down the street. To me, a more honest answer would have simply been admitting that the hotel needs a better sign.

We also immediately noticed the hotel’s art theme, which became another theme for our stay — we encountered works of art in numerous public spaces.

After scanning our passports and paying for the room, we received a key unlike any I’d seen before. The employee explained that we should put the key into the hole in the door and then turn the handle — not the key itself. This key was barely larger than a quarter, and I worried about losing it throughout our stay.

We struggled to operate this key throughout our stay. Opening the door to our room required inserting the key just so and getting a green light before we could turn the knob on the door to our room. It usually took 2 or 3 tries to get into and out of our room.

Elite Benefits

There weren’t a ton of elite benefits offered during our stay. Design Hotels don’t participate in several Marriott Bonvoy elite benefits — one of my main gripes about the Marriott Bonvoy program.

I wasn’t able to use Nightly Upgrade Awards for this stay, nor do Design Hotels offer complimentary breakfast to elites. Instead, the welcome gift for Platinum Elite (and above) members is a measly 1,000 bonus points, which added to my other earnings from this stay.

Other than these points, the only elite benefit we received was an upgraded room. We had booked a Double Queen room (a misnomer, as the room has just 1 Queen bed) and were upgraded to a Double King room.

Amenities

Parking

Guests at the 101 Hotel, Reykjavik, have complimentary parking in a lot around the corner, which also had this nice mural. Black signs with the hotel logo indicated spaces reserved for hotel guests, and we received a paper with our checkout date to display on the dash whenever we parked in the lot.

The lot didn’t have a gate or any other security presence, however.

Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi was reliable throughout the property. While the speeds definitely didn’t break any records, uploads of 22.6 Mbps and downloads of 52.4 Mbps were sufficient for us to surf the internet and get work done.

Gym

A small gym was in the basement.

Mirrors on all sides made the gym look large with a ton of equipment crammed in. The reality, however, was that there were just 6 cardio machines.

Near the door, a rack held several sets of free weights.

Spa

Between the gym and the elevator — also in the basement — was a spa. I tried to stop by twice just to see what it offered, and the spa was impressively busy with clients both times. However, the website lists a full range of services like saunas, massages, and a plunge pool.

Meeting Spaces

101 Hotel, Reykjavik, had 2 separate meeting spaces. A smaller room could hold up to 12 people, while a larger room had a capacity for 40 guests.

Elevator

The hotel’s sole elevator was small. It felt cramped with just 3 people in it. The mirrors on every wall inside the elevator also created a “fun house effect” we didn’t really enjoy, but the elevator worked efficiently. We never waited long.

Double King Room

We stayed in room 407. Stepping out of the elevator on the fourth floor, we weren’t sure which way to turn. The color palette was all blacks and dark purples, and black lettering indicating the room numbers was difficult to read.

We found our room at the end of the hallway on the left and began the first of many episodes of struggling to get the door open. Inside the door, we found a small tray on the wall, which was a great place to store the key.

Bedroom

Our bedroom was spacious, and we liked it a lot. It had more than just the bare essentials, though it also had some strange design elements.

Sitting in the middle of the room was a king-size bed. Behind it, we had a folding black partition that had been glued and mounted to no longer fold.

On the corner of the bed, we found a wool throw emblazoned with the hotel’s logo.

Each side of the bed had a floor lamp and a clear plastic nightstand that felt cheap. A notepad and phone were on one nightstand.

Along the window was a long wooden desk with a chair.

One side of the desk had a lamp, phone, and notepad.

The other end of the desk had these unique clay cups and a pitcher. They were accompanied by a note informing us that we could drink the tap water.

We also found a Bluetooth speaker on the desk.

The desk also had a welcome note mentioning some of the amenities available. It wasn’t personalized.

Bathroom

“Interesting” is a good word to describe the bathroom.

The entry faced into this combined bathroom-closet area that had an open layout. It felt really spacious.

To the left was an open space that led to the shower and the toilet, with mirrors on 3 sides.

The shower had an open layout with both rainfall and handheld options. You had to step all the way into the shower to reach the controls, so make sure you’re ready to shower before you turn it on.

Mounted to the wall, we found Balmain Paris pump bottles with shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. These had a “forest-y” smell that was really nice.

If you turned left (instead of right to the shower), a frosted door led to the toilet. A phone was in the water closet for some reason.

Here’s where the bathroom gets a bit odd. The sink was mounted onto this marble-topped stand that looked moveable. However, it was bolted to the floor — and was done so at an angle. It felt like the hotel was trying to do something different just for the sake of being different and not for any practical function.

A partial glass wall separated the bathroom from the bedroom area. The sink unit had 2 shelves and a decent amount of counter space next to the sink itself. I also enjoyed the bar for hanging a hand towel in front of the sink — convenient!

A nondescript pump bottle of soap sat next to the sink’s square basin.

A small tray held a Balmain Paris bar of soap and a canister with makeup pads and cotton swabs.

Immediately under the sink, we had 2 drinking glasses. Finding these here was a surprise.

On the bottom shelf, we had 2 metal bins, with slippers in one of them.

The other bin had an interesting mix of supplies, such as a shower cap, shaving kit, toothbrush, a shoe-polish sponge, and even ear plugs.

Closet Area

On the far wall of this open space was a closet area with a bar and hangers for our clothes. We also found a luggage rack and reusable bags that we could use or pay to keep. There was 1 robe hanging here, while a second was folded and available under the sink.

There also was an umbrella that we could use during our stay at no charge, and these wooden boxes served as shelving.

One of the shelves held another cloth bag plus a price list for laundry.

Minibar

This unique wardrobe across from the bed held the TV and minibar.

The top shelf held the TV, while another shelf held books with tourist information about Iceland. Further down, we found more glasses, nuts, and a small bottle of wine. These were for-purchase items.

Further down, we had slide-out drawers, a safe, and a minifridge.

The minifridge was replete with miniature bottles of alcohol.

However, it also had chocolate bars, sodas, bottled water, and beer.

A charge was associated with the items in the minibar — here’s a look at the price list.

Views

Our room overlooked a small park, with views toward the sea further in the distance. The park had a statue of Ingólfur Arnarson, the founder of Reykjavik. The corner of this park also served as the meeting point for numerous tour operators in Reykjavik.

It was even the meeting spot for our northern lights tour one night, which was incredibly convenient.

We also had a view up the street, with The House of Collections (the white building) on the next block, hosting a cultural and historical museum.

We really enjoyed not having any buildings across from our window. Normally, you worry about closing the curtains before showering or changing clothes, but it was nice not to worry about who was looking into our room from across the street.

Food and Beverage

Kastrup

Kastrup was the 101 Hotel, Reykjavik’s singular restaurant, as well as its sole bar. Located on the ground floor, left of the entrance, the restaurant had a long bar with bar stools and typical tables and chairs.

The hotel recommends reservations for dinner during peak times. Kastrup served Scandinavian fare, offering dishes like pepper steak, seafood, and open-faced sandwiches, as well as burgers, salads, and several desserts. Dinner prices matched its upscale vibe.

Kastrup also served breakfast each morning from 7 to 10:30 a.m. As breakfast wasn’t included in our stay and cost roughly $35 per person, we dined elsewhere.

Room Service

Room service was available, offering a pared-down version of the Kastrup menu. Orders were accepted from noon to 8:30 p.m. on Sundays through Thursdays. On Fridays and Saturdays, service was available until 9:30 p.m.

Service

Service was hit-and-miss here. First, we routinely found the front desk empty. Whether that was our arrival or just passing the desk on the way in or out of the hotel, it was strange how infrequently we saw anyone at the desk. Instead, employees were usually in a back room that couldn’t be seen by guests, and you needed to say something to get their attention (there was no bell).

Once we found someone to check in with, she was friendly, and we got a good orientation of the hotel, its amenities, and what was/wasn’t included with our stay. We also liked the tourist information available in our room. My wife even went whale watching with a company recommended in one of these books.

Overall, we had very few interactions with the staff, as we didn’t eat at the restaurant and rarely saw anyone at the desk. The checkout process itself was solid, but what came after checkout was a major disappointment.

We had a 6 a.m. flight departing Iceland, and the airport is roughly 45 minutes outside Reykjavik. Thus, we left the hotel at 3 a.m. to leave time to fill up and drop off the rental car before catching an international flight. As we’d paid our bill at check-in and had no charges on our account, checkout was lightning quick. And there was even someone at the desk when we went down, which was a surprise. She took our key, emailed me a final receipt, and we headed out.

At 3 p.m., a full 12 hours later, I got an email from the hotel asking why we hadn’t checked out and whether we’d misplaced the key.

We’d checked out in person and given the key to an employee, and this email was a bit irritating. I had an email receipt and knew the account was closed.

I immediately wondered why no one asked the other employees on duty where the key was before reaching out to me.

I then forwarded our final receipt back to the hotel and said I gave the key back in a 1-sentence email. They wrote back with an email that could be summarized as “oops” and not much more.

We essentially had 3 interactions with staff at this hotel: 1 required finding an employee to help us, 1 was good, and 1 was bad. Not a great record.

Final Thoughts

The 101 Hotel, Reykjavik, is part of Marriott Bonvoy and boasts an impeccable location. It’s not teeming with amenities, doesn’t accept upgrade awards or offer breakfast for elites, some design choices were odd, and the staff didn’t leave a great taste in our mouth. However, for self-sufficient tourists who just want a place to sleep, a prime location, and solid Wi-Fi, this is a good option.

If you want more than just the basics for your stay, this probably isn’t a good choice, and you’d likely be better served by The Reykjavik EDITION — also a Marriott Bonvoy property — just a few blocks away.