Where To Stay in Reykjavik: Kex Hostel

When we were looking into flights to the US and saw a great deal on IcelandAir, with an optional free stopover in Iceland, we knew we had to snap it up. I’ve always wanted to go to Reykjavik and it seemed like the perfect way to see in the new year.

Being an extremely hip city, we knew finding where to stay in Reykjavik wouldn’t be a problem, but as soon as we saw Kex Hostel online, and discovered that it was housed in a former biscuit factory, it seemed like an excellent fit for us. And if we were lucky, maybe the place would still smell of biscuits. Mmmmmm, biscuits.

From the moment we checked in, I knew I was going to enjoy my time there. The quirky decor and retro furniture, not to mention the mason jar lightshades that I mentioned on Instagram, all lend to the illusion of being part of something really cool. And being a bit of a geek, I don’t get to feel cool all that often.

Each of the rooms had an arcade game-style sign for the room numbers. I was stealing design ideas from all over this hostel, for the next time I own my own place.

The first night we ate in the hostel restaurant. Not wanting to venture out in the cold and eat mediocre food (which annoyingly happens all too often on your first night in a place), this turned out to be the best decision ever – and, more importantly, turned out to be one of our best meals in Reykjavik.

We started with some arancini fried rice balls stuffed with cheese and pancetta, which were recommended to us by the barman. They came with a creamy chilli mayo and were deliciously cheesy and tangy when dipped in the sauce.

Then we both went with the “freedom” burger which came topped with Icelandic cheese, caramelized onion mayo and salad and with a portion of fresh cut potato wedges on the side. The burger was delicious and tender, cooked medium and the fries were hot and fluffy, although my greedy self could have eaten much more of them.

I was sad I never ordered the Kexmas Eggnog that first night, because it quickly disappeared off the menu, so of course I had to placate myself with some shop-bought stuff as soon as I got back to the US.

The next morning, we were faced with even more food delights. Now, as you know, I’m a sucker for a great breakfast, and this is something that hostels usually lose points on in my opinion. That wasn’t the case here. For an extra fee, you can add breakfast on to the cost of your room, and it is a great spread with lots of fresh, organic and free-range products. There were fruits, yogurts, cheese, eggs, meats, bread, juices, and even salty porridge that I would top with some fresh jam. On cold and dark mornings (did I mention that the sun wouldn’t rise until around 11am?) it was great to be able to fill up on breakfast without having to leave the hostel.

We only spent three nights in Reykjavik, ticking off some of the major tourist sights, but it was the best stopover I’ve ever done. In part, it was due to the fact that Kex is such a cool hostel that offers everything you could need, and then some, which made our stay even better than it could have been. My only feedback for the hostel would have been that it would have been nice to have more storage space in the bedroom – there was nowhere to hang our clothes, so we ended up throwing things over the back of the chair and living out of our backpacks. But I’m scraping the barrel to even mention that.

In all honesty, in our two years of travelling, I can count on one hand the number of truly cool and unique places we’ve stayed at. This was definitely one of those places.

I’d like to thank Kex Hostel for hosting us during our stay in Iceland, and I’d like to point out that we were not asked to write a positive review about the place – I genuinely think this is one of the best hostels I’ve ever stayed in.