Hotel Ranga

It’s not common to see northern lights in the winter, but we lucked out on being out there for the observatory viewing and then seeing them. The breakfast was great. Hot tubs are inconveniently placed. Beds are joined together to make a larger bed without a mattress topper, which unfortunately is pretty common.

Everyone goes out of their way to ensure you are enjoying your stay. The hotel is clean, rooms are spacious and comfortable, The themed suites were an added bonus. The staff truly make the experience exceptional.

Not only did this hotel surpass our expectations, but the service was world class, and, on arrival on Christmas Day, we were graced with the personal service by Friðrik, the owner of the hotel. The next morning, he joined us for breakfast, asked us our plans, and helped tailor a day of exploration in Southern Iceland that we could not have planned any better. He was very kind to us, and we felt like we were special guests. But I'm sure he made everyone feel that way. The staff was attentive. We did catch the aurora borealis while we were there, and the night sky was immaculate. Our suite was wonderful, and did comfortably host four adult guests. Overall, we were super-pleased with our stay.

This is a bed and breakfast to be very explicit. Owner operated (lovely Gentleman) with rooms that are basic and poorly designed (we had a large suite). The view is of a lovely river and endless terrain so that is nice. Crazy cold greeting by staff when we arrived. Most B&B's are happy to have you! But they warmed up a bit over time. There are three really ugly hot tubs around the property and absolutely no other amenities that I could find anyway. One standout was dinner service - the room was set up nicely and the food and service at dinner were excellent so maybe just go for dinner? The Northern Lights wake up service does work as entire hotel gathered outside at 4am and we just looked at each other because there was nothing in the sky - just to make sure that we weren't dreaming or had lost our respective minds! I imagine if we all saw a beautiful display then maybe my review would be more positive but then again the Hotel does not control the weather!

We stayed for 4 nights and saw the Northern Lights twice, both due to the hotel's excellent wake up call service. The hotel and restaurant are not cheap but worth the money and the price is reflective of Iceland generally. The restaurant food is excellent. We stayed in a superior room which was comfortable but not that well ventilated (hence 4/5 score). Our only issue was that we did the Landmannalaugar super jeep tour and having driven for about two hours, we were not able to access Landmannalaugar because of bad weather in the last few days. We later understood from a guide on a different tour company that we should have been warned about the risk and offered an alternative. However, the Hotel Ranga reception were helpful and understanding and offered us a proportionate discount for the disappointment, which we were happy with. We also did the golden circle tour and really enjoyed it.