The Reykjavik Edition will open its doors on November 9, 2021. The property will feature 253 guestrooms, a line-up of bars, a signature restaurant and a nightclub. It will also introduce a new kind of modern, social wellness concept.

“Reykjavik is a really cool, young city – perfect for our brand,” says Ian Schrager, the pioneer of the boutique hotel concept, PUBLIC and EDITION creator. “We think this is Reykjavik’s time and we’re right here at the very heart of it and at the perfect time.”

Local architecture firm, T.ark, and New York-based studio Roman and Williams designed the property with the guidance of Ian Schrager Company (ISC). Located in the heart of the city, the Reykjavik Edition is adjacent to Harpa, the landmark concert hall and conference center, and just minutes from Laugavegur, the main shopping street in downtown Reykjavik.

Design details include:

• guestrooms decorated in a muted palette of ash wood and pale grey oak and featuring a formwork concrete wall, Italian custom-made furniture, copper bed light sconces, faux fur rugs, artwork and accessories from local craftsmen, floor-to-ceiling windows, and monochrome white bathrooms;
• a range of modern meeting and event spaces, including studios, a boardroom, and a divisible grand ballroom with pre-function space and floor-to-ceiling windows;
• a one-bedroom Penthouse Suite on the 6th floor with a private terrace overlooking the harbour, Harpa and mountains;
• an ebony facade of charred shou sugi ban timber and blackened steel frames that are a clear nod to Iceland’s lava landscape;
• double-entrance lobby accessible from the pedestrian Harpa plaza or the Harbor, the latter entrance featuring a canopy the underside of which is illuminated by 12, 210 glass LED nodes;
• prominent use of basalt stone (volcanic rock) in the lobby floor and sculptural reception desk:
• a lobby lounge with a central open-flame fireplace and collection of custom-made furniture (Jean-Michel Frank-inspired armchair in white shearling, Pierre Jeanneret-inspired chairs in black velvet are two examples.);
• a four-meter-high sculptural totem created by Icelandic artists from basalt slate in the center of the lobby;
• Tides, a signature restaurant with a private dining room and cafe, helmed by Gunnar Karl Gislason, the chef behind Dill, Reykjavik’s New Nordic Michelin-starred restaurant;
• The Roof, a multifunction space on the hotel’s 7th floor that offers panoramic mountain, North Atlantic Ocean and old town vistas;
• and Sunset, an underground nightspot with a state-of-the-art sound system and theatrical lighting.

Wellness offerings at the Reykjavik Edition include a lower ground floor, state-of-the-art gym, and a social Spa.  In addition to three treatment rooms, a hammam, steam room, sauna, and a plunge pool, it also has a central lounge with a spa bar. By day, the latter serves a menu of post-workout Viking shakes, champagnes and, moss vodka infusions alongside snacks like volcano bread with black lava salt.

“A spa and wellness facility with a bar is something we haven’t really seen before,” said Schrager. “But going down there and socializing and drinking and then getting into the thermal waters is, again, a response to being in Iceland.”