Hafnarstræti Hostel

In my opinion, this hostel has no soul, since I haven’t seen any permanent people working there. I am used to hostels or campings where there is some degree of self service and an employee is present in the morning and in the afternoon or early evening, but every contact here seems to be digital or remote. Every now and some “fix persons” come by to fix things, like cleaning or making the beds/pods. It appears to me that the owners are hiding themselves behind camera surveillance, and an email account. Towels were not included and must be rent. The sleeping pods look fancy but opening and closing them makes a lot of noise. Still you can hear other people snore or make other weird noises. They are not sound proof! In the morning when you don’t check out you can’t sleep a bit longer but you will be waked up early either by noisy guests leaving their pods or cleaning staff who shout outside the pods and aren’t aware that some people still try to sleep. The toilets are located in the same rooms as the showers, meaning that you can’t go the toilet if multiple showers are in use… there are more bathrooms present but they were locked, limiting the possibilities to have a shower or go to the toilet. If you have a small blatter or are incontinent this must be a very anxious experience. In the kitchen there was this uncomfortable disgusting smell the whole time. I thought some food was rotting or left in the sink, but I think it’s coming from the sulphuric water that comes out of the tap. This is the same water people use to boil water for tea, to cook in and do their dishes with… Hafnarstraeti hostel seems to me -despite the good looks and the good efforts- not familiar with hospitality in Europe in general and Iceland in particular. I think they just see this hostel as cash cow they invested in to make money of tourists. I have been to several hostels in Iceland and abroad so I have several experiences to compare it with. Please book another accommodation if you can, even if it costs you a little bit more: it will be worth it. Otherwise you might regret it. Only when you’re really desperate and you don’t bother if you get enough sleep, I can imagine one would voluntarily want to spend a night here… For me this was once but no more. But I do hope the people are willing to learn and improve. I’m not the only one with this experience according to the other reviews.

Great place for a night. Kitchen, Toilets and common places were very clean. The location is perfect. If I might say something wrong, it would be the key of the capsule did not work pretty well..it made me a bit nervous:)

Nice private capsules for a great price. This is hard to top in Iceland. Bathroom areas are plenty and super clean. If you travel bulky, you can leave this in the luggage storage since there is no space within the capsules.

The stay for one night was nice, clean blankets and bed, the common areas are quite spacious, the kitchen has many implements and there is free coffee and tea. Just at the entrance is the wifi network and key, when I was there were only three bathrooms enabled which generates a bit of congestion when you want to use it in the morning, but nothing that can not be solved with 3 minutes of patience, there are extra batteries although they did not smell as good as the ones that came with the capsule.

1star is too much!!!! I am absolutely appalled by the way I was treated by thi Hostel. My stay was disgusting, and their response to my legitimate complaint was nothing short of gaslighting. ||||Upon checking into my room, I found dark hairs in my bed – an obvious sign of poor hygiene. I have bleach blonde hair, so it was impossible that the hair was mine. I took photos of this disgusting scene and immediately contacted the hostel, expecting them to resolve the situation and issue a refund.||Instead, they have refused to acknowledge their fault, claiming there was no hair, despite the photographic proof I provided. Their blatant disregard for cleanliness and complete failure to take responsibility is shocking and unprofessional.||||What’s even worse is that a staff member opened by pod without knocking, using a key card, completely violating my privacy. This is not just unprofessional but unacceptable behavior for any accommodation.||||Rather than handling my complaint properly, they have chosen to gaslight me, refuse my refund, and ignore the very clear evidence. As someone who works in tourism, I know how guests should be treated, and this hostel fails in every possible way.||||I will be attaching the photos I took to this review so everyone can see the evidence of the disgusting conditions I experienced. Stay far away from this hostel if you value cleanliness, professionalism, and your personal privacy. There are far better options than wasting your money here.

Very clean, quiet, and very kind owners. The capsules were quite comfortable & roomy, an interesting way to sleep, was nice being able to close the sliding door and have some privacy. I’d 100% sleep here again, I wish we had another night!

Obviously a bit of a novelty sleeping in a pod hostel. Getting to the nitty gritty though, whilst the privacy of a sleeping pod is very much appreciated, the pod is not without its flaws. The plastic is hollow, therefore the slightest tap on it causes noise. So bring ear plugs. The neon lights might look cool, but the one next to the pod door is reflected in the mirror & for me, was annoyingly bright when trying to sleep (so I ended up sleeping at the TV end). There are no channels on the TV but you can google cast to it. Pity I had an iPhone then. The pod controls are essentially for the lights, fan & door. As for the rest of the hostel, I thought the kitchen was a bit small, though the dining area was fine. Free Coffee & Tea. Nice that there is a balcony to sit outside on too. Showers & WCs were fine, though renting a towel costs extra. All in all, reasonably priced for what you get (by Icelandic standards).

I experienced a disrespectful, offensive style of speech from the staff. The experienced communication style is unacceptable.