Highland Base at Kerlingarfjöll
Resort hotel · South
F347, 801 Selfoss, Iceland
Highlights
Geothermal spa, Nordic rooms, adventure activities, and hot springs.
Geothermal spa, Nordic rooms, adventure activities, and hot springs.
"A luxury highland base that opened in July 2023, positioned as an upscale gateway for exploring interior highland landscapes." - Patricia Doherty Patricia Doherty Patricia Doherty is a writer who specializes in covering destinations, resorts, and cruises for Travel + Leisure and other publications. Travel + Leisure Editorial Guidelines
"The main venue for the wedding, located in a remote volcanic area, offering stunning views and natural hot springs."
"The sustainably-minded sister venture to Retreat at Blue Lagoon, a year-round off-grid retreat for adventure extremists, is 110 miles—and another planet—away in Iceland’s vast and mostly frozen interior, which remained unexplored until the 1930s. Highland Base in Kerlingarfjöll—a reserve of snowdrift-blanketed peaks, glaciers, lava fields, and silence—might as well be on the moon. Getting there is a mission. In winter, after arriving at Skjol Basecamp (90 minutes on the Golden Circle from Reykjavik) it can take two to five hours of “floating” over virgin snow in adapted Super Jeeps. The angular Highland Base huddles in a valley like a Nordic minimalist space station, a 28-room hotel, and six podlike lodges occupying the abandoned structures of the pioneers who have gone before. The pods, which have sunken living rooms, Polaroid-like windows, and hanging ponchos, were designed with sustainable aged wood and concrete by Icelandic firm Basalt Architects, masterminds of the Blue Lagoon. There’s also a sleeping bag option in A-frame huts left over from a 1960s summer ski school. Activities include cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and hiking, as well as jumping in the geothermal baths to see the northern lights after dinners of Arctic char and warming shots of Brennivín schnapps. —Stephanie Rafanelli"
"Situated in Iceland’s remote central highlands and built from a mix of historic ski-school buildings and new cross-laminated larch timber structures, this multi-tiered complex offers alpine-style hotel rooms and suites alongside lodges, A-frame cabins, a campground, and hostel rooms to serve a range of budgets. Facilities include a new geothermal-bath complex with sauna and cold plunge, cozy lounges with large picture windows, and a playful waffle bar that nods to the site’s ski-school past; outdoor programming ranges from hiking and e‑mountain biking to backcountry skiing and snowmobiling." - Nicholas DeRenzo, Elissa Garay
"An all-season retreat set deep in the Kerlingarfjöll mountains of Iceland that transforms a once-remote ski-school site into a sustainable, cozy base for backcountry skiers, hikers, and adventurous travelers who still want creature comforts. Owned and developed by the hoteliers behind the Retreat at Blue Lagoon, the property reopened in 2023 with new cross-laminated larch timber buildings built to BREEAM standards and powered largely by geothermal energy; a newly added on-site bathing area features three outdoor geothermally heated pools (sourced from about 3,200 feet below the surface), a cold plunge and sauna, and is connected to the main buildings so guests don’t need to step outside to access it. Accommodations include 46 Nordic‑styled hotel rooms, 2 suites, 6 standalone one‑bedroom lodges with sunken lounges, plus retrofitted A‑frame cabins, hostel rooms and campgrounds for budget-conscious visitors; rooms feature large picture windows, rain showers and Blue Lagoon skincare products. The casual alpine‑hut restaurant serves a generous breakfast buffet (included), hearty lodge lunches and seasonal dinners (à la carte in winter, buffet in summer), plus a popular daily waffle bar in the afternoon (unlimited waffles for a fee) and a bar offering classic cocktails and spiked hot chocolate. Practicalities reflect the remote location: expect a three‑hour (or longer in snow) drive from Reykjavík with stretches of gravel and F‑roads requiring appropriate insurance or hotel-arranged 4x4 transfers in winter; the hotel runs summer bus transfers and can arrange guided trips for skiing, snowmobiling, hiking and e‑biking. Staffed 24 hours with daily housekeeping, accessible rooms and elevators, underground connections between buildings, and a focus on minimizing environmental impact, the retreat offers a more casual, nature‑forward alternative to luxury city resorts (rates from about US$430)." - Lyndsey Matthews
