Apotek Hotel by Keahotels

A Former Pharmacy at the Heart of Old Reykjavik

Austurstræti is one of those streets that Reykjavik built its civic identity around. Running between Austurvöllur square — where Iceland's parliament, the Althing, has stood since the nineteenth century — and the older commercial corridors leading toward the harbour, it has been a working address for as long as the city has had one. The building at number 16 earned its character not from a designer's brief but from decades of practical urban life, most visibly as a pharmacy (apotek in Icelandic), which is where the hotel draws its name. That naming choice is not cosmetic. In a city centre that has rapidly filled with international-branded properties, a hotel that foregrounds its building's pre-hospitality identity is making a deliberate statement about what kind of guest it wants.

Arriving on foot from Lækjartorg square, the building reads as one of several late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century stone structures that survived Reykjavik's aggressive mid-century redevelopment. The neighbourhood around it has evolved considerably: Austurstræti today functions as a pedestrianised axis connecting the political and cultural core of the city to its commercial strip, and the hotel sits at a junction where tourists, office workers, and locals converge throughout the day. The presence of Apotek at this address places it in the same discussion as Hotel Borg by Keahotels, the group's flagship a short walk away on Pósthússtræti, which operates out of a 1930 Art Deco building and has long been the reference point for heritage-led hospitality in central Reykjavik. Between the two, Keahotels holds an unusual position in the local market: a domestically-owned group anchoring itself to the city's architectural memory at a time when most new inventory skews contemporary.

Where It Sits in Reykjavik's City-Centre Hotel Tier

Reykjavik's accommodation market has stratified noticeably over the past decade. At the leading sits a small cluster of design-forward and internationally affiliated properties: The Reykjavik EDITION in Reykjavík, which arrived as part of a wave of international brand entries, and the long-established 101 hotel Reykjavik, which set the template for Icelandic boutique with its pared-back Nordic aesthetic. Below that, the mid-to-upper tier has grown crowded, with properties like Canopy by Hilton Reykjavik City Centre and Hlemmur Square competing on lifestyle positioning and central location.

Apotek occupies a recognisable space within this tier: a full-service city-centre property whose primary differentiator is the weight of its address. The Keahotels group does not operate as a design-hotel collective in the way that smaller independents do, but it does understand that heritage buildings carry a persuasive argument for travellers who want their accommodation to feel like it belongs somewhere specific. Alternatives at a comparable positioning include Alda Hotel and Hotel Holt- The Art Hotel, the latter of which takes a different approach to differentiation by way of one of Iceland's most significant private art collections displayed throughout its public spaces. Black Pearl and Hilton Reykjavik Nordica operate at broadly comparable price points but with very different spatial relationships to the old town core.

The Building's Logic and What It Offers Practically

The former-pharmacy framing shapes the interior language, at least in the public spaces. Apothecary references , glass cabinetry, warm lighting, timber and tile combinations that recall institutional interiors of the early twentieth century , have become a legible hospitality shorthand, but at Apotek the connection to place is grounded rather than themed. The building itself earns the references in a way that a purpose-built hotel with the same aesthetic would not.

Practically, Austurstræti 16 is one of the more useful addresses in central Reykjavik. Austurvöllur square is a two-minute walk, which means the Althing, the Dómkirkjan cathedral, and the old commercial core are all walkable without entering a taxi. The harbour, Grandi, and the Harpa concert hall are reachable on foot in under fifteen minutes. The main shopping and restaurant corridor of Laugavegur connects from Lækjartorg, a short distance from the hotel's front door. For travellers arriving from Keflavik International Airport, the Flybus and airport express coaches serve the city centre at Hlemmur and BSÍ bus terminal, both reachable from the hotel's location without significant effort. Visitors planning day trips to the Golden Circle, the South Coast, or Snæfellsnes will find car rental desks and tour departure points accessible from the centre. Those extending their itinerary into the wider country might consider ION Adventure Hotel, Nesjavellir, a Member of Design Hotels in Selfoss for a landscape shift while remaining within reasonable driving distance of the capital. Further afield, Hotel Ranga in Hella and Hótel Búðir in Bu Ir represent two different registers of Icelandic rural hospitality worth considering as extensions.

Seasonal Timing and When to Book

Reykjavik's hotel market runs at near-capacity during summer (June through August), when midnight sun draws the largest volume of visitors and rates across the city-centre tier rise accordingly. The Apotek's location makes it a logical base during this period, though booking lead times for the summer peak should be treated as comparable to other full-service city-centre properties: several months in advance is sensible. The autumn and winter shoulder seasons offer a different proposition. Reykjavik in October through February is markedly quieter, rates compress, and the northern lights become the primary draw for visitors willing to trade warmth for atmosphere. The city's dining scene, which has matured considerably in the past decade, operates year-round; consult our full Reykjavik restaurants guide for current recommendations on where to eat within walking distance. Travellers targeting the northern lights should note that Apotek's city-centre location, while convenient for everything urban, places them in an area with ambient light; excursions to darker rural sites, or a stay at a property like Hótel Reykjahlíð in Reykjahli near Lake Mývatn, will produce better results for aurora viewing.

Planning Your Stay

Booking is handled directly or through the Keahotels group. The hotel's position on Austurstræti means arriving guests driving from the airport should plan for city-centre parking logistics, which in Reykjavik's core are constrained; the most practical arrival for most travellers is via coach or pre-arranged transfer. For those building a broader Icelandic itinerary from a Reykjavik base, Eleven Deplar Farm in Olafsfjördur, Silica Hotel in Grindavík, UMI Hotel in Vík, Vogafjós Farm Resort in Vogar, Skálakot Hotel in Hvolsvollur, and Hótel Klaustur Iceland in Kirkjubæjarklaustur offer a representative spread of what Iceland's accommodation infrastructure looks like outside the capital. For travellers comparing Apotek against other heritage-building properties at a global scale, reference points in the Aman network such as Aman Venice in Venice or Aman New York in New York City operate at a significantly higher price tier but share a similar logic of placing guests inside architecturally significant structures. Badrutt's Palace Hotel in St. Moritz and The Fifth Avenue Hotel in New York City are further points of comparison for travellers assessing how European cities generally position historic-building hotels within their accommodation tiers. Amangiri in Canyon Point represents a different model entirely, where the landscape rather than the building carries the heritage argument.