Reykjavik, Iceland

Early morning arrival at the port in Reykjavik. Le Boreal’s new sister ship Le Soleal (triplets along with L’Astral) is also in port. I’m in the last group off the ship for the hotel transfers, and surprisingly enough, dropped off at the second hotel on the route.

The Grand Hotel appears to be a modern glass fronted hotel, in the ‘business district’ of Reykjavik, near the Hilton. The public areas are airy and light, with a small bar selling drinks and free wi-fi in the lobby.  I’ve used Iceland Travel to book accommodation and organise a hire care as part of a not-inexpensive 10 day self-drive package, and have been regretting not organising it myself.

The delivery of the car to the hotel is actually a shuttle van to the car rental company 15 minutes away to collect the car myself. I also discover that the GPS system referred to on the itinerary is not included for some reason, and the drop-off location for the car is incorrect. I should have booked this myself.

I’m sure me and my Suzuki Grand Vitara will be very happy together when I can change gears without reaching for the door handle. I must have lost my mind thinking it was a good idea to hire a manual car to drive on the ‘right’ hand side of the road. Under pressure, my reflex is to reach for the gear stick with my left hand, so this should be interesting. I make it back to the hotel without having killed myself or anyone else on the road. It’s only 10am, so the room isn’t ready, so it’s off to explore downtown Reykjavik with a long walk into the city centre of about 3km along the waterfront.

The ‘old’ and touristy part of Reykjavik is doing a roaring trade with shops geared for tourists, activity companies and cafes. I’ve learnt two Icelandic words so far today – café is kaffi (no prizes for that one) and next is ‘neste’. I don’t think I will have mastered the language by the time I leave 🙂

I head back to the hotel at 4pm (a taxi from the ‘centre’ of the historic area to the hotel is just under 3000 kroner. I don’t often feel like checking out of a hotel as soon as I’ve seen the room, but this is one of those times. What is it about solo travellers that means that they are assigned the absolutely worst room in the hotel? The hotel was built in 1985, and the room clearly hasn’t been renovated since then. It’s quite large, but the windows don’t open and there isn’t any air-conditioning, so it’s warm and airless. The décor would put a 1970’s motel room to shame. Airless and depressing. I want to go and find another hotel despite having already paid for this one. Thank God I didn’t let Iceland Travel put me back here for the final night in Iceland.  I’d rather sleep in the car.

Back out to pound the pavements in search of dinner. The Café de Paris on the historic square looks like a tourist trap, but the food turns out to be surprisingly good – the steak sandwich is excellent with a light, fluffy bearnaise sauce.

A rather unpleasant night in the Grand Hotel – I find at 10pm when I want to read in bed that neither of the bedside lamps work. So I’m reading by the light of my headlamp (which I considered not packing) in my “4 star” hotel room. Grrr.