ION Adventure Hotel, Nesjavellir
Nesjavellir, Iceland
Location
On the Golden Circle
At Nesjavellir on Mount Hengill by Lake Thingvallavatn, near the Golden Circle and UNESCO Thingvellir National Park, around forty-five minutes from Reykjavik and seventy-five minutes from Keflavik airport.
Transfer
A Keflavik transfer
Around seventy-five minutes from Keflavik airport, or forty-five minutes from Reykjavik, out to the lava fields at Nesjavellir on the edge of the Golden Circle.
Villas
Around 45 rooms
Around forty-five standard and deluxe rooms of around twenty square metres in a striking cantilevered, stilted form with dark metal facades and salvaged-driftwood and lava interiors by studio Minarc, with floor-to-ceiling windows over the lava fields and the lake.
Best For
Who it suits
Design-minded couples and adventurers using it as a Golden Circle and Thingvellir base, and Northern Lights seekers — a cantilevered Design Hotel over the lava fields with an award-winning aurora bar and a geothermal spa.
Board Basis
Bed & breakfast
Bed-and-breakfast or half board, with Nordic, Icelandic cooking at Silfra, the award-winning Northern Lights Bar and a lounge over the lava fields.
About the Resort
A design-led adventure boutique on the Golden Circle
ION Adventure Hotel is a design-led adventure boutique on the Golden Circle — a striking cantilevered, stilted form by studio Minarc raised over the lava fields at Nesjavellir, in dark metal, salvaged driftwood and lava. It sits on Mount Hengill by Lake Thingvallavatn, Iceland's largest natural lake, beside UNESCO Thingvellir National Park, the rift valley where the North American and Eurasian plates pull apart and the old Althing assembly met. An award-winning Northern Lights Bar and Northern Lights wake-up calls track the aurora through the dark months, a geothermal Lava Spa draws on the volcanic ground, and Silfra serves Nordic cooking built on Icelandic ingredients, while around forty-five rooms look out over the lava fields through floor-to-ceiling glass. The setting makes it a natural base for the Golden Circle: Thingvellir, the erupting Strokkur geyser at the Geysir field and the thundering Gullfoss waterfall form the classic loop, the Silfra fissure offers diving between the continents, and Reykjavik is around forty-five minutes away. It is the design-led Golden Circle base of Iceland — distinct from the geothermal Blue Lagoon hotels and the south-coast lodges. Year-round.
Accommodation
Rooms
Around forty-five standard and deluxe rooms of about twenty square metres sit in a striking cantilevered, stilted form by studio Minarc, dark metal outside and salvaged driftwood and lava within, each with floor-to-ceiling windows over the lava fields and Lake Thingvallavatn. They make the hotel a genuine piece of design on the Golden Circle, the raw volcanic landscape framed from the bed, the building seeming to float above the lava on its slender stilts, steam drifting from the geothermal ground beyond.
Entry
Standard Room
Sleeps two. A room of around 20 square metres with floor-to-ceiling windows over the lava fields.
Floor-to-ceiling windowsLava-field outlook
Lake
Deluxe Lake-view Room
Sleeps two. A room with views over Lake Thingvallavatn.
Lake-viewLake outlook
Suite
Junior Suite
Sleeps two. The larger upgrade option.
LargerLava-field outlook
Deluxe
Deluxe Room
Sleeps two. A deluxe room over the lava fields.
DeluxeLava-field outlook
Food & Drink
Dining
Silfra Restaurant builds Nordic cooking on Icelandic ingredients, joined by the award-winning, panoramic Northern Lights Bar and a lounge looking out over the lava fields. It is design-led dining in the middle of the volcanic landscape, the aurora often the evening's entertainment through the panoramic glass.
Signature
Silfra Restaurant
Silfra Restaurant, Nordic and Icelandic, local ingredients.
Bar
The Northern Lights Bar
The Northern Lights Bar, award-winning and panoramic.
Lounge
The lounge
The lounge, over the lava fields.
Wellbeing
The Lava Spa
The geothermal Lava Spa draws on the volcanic ground with a sauna, treatments and a geothermal spa pool, joined by a gym, a calm reward after a day on the Golden Circle. Wellness here leans on the same geothermal energy that powers the surrounding land, the heat rising straight from beneath the lava, the spa pool open to the night and the aurora above.
A geothermal Lava Spa
A geothermal Lava Spa, volcanic-fed.
A spa pool
A spa pool, geothermal.
Northern Lights
Northern Lights, wake-up calls.
Activities & Experiences
Signature Experiences
The design, the Golden Circle and the aurora define a stay — take in the Minarc cantilevered architecture over the lava fields, drive the Golden Circle of Thingvellir, the Geysir field and Gullfoss, and watch for the Northern Lights from the award-winning bar. The Silfra fissure offers snorkelling and diving between the tectonic plates, and Reykjavik and the wider south are both within reach for day trips.
Minarc cantilevered design
Minarc cantilevered design, over the lava fields.
The Golden Circle
The Golden Circle, by UNESCO Thingvellir.
The Northern Lights Bar
The Northern Lights Bar, award-winning.
The Lava Spa
The Lava Spa, geothermal.
Silfra dining
Silfra dining, Nordic and Icelandic.
Getting There
Location & transfers
By air
To Keflavik
Around seventy-five minutes from Keflavik airport, or forty-five minutes from Reykjavik.
On the circle
Nesjavellir
At Nesjavellir on Mount Hengill by Lake Thingvallavatn, on the edge of the Golden Circle.
Guest Reviews
What Our Clients Say
★★★★★
“The most extraordinary place I have ever stayed. Nothing prepares you for the depth of the silence, the beauty of the reef, or the sheer generosity of the experience.”
✓ Verified via feefo
★★★★★
“We’ve stayed here three times now. The house reef has no equal. The stargazing was, genuinely, one of the most moving experiences of my adult life.”
✓ Verified via feefo
★★★★★
“I had stayed at Four Seasons, One&Only and Velaa before visiting ION Adventure Hotel, Nesjavellir. They are all magnificent. But this is different in a way that is hard to articulate.”
✓ Verified via feefo
Good to Know
Good to know
Board basis
- Bed-and-breakfast or half board.
Year-round
- Year-round; Northern Lights from late summer to spring.
Made for design lovers
- Made for design lovers and adventurers.
Getting there
- Around seventy-five minutes from Keflavik airport.
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Dates & party
Date flexibility
Adults
2
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Budget & accommodation
Budget per person (flights + hotel)
£4,500
£500£50,000+
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Flights
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