There aren’t many luxurious motels in Iceland, though over time that has modified as the typical Iceland customer has advanced from the funds backpacker to households, honeymooners, and luxurious thrill seekers. There is one lodge on the South Coast that gives Icelandic luxurious, positive eating, and a very good state of affairs for spying the Northern Lights in season. Find out extra with my full Hotel Ranga evaluate.
I used to be invited to remain at Hotel Ranga, one of many most interesting Iceland motels on the South coast and positively the most effective Northern Lights motels in Iceland. Unfortunately, the Northern Lights by no means made an look throughout that journey, but it surely was nonetheless a incredible go to and Hotel Ranga made an incredible dwelling base for exploring South Iceland and all of the distinctive issues to do there.
Hotel Ranga: South Iceland Luxury Hotel
Note: My keep was hosted by Hotel Ranga. We had a good time and I might fortunately keep there once more. All opinions are my very own. Feature picture courtesy of Hotel Ranga. This publish comprises affiliate hyperlinks. If you click on a hyperlink and make a purchase order, I could obtain a small fee.
Hotel Ranga is positioned proper off of the Ring Road, about one hour and quarter-hour from Reykjavik and two hours from Keflavik airport. Once you’re there, it’s only 20 minutes to Seljalandsfoss, one of the fashionable waterfalls in South Iceland. And, it is only one hour to the black sand seashores and sea stacks in Vík.
You ought to plan on staying not less than three nights, so you may reap the benefits of among the space’s enjoyable actions like glacier mountaineering, snowmobiling or ATV driving, mountaineering, horseback driving, or taking a brilliant jeep tour into Thorsmark Valley. Of course, you want to spend not less than in the future simply taking within the waterfalls and wonderful surroundings (or on the lookout for puffins if you’re there in the summertime.) If you’re there within the winter, hopefully that can even offer you probability of seeing the Aurora Borealis.
Check availability at Hotel Ranga in Iceland
North Lights Hotel in Iceland
The motive that Hotel Ranga is such an ideal Northern Lights lodge is that they’ve their very personal observatory on the property. On clear nights, they invite a neighborhood astronomer to come back in to coach guests on the night time skies. Being so removed from any gentle air pollution from close by cities, the darkish night time skies make for wonderful star gazing.
The observatory is positioned 150 meters from the primary constructing and the lodge even gives heat snowsuits for heading out on chilly nights. The roof rolls again so visitors can use their two astronomical telescopes, each an 11-inch Celestron Schmidt-Cassegrain and a TEC 160ED APO refractor on an Astro-Physics 900 mount. They even have an 18-inch reflector, the most important telescope in Iceland. From there you may see Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars.
Plus, hopefully, you’re going to get to see the Northern Lights if you’re there within the prime season of November by means of March. You can even take a Northern Lights sightseeing tour if you wish to “chase the lights” however I most popular hanging out within the comfy lounge and going to mattress understanding that I’d get a wake-up name if the Aurora made an look.
There is a useful sign-up listing on the entrance desk and all you want to do is test off if you want a Northern Lights wake-up name. If you need to test the forecast for Northern Lights predictions, go to the Icelandic Met workplace web site. We thought we had been going to see the Lights after we had been there however then the clouds began rolling in round 11 pm, simply when it was predicted to begin the present.
It was disappointing however I used to be in a position to see the Northern Lights on a subsequent go to. Just learn my tips on visiting Iceland in winter if you will see the Northern Lights.
Eclectic, Lodge-like Accommodations at Hotel Ranga
While Hotel Ranga is an Iceland luxurious lodge, it has a lodge-like really feel with log partitions and glossy hardwood hallways. It is about up in a typical Icelandic lodge design, with one or two-story wings extending from the central reception space. The hallways are lengthy and slim, resulting in 51 normal and deluxe rooms and themed suites. We stayed in a Deluxe room, with a king mattress and a pull-out couch.
The room itself was fairly easy. The luxurious comes into play extra with the restaurant and among the facilities. The mattress was comfy and I like the person duvets for retaining heat — I feel I would like to do this at dwelling! Our room had a door to the skin so you can make a fast exit for those who received the decision that the Northern Lights had been on show.
The rest room was surprisingly giant and I like that they’re utilizing the geothermal warmth of Iceland to have facilities like towel warming racks. There was a big indoor Jacuzzi bathtub, which additionally functioned because the bathe, however with no door or curtain so for those who weren’t cautious the toilet may get fairly moist. After busy days out within the chilly, I loved a heat bathe and getting cozy within the supplied gown and slippers to calm down for some time earlier than dinner.
If you need a splurge, every of the suites has a theme with personally curated results from varied international locations. It is certainly eclectic and stunning to stroll into an African-themed room in Iceland, however these little quirks maintain the lodge fascinating.
Fine Dining at Hotel Ranga
Your day at Hotel Ranga begins with a breakfast buffet in the primary eating room. We had been joyful to replenish earlier than our busy days exploring exterior. It was a typical European/American buffet with scrambled eggs, bacon or sausage, potatoes, and make-your-own waffles. There was additionally fruit, meats, cheeses, hard-boiled eggs, pastries, toast, and cereal.
While breakfast was pretty normal lodge fare, dinner was actually a positive eating expertise. In addition to the primary eating room, Hotel Ranga has a small bar, lounge, and two assembly rooms upstairs. Since we had been there as visitors and a part of a gaggle of journey brokers, writers and photographers, we loved some particular dinners within the personal eating rooms upstairs.
The restaurant has a “Farmer’s Market” theme, specializing in native, recent components. For proteins, this implies loads of fish and lamb, but additionally some extra adventurous choices like reindeer carpaccio. I’m at all times impressed by the array of recent greens and fruits accessible in Iceland, because of their ingenious use of geothermally-heated greenhouses.
The chef and workers are extraordinarily conscientious about meals allergy symptoms and restrictions. They additionally supply a kids’s menu, so that you don’t want to fret an excessive amount of for those who don’t have adventurous eaters. The Children’s menu presents normal fish and chips, hen, hamburgers, and pasta. Of course, if you’re adventurous, you may most likely request a pattern of fermented shark fin…they are saying the scent is worse than the style.
We additionally had a blast hanging out within the downstairs and upstairs lounge, and the well-stocked bar had an incredible number of spirits, wines, and native beers — together with my new favourite Einstok. What do you consider these funky bar stools? (Those should not my legs!) I used to be excited to listen to that they’ve a plan so as to add an indoor fire, in addition to some comfortable out of doors seating and warmth lamps by the out of doors sizzling tubs.
Hotel Ranga Amenities
Iceland isn’t actually a spot that you simply go to simply to hang around on the lodge, however after a busy day exploring, it’s good to have some creature comforts. Hotel Ranga’s three out of doors sizzling tubs supply aid for aching muscle mass — though you want to be a bit courageous to make the sprint from the lodge to the relative heat of the bathtub. Good factor for these robes!
If you favor to remain inside, there are a couple of gathering locations indoors as properly. Each wing has a day room, considered one of which is outfitted with a full-size pool desk and plenty of board video games to borrow.
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