THE HOTEL: A great city centre corner location in a solid and attractive old shipping line office building. The Radisson Blue 1919 is close to everything in Iceland’s capital city and has retained features like the imposing wide mottled green/black marble staircase (there are lifts too!), successfully combining them with modern and comfortable rooms and public areas. There are 88 rooms and suites across five categories; Standard; Deluxe; Business; Junior Suite; and Suite.
THE CHECK-IN: Highly efficient as with everything in Iceland. English is spoken well by everybody and younger people often have little or no accent, thanks to growing up with subtitled TV. As well as being efficient, check-in was friendly and welcoming too with questions smilingly answered.
THE ROOM: The Deluxe room was in modern Icelandic style, including wooden flooring, with a large bed, long work service, mini-bar, wide-screen TV above, tea/coffee-making equipment, iron/board etc. Two easy chairs and an occasional table plus two large wardrobes completed the furnishings. The tiled bathroom was spacious with a huge walk-in shower, a very useful long and large marble shelf to put things and the Anne Semonin toiletries.
THE BUSINESS: The Radisson Blue 1919 offers free Internet access both in public rooms and bedrooms and there is also a business centre plus computers in the lobby and on the lower ground floor. Three fully-equipped meeting rooms can accommodate up to 35 delegates and facilities include state-of-the-art audiovisual equipment. The hotel also boasts a dedicated Meetings Coordinator. Further, the hotel promises a 100% Guest Satisfaction Guarantee with staff doing ‘everything to ensure that you leave our hotel happy’. If there is a complaint it is addressed with the ‘utmost of haste’ and if it remains unresolved, staff can invoke the 100% Guest Satisfaction Guarantee which means that ‘you don’t have to pay for your room or the service in question’.
THE RESTAURANT: The 1919 Restaurant & Lounge, on the ground floor of the hotel, is described as Neo Nordic, ‘a chic restaurant featuring international and Nordic cuisine’. Specialities include Arctic Char over catfish cheeks with puréed potatoes, Smoked Puffin meat with blueberry sauce and Icelandic Mountain Lamb. The adjacent 1919 Lounge is a relaxing place for a beer or one of its variety of cocktails.
THE FACILITIES: Guests have complimentary access to a fully-equipped health and fitness centre, which includes modern, high-tech cardiovascular equipment. As well as free Internet access, the hotel also offers express check-out, grab & run breakfast and late check-out.
THE VERDICT:An excellent city centre base for business travellers with many organisations within easy walking distance – including the brand new Harpa convention centre and concert hall – and plentiful buses and taxis for longer journeys. The hotel has an efficient and friendly air with a young and willing staff to match. It has all the amenities required by a business traveller and with free Internet connection to hold down costs.
