Iceland Travel GuideLOCAL TRAVEL AGENCY IN ICELAND
My trip
Talk to a local
Iceland Travel GuideLOCAL TRAVEL AGENCY IN ICELAND
My trip
Talk to a local
A ten-room hotel in a red timber house from 1867, right by the harbour in Stykkishólmur on the north side of Snæfellsnes. It suits couples and solo travellers who like small, personal places and want to walk to restaurants and the ferry.
Stykkishólmur, Snæfellsnes peninsula, West IcelandHótel Egilsen, often written Hotel Egilssen, is the dark red house you see as you come down to the harbour in Stykkishólmur. It was built in 1867 as the home of a local merchant and the hotel describes it as the second-oldest building in town. After a careful renovation it opened as a hotel in 2012.
It feels more like staying in someone's well-kept home than in a hotel. There are only ten rooms on three floors. The ground-floor lounge is where you check in, eat breakfast, borrow a book and have a drink in the evening, and where guests tend to end up talking to each other and to the staff about where to go next.
The rooms are small, as you would expect in a house of this age, but bright and comfortable, with good beds and private bathrooms. Outside the door you have the old town, the harbour and the path up to the lighthouse on Súgandisey island, with views over the many islands of Breiðafjörður bay.
Stykkishólmur is the largest town on the Snæfellsnes peninsula and a practical base for the north coast, for the ferry to Flatey island and for the drive around the national park. We often suggest a night here and a night on the south side of the peninsula.
As a local travel agency in Iceland, we can book Hótel Egilsen for you on its own or as part of a self-drive trip around Snæfellsnes and West Iceland.
All ten rooms have a private bathroom with a power shower, a COCO-MAT bed made from natural materials, a goose-down duvet, free Wi-Fi and an iPad for guests to use. The house has three floors and the attic rooms have sloping ceilings.
The hotel has no full restaurant. Breakfast is served in the lounge each morning and is made in the house: eggs, Icelandic salmon, granola, yoghurt and a freshly made smoothie, with coffee and a choice of teas.
In the evening the lounge becomes the bar. It serves Icelandic beer and cocktails mixed by the bartender, and warm drinks in winter. In one corner is a small library with Nordic folk tales and stories of the sea; you can swap a book you have finished for one on the shelf if you ask the staff.
For dinner you walk. Stykkishólmur has several good restaurants within a few minutes of the hotel, including Narfeyrarstofa across the street and Sjávarpakkhúsið by the harbour, both known for local seafood. Book a table in summer.
You can see Stykkishólmur itself on foot, and the rest of the peninsula is an easy drive. These are the things to do in the area that we recommend to guests.
The hotel spells its name Hótel Egilsen, after the house Egilsenshús. You will also see it written Hotel Egilssen. It is the same place.
At Aðalgata 2 in the old town of Stykkishólmur, a few steps from the harbour, on the north coast of the Snæfellsnes peninsula in West Iceland.
About 173 km, a drive of roughly 2 hours 50 minutes.
Breakfast is served in the lounge every morning. It is normally an optional extra and not part of the room rate, so we confirm what your rate covers when we book for you.
There is free parking on the street by the hotel. Stykkishólmur is a small town and finding a space is rarely a problem.
No. It serves breakfast and has a bar in the lounge. Several restaurants are within a few minutes' walk.
It works for a couple with a baby or one small child, as a cot or extra mattress can be added in the superior rooms. Larger families will be more comfortable in a hotel with family rooms.
About 50 minutes by car, heading west on Road 54 to Grundarfjörður.
