In truly boutique style, the Sandhotel on Reykjavik’s shopping hotspot Laugavegur pays touching homage to its past. Spread across three art deco townhouses, the ground floor spaces were once a dress shop, above which Nobel Prize-winning author Halldór Laxness was born; a bakery, which opened in 1920 and is still run by the same family; and a tailor’s with a ballet school upstairs, later home to a German Jewish family escaping Nazi rule. It is a humble history that shines through in thoughtful details: the shopping menu left in each room, where interior accents also take a sartorial nod, or bookshelves filled with tomes by the laureate. Chic, pared-back and with something of an art deco feel, its rooms are supremely comforting and comfortable.
Besides the bakery’s delicious fresh breads and cakes, a small restaurant serves relaxed menus that honour local ingredients. A unique bolthole, showcasing Nordic manners at their finest.
