The details of the 101 Hotel are great. The rooms are sizable if not huge. The food and bar are modern and interesting but still comfortable. But it is the location that really makes it perfect for a nice long weekend.

This hotel has everything you would need - including great people watching in the lobby on the weekends during the evenings. THe front desk staff are helpful and the rooms are big enough. We did not find it to be noisy the way that other reviews did. You can walk everywhere in Reykjavik from the Hotel, including the perfect cafe for breakfast across the street, The Grey Cat. We would stay there again. Our room looked out at Harpa - very beautiful at night.

We spent 28-31 December 2011 here and doubt we could have made a better choice. As first-time visitors to Reykjavik (and Iceland), the central location (central to the old town, that is) of the hotel made it unnecessary to have any transportation of our own. Everything we wanted to see downtown was within walking distance. The Gray Line tours terminal was about a block away, too, and brought us all over.

Our room (505) was a bit small and sparse by American standards, but was very clean, tastefully decorated, well laid-out, and comfortable. We didn't spend a great deal of time in the room, other than sleeping and relaxing a bit, and the room was terrific for those purposes. If you're planning to spend most of your time in the room, though, this might not be the best place to stay. Also, our room wouldn't have been particularly amenable for many or rowdy children.

The bed was very comfortable (pretty firm, but didn't bother my wife, who generally prefers very soft, fluffy mattresses). A few more accessible electrical outlets would have been convenient, but they're there if you look for them. Also, drawer-type storage space is kind of limited, so don't bring too much.

The restaurant at the hotel doesn't look like much, but was surprisingly good. Lunch was average, but breakfast was very nice - fruit, yogurt and fixings, breads and rolls, juices, excellent coffee, and the best scrambled eggs I've ever eaten (I'm not a big scrambled egg fan, but these were really good).

One of the unexpected highlights of our trip was New Year's Eve dinner at the hotel restaurant, which we booked upon arrival. Throughout our trip, we sought out restaurants for a 'better' (than "hotel food") dinner. We were very fortunate that we didn't find an alternative that seemed better. The dinner was a seafood-oriented five course dinner that was one of the better meals I've eaten. What's more, we requested a vegetarian alternative to the meal only about two hours before the pre-planned, fixed menu dinner. Despite how unfair a thing that is to do to a kitchen, they came through with a really excellent five-course vegetarian meal. Coupled with a nice bottle of champagne (the only thing at the hotel that seemed a little pricey to me), it was a truly excellent meal. My compliments to the chef!

One sort of 'intangible' benefit that this hotel has, relative to many other hotels at which we've stayed, is its patient and knowledgeable staff. We asked many odd and specific questions to the desk personnel, the waiters, the bartender, and folks we found walking around. On the rare occasions when the person we asked was stumped, they scrambled to find out the answer and report back. That's an enormous help to travelers.

New Year's Eve in Reykjavik is pretty awesome, too. The whole town is very festive, and fireworks are launched almost constantly from about 8 p.m. until about 3 a.m. Around midnight, of course, they're the most concentrated, and the cathedral (ca. 3/8 mile up the road from the hotel) is a great place to watch them.

101 Hotel was located in a beautiful part of a beautiful town. It was an important part of why we enjoyed our visit so much.

I spent three nights with friends in this hotel during the New Year, and I was very pleased with the place. The room (double) was spacious, and very nicely designed. Minimalist yet not too cold. The bar area beside the lobby was really beautiful and lively, it seemed like a lot of locals popped into the bar also. The small restaurant beside the bar did not look that inviting, so I would not stay in the hotel for dinner, plus the city seem to have lots of really good restaurants. The breakfast was served in the restaurant, and it was very good.
We did not try the gym downstairs, but we did try the spa. The spa is a tiny steam sauna and jacuzzi, nothing fancy, but nice and clean. And finally: The service in the lobby was very attentive.
All of all, very nice experience, I would stay there again. And hopefully will, since I truly loved Reykjavik.