Mar Guesthouse

I stayed here some years ago and remember a cozy place with a nice, helpful woman looking after it. I’m writing this review to support the owners and staff of Mar Guesthouse after seeing the news about volcanic activity in Iceland. I realized I’d stayed in this town, and especially this guesthouse, and hope everyone there is safe.

There’s a sofa area along with a hob and oven, so you can cook for yourself. The room is very spacious, with two single beds. It cost €274.40 for 2 nights. I’d recommend staying here if you want to be in Grindavik.

The staff were very friendly, and we never had to wait for one of the four shared shower bathrooms on our floor. The rooms are trendy and spacious, with high cathedral ceilings, and there’s a shared kitchen with refrigeration. Rates are extremely affordable too. Check-in is only staffed from 2pm to 6pm, though, and they need to post instructions for arriving later. Get the owner’s email when you book. You can connect to the WIFI and email them for the numeric code to the magnetically locked key box, then use that to get your key and enter the room.

This is a self-serve hotel, with no staff around except housekeeping in the morning. It’s fine if you just need somewhere to sleep and shower. There’s only one TV channel, and its programming ends at 12:30am. Rooms facing the parking lot look onto an industrial park. The regular shades do an okay job with July’s 20-22 hours of daylight, but they aren’t blackout shades. Just so you know, the bathrooms are semi-private, in individual shared areas.