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I can now say that I’ve stayed in the world’s hippest hostel — Kex Hostel in Reykjavik. I’ve spent hundreds of nights in hostels around the world, but none of them have looked as cool as this one.
Kex has SERIOUS STYLE — far more than any other hostel I’ve ever seen. Every square inch of this hostel is decorated — oh, and it’s got a gastropub, a boxing gym, a library, even a barbershop!
A hipster barbershop straight out of the 1940s! (I honestly don’t know if it’s just for decor, or if people actually get their hair cut here!)
Reykjavik is a small enough city that you can walk to most points of interests within 20 minutes, and Kex is pretty central — a two-minute walk from cafes and stores and an eight-minute walk from the epicenter of downtown Reykjavik. Any tour you book will be happy to pick you up outside.
For the first two nights, I was booked into a private double room: two twin beds with puffy pillows and big, fat comforters. The bathrooms were shared.
The next three nights were spent in a six-bed dorm, and while dorms aren’t segregated, mine happened to be all-female. The lockers are tall and skinny — not quite big enough for a backpack, but definitely big enough for my valuables (and I consider my tall leather boots valuables, even though I got them for $40 at Marshalls!).
Like everything else in Iceland, Kex is more expensive than hostels of similar quality in mainland Europe. Prices range from 3200-5100 ISK ($25-40) for dorm rooms to 20,100 ISK ($157.89) for a private double with bath.
One nice thing that Kex does is serve as a travel agency. They can tell you what tours are worth doing and make the bookings for you. And while that’s great, it’s not so great when the person at the front desk is chatting away to a new guest about different kinds of tours they could do and you’re silently seething, waiting in line to quickly replace your key card. I love that they share their knowledge; I do wish that they were more efficient about their front desk.
Kex is the best hostel I’ve ever seen, hands down, when it comes to style. But when I think of my favorite hostels of all time, I think of places that are open and friendly and foster a sense of community. Maybe it’s the Scandinavian attitude, but Kex just doesn’t have that. There aren’t happy hours or group dinners or board games to play, and I didn’t see people sitting around and striking up friendships.
Then again — you might not be looking for community on your trip to Iceland. If you’re simply looking for an excellent hostel in Reykjavik, you’ve found it at Kex.
After all, at what other hostel can you get roasted bone marrow for dinner?
This hostel is something to behold.
More on Iceland:
- My Actual Iceland Trip Cost: Detailed Budget Breakdown
- 35 Awesome Things to do in Reykjavík, Iceland
- Things to Know Before You Visit the Blue Lagoon, Iceland
- Why Iceland is Great for First-Time Solo Female Travelers
My Favorite Places in Iceland:
- How to Visit Kvernufoss, My Favorite Iceland Waterfall
- A Look Inside the Sky Lagoon, Iceland
- Sail Through the Sky with FlyOver Iceland
- Snorkeling Silfra: The Cold Neon Waters of Iceland
- How to Visit Studlagil Canyon, Iceland
- Visiting Stokksnes and Vestrahorn Mountain, Iceland
- Guide to the Gorgeous Tröllaskagi Peninsula, North Iceland
- Are the Vök Baths Iceland’s Best Geothermal Spa?
Many thanks to Kex Hostel for the complimentary stay. All opinions, as always, are my own.
This is fantastic. I am staying at Kex in July for 6 days, and your review has made me even more excited!
You’ll have a great time!
Hipster heaven? Now you’re speaking my language. It looks like an awesome place. And I’ve never had a view like that out my hostel window!
Wow, this place looks amazing, Kate! And thank you for answering my questions about it so quickly on Twitter. In the end we went with something else when we realized we would have to do two private rooms… which at over $300 a night is a little crazy for three people in a hostel. We are paying not too much more than that for a suite at a pretty swank hotel!
Please keep your Iceland posts coming… I AM SO EXCITED!
when i read the title, i thought you had found a hotel full of hipsters. made my skin crawl. :)) that bone marrow dish though. i think i just burst a vein just looking at it.
Super hip! Love the view from the room!!!
I think I want to go to Iceland only to visit that hostel! The best hostel I ever stayed at was in the Bolzano region of Italy – it was gorgeous and you could see the mountains from your bed!
YAY HIPSTERS! I stayed in a great hostel in Reykjavik which was really social. It was just called Reykjavik Backpackers Hostel or something, but I remember really liking it.
Kex is such a you place, Adam!
That place really is hipsterific. I wouldn’t know what to do first, get my comb over tightened up, or eat a bacon flavored cupcake!
HAHA! Love it, Jeremy.
Oh wow, this looks incredible! When I stayed in Reykjavik I was in the worst hostel in the world, made worse by the fact that we got locked inside our room with no way of contacting anyone.
So if I ever go back (which I’d like to), I’ll be sure to book in here!
That sounds AWFUL, Elle! Ever since the shipwreck, getting trapped somewhere has been a fear of mine…
This looks amazing – clean rooms, good food, fabulous atmosphere!! Glorious!
Swanky looking hotel, next time I’m flying through I’ll have to make it a stop for sure. You’ll have to try the Ace Hotels in the States. Not exactly Hostels but they are cheaper then normal places to rest your head and they ooze style.
I have heard of Ace Hotels. They look snazzy!
Hi Kate, thanks for sharing this amazing tip for Reykjavik. We are planning a trip to Iceland this July from Boston and will keep Kex in mind 🙂