A Review of The Silica Hotel Iceland Blue Lagoon

The Silica Hotel at the Blue Lagoon outside of Reykjavik was an outstanding experience. If you’re looking for a Blue Lagoon hotel, this one is pretty awesome. Here’s an honest review of The Silica Hotel Iceland. 

When I traveled to the Blue Lagoon, I was surprised to find that there was only one hotel there, the Silica Hotel. This hotel isn’t budget-friendly, but we decided to book a stay there. Since visiting, they’ve also built the Retreat Hotel which looks very similar in its Icelandic design and environmental emphasis.

I loved this hotel for many reasons. For one, the design is striking. It’s definitely one of the top properties I’ve stayed at, but also because I value architecture & landscape design.

Another reason why staying at the Blue Lagoon and at the Silica Hotel is extraordinary is that you can bypass the touristy aspects of the Blue Lagoon because this hotel has its own private lagoon. You get the option to stay in your own lagoon or to walk down the street to the Blue Lagoon. I recommend doing both!

Typically, when you visit the Blue Lagoon, you just visit for the day like a water park. There’s a massive parking lot and plenty of space for tour buses to shuffle you to and from the park. You get a whole different experience staying at the Blue Lagoon than visiting.

The Silica Hotel Architecture

When I checked into the Silica Hotel, my mouth dropped. This is definitely one of those places you’ll never forget no matter how much you travel. It’s one of those places where I can’t wait to travel back to.

The Silica Hotel is built in the middle of the lava fields and the design is so minimal that it doesn’t disturb the landscape, but it compliments it in a beautiful and otherworldly way. You can’t help but feel like you are on another planet when you look outside your bedroom window onto a sea of jagged lava rocks.

In terms of surrealness and novelty, I give the Silica Hotel a perfect ten. You literally can’t take a bad picture of this place, nor do the photos do it justice.

Here’s an interesting article about the architects who designed the hotel, Basalt Architects. And the photographs are even more jawdropping and help do this property justice.

Blue Lagoon Passes Included

After falling in love with their private lagoon, we honestly didn’t see any reason to go to the Blue Lagoon, other than to check it out. But, when you stay at the Silica Hotel, you are given a day’s worth of complimentary passes to the Blue Lagoon which is just a 10-minute walk through the lava fields. So, of course, you have to go check it out. This hotel is a part of the Blue Lagoon property.

As much as I thought I would hate the Blue Lagoon because I hate crowds, that didn’t happen. It was very well worth the visit. This Silica Hotel review wouldn’t have been quite the same if we stayed at the hotel the entire time. I very much enjoyed the Blue Lagoon. Despite the crowds, the Lagoon itself is quite large and the water has an interesting composition of pockets of warmth and cool.

You move from warm spot to cool spot, then back to warm again. So rather than a typical hot spring where you end up overheated and end up hopping out in twenty-minutes, your body temperature is more regulated here. For this reason, I was able to stay in the Lagoon for about eight hours.

Viewing the Northern Lights From the Blue Lagoon

I went in May and unfortunately, the Northern Lights were not visible at the time. But, I can think of no better way to view the northern lights than from the warmth and comfort of your own private lagoon in the middle of the lava fields. Now that is a bucket list item worth noting. Iceland is an ideal place to view the Northern Lights in the winter because there’s a very limited amount of daylight and light pollution. The lights are notoriously hard to predict, which is why I recommend not planning a trip around seeing the lights. If you do that, you’ll just end up disappointed if they don’t show up.

Read my article, Where to View the Northern Lights in Iceland.

Complaints About the Silica Hotel

My only real complaint about staying here is the limited food options. There is NO restaurant in the hotel, and there was just one restaurant inside the Blue Lagoon. This restaurant was very good and in a beautiful location, but it was also a little expensive. It’s not exactly practical to eat here for every meal if you’re conscious of a budget.

They offer in the lobby a variety of limited snacks. I think I ate about 3 cheese plates while there. There weren’t any noted gluten-free options, but most of the foods were fruits and things like that.

My recommendation is to rent a car and then go out to town. Definitely try the restaurant at least for one night though because the food is fantastic.

More Photos of the Silica Hotel & Blue Lagoon

Tips For Booking The Silica Hotel Blue Lagoon

The only real tip I can give you is that this place books up fast. So, if you think you might want to stay here, book in advance. Of course, you can always get lucky with an off-peak time or season, but I recommend booking here in advance.  I hope you found this Silica Hotel review useful and inspiring. This is one place I would actually go back to again.