The Konsulat Hotel once was a department store and is named after a German consul who wasn’t quite German
By Eileen Ogintz
I love a hotel that has a good backstory. Even better, if it is in a good central location when you are touring a new city.
We have just gotten off a two week Abercrombie & Kent Arctic Adventure Cruise and are spending a couple of days exploring Reykjavik Iceland, the northern most capital city of a sovereign state in the world.
[Photos by Andy Yemma unless otherwise noted]
We are ensconced in the very comfortable Reykjavik Konsulat Hotel, walking distance to the compact city’s major museums, restaurants, and shopping and best of all Baejarins Beztu. It’s the oldest hot dog stand in the city that has been in operation since 1937 and has served everyone from Bill Clinton to Kim Kardashian. At lunchtime, the line stretched down the block with locals as well as tourists. And the hot dogs were delicious!
The Konsulat is one of the Curio Collection by Hilton, a global portfolio of 160 individual hotels that tells a story through distinctive architecture and design. Each of these hotels creates its story through signature cocktails and curated amenities. New ones include the Shore House at the Del on Southern California beachfront that includes 75 seaside residences—plenty of space and access to the iconic Hotel del Coronado’s amenities. The Morrow DC (Washington DC) is larger, 203 rooms, a rooftop lounge with terrific city views, an outdoor terrace and a crane-inspired sculpture that is a nod to the site’s industrial roots, located on what was the century old Armature works. The Drayton Hotel Savannah(Georgie) includes a French restaurant inspired by the Low Country.
The Konsulat, dating back to the early 1900s was once a department store owned by Consul Thomsen’s family. Today it features original stone walls and artifacts as well as contemporary Icelandic design, a sauna and whirlpool. It is within easy walking distance to day tour bus stops and the amazing Harpa Concert Hall. Ditlev Thomsen, who died in 1935, was a third generation merchant and entrepreneur and a force in the town’s transformation into a modern city. He was the German Consul here from 1896-1915 (the recently unified Germany at the time regarded his ancestry as sufficient for the appointment).
He encouraged tourism in Iceland and managed day tours for tourists from the department store—as the concierge here does today. The hotel is in the oldest part of Reykjavik, the reconstruction completed in 2018. The elevator features what might have been goods at the department store while all around the hotel are historic photos and artifacts. Our room contains a large photo of those in an early horseless carriage.
We took a stroll up Laugavegur, one of the oldest shopping streets in Reykjavik where visitors can purchase distinctive hand knitted and merino wool sweaters, socks, hats, and gloves as well as all the outdoor gear you might need to explore the Arctic as we just did with Abercrombie & Kent.
There are plenty of places for coffee, sweet treats, local fish as well as Thai, Indian, Kabobs, even a Subway. Today we need to make time for one of Iceland’s famous “bragoarefur,” a blend of sweets and ice cream.
After spending two weeks in the little populated Arctic, we appreciate that the majority of people in Iceland live in the Reykjavik area. Only 370,000 people live in Iceland and about 63 percent—some 236,000–live here, many in the suburbs. This is the center of Iceland’s cultural, economy, and government
Fun fact: Dog lovers will be shocked to learn that pooches were banned for sixty years, starting in 1924. That was because there was an acute housing shortage in the growing city and many people were living in overcrowded apartments. Authorities thought banning dogs, who were considered ill-suited for city life, would make living here easier. At that time, dogs were considered working animals better suited for farms. The dog ban wasn’t lifted until 1984 and in those years, cats became the pet of choice. You still see many more cats in the city than dogs.
I love that there is a mix of museums, whether you favor art, history, literature and more as well as nature. Perhaps a 15 minute ride from Reykjavik harbor to see puffins on Aukurey and Engey Islands? (if you plan to take in the major sites, get a CityCard that gets you admission to many as well as free bus transportation in the city.
In case you are wondering, Reykjavik translates to “smoky bay” which made sense to the city’s first permanent settler Ingolfur Arnarson when he began to live here in 874. The abundance of geothermal hot water created wafts of steam that rose up from the ground and made the bay look smoky.
Time for a dip in one of the city’s more than a dozen geothermal pools!