The Blue Lagoon has long been one of Iceland's most famous attractions. The five-star Retreat Hotel and Spa on site is the ultimate way to experience it and to remind yourself that everything is going to be ok.
There are good moments in life and there are great moments in life. An example of a good moment might be when you have that first beer on a Friday after work, or when you finally get around to defrosting the freezer, or when your cat falls asleep on your lap. A great moment might be the birth of your first child, or getting married, or sitting in a surreal landscape, enjoying a glass of whisky watching a volcano erupt while the Northern Lights dance overhead. I’ve done one of these things, and I’ve never been married and don’t have kids.
If you tell people that you are going, or have been, to Iceland, one of the first questions you get asked is did you go, or are you going, to the Blue Lagoon. The turquoise geothermal spa, a short 20-minute drive from Keflavík International Airport, has long been one of the country’s most visited attractions. Bask in the warm waters, let the silica restore your skin and absolve you of your sins. Buy a nice face-cream on the way out.
What people won’t ask you, because they have not tasted pure ecstasy and have not felt true inner peace, is have you visited The Retreat? I have tasted ecstasy and felt peace. You should too.
The hotel rises up out of the lagoon and landscape. ‘Nature was the guide,’ says lead architect Sigríður Sigþórsdóttir.
Ecstasy and peace comes wrapped in a grey concrete box in the middle of a lava field. There are no trees, there are few vistas, and only the occasional mountain. Steam rises from a nearby power plant, the industrial buildings and towers which suit a landscape that feels extra-terrestrial. Elon Musk wants to put people on Mars, which is stupid for many reasons. You need not bother getting in a starship built by Silicon Valley’s Willy Wonka: another world is right here, in Iceland.
In the middle of this jagged landscape, a world of endless blue slowly reveals itself, lightly masked by wisps of vapour rising towards the sky. On the edge of it all is The Retreat, a Modernist/Brutalist construction that somehow both imposes itself on the landscape and feels a part of it. You’ll only find it if you know it’s there, but once you know it’s there, it grabs your attention.
The blue waters surround it on all sides, the building seemingly growing out of this new earth, much like the volcanoes that surround it on the Reykjanes Peninsula. It is the only hotel I have been to that has an active volcanic steam vent (known as a fumarole) by reception. It is quite the entrance.
The interiors are the work of Sigurður Thorsteinsson, whose guide was ‘timeless sophistication’. ‘What does timeless sophistication mean? It means simple shapes. It means colours that are tone-to-tone. It means high quality in terms of the materials and the finishing. It means extreme attention to detail. But it should also convey a sense of warmth and a reassuring atmosphere.’
Inside, the property is a mix of that Brutalist feel with elegant luxury. Large windows and double-height spaces create a cavern of light, almost cathedral-like, in which to appreciate this lunar landscape. Someone thought it would be a good idea to create a five-star luxury hotel and make it seem like it was carved out of the earth. I think it was a pretty good idea, too.
But The Retreat is not just a hotel. It is also a spa and the two are interminably linked. That much is apparent almost immediately upon entry, where you will see other guests padding around in bathrobes, having just spent the day relaxing and floating around The Retreat Lagoon, the hotel’s private slice of silica-rich water. Once you’ve dropped off your bags in your room, that’s exactly where you should head.
Each guest receives their own changing room, in which to shower and change, and then it’s out into those blue waters to relax. The waterways almost remind me of a lazy river; you start off near the hotel and slowly move your way across the lagoon that winds through the lava fields, until you are almost totally alone, with no reference point to where you might be, apart from the rocks, the water and the steam. It is heaven. Every once in a while, a staff member might bob past, offering some silica to put on your face, which you can then wash off in the water. You will come out looking and feeling younger. It is magic.
The Ritual room. This is where the magic happens.
But there is more. Throughout the spa at The Retreat, there are saunas, there are rooms for quiet reflection, there are plunge pools, and a steam cave. But it’s all leading up to the grand finale — The Ritual. It is here that you will experience the trinity of what The Lagoon at the Retreat has to offer, a self-applied and guided treatment combining silica, algae and minerals.
Once that’s all done, and you really shouldn’t rush, it’s time to enjoy the hotel itself. Eat a nice lunch at the Spa Restaurant in your robe and relax after a hard day’s self care. Or head back to your room, and enjoy the astoundingly well designed spaces that you will spend the night in. Gaze out on the moss-covered lava fields from your balcony, or even from your bathtub. Stock up on more skincare that’s provided in your room, or enjoy the free minibar. Or just have a nap in the supremely comfortable bed.
The view from my room. Unearthly, but beautiful. Like a landscape being born before my eyes.
From there, dinner is served in either the cavernous Lava Restaurant, where you’ll find Icelandic culinary classics cooked to perfection, with a sumptuous view over the Blue Lagoon itself or, if you’re feeling adventurous, try the seven-course set menu at Moss, the in-house Michelin-starred restaurant helmed by Agnar ‘Aggi’ Sverrisson, with food focused around some of Iceland’s most prolific produce — lamb, rutabaga, Skyr yoghurt and Atlantic fish.
The food at Michelin-starred Moss showcases the best Icelandic ingredients. Perfect after a day of rejuvenation.
Then, it’s time to head to the library to relax, take in a board game, have a nightcap, read a book and unwind. And if you tell the staff that you would like to see the Northern Lights, they will make sure to keep an eye out for you (and even call you if you’re asleep).
After a day and a night at The Retreat, you will feel like you’ve been anywhere else other than planet earth. But the good news is that it’s a minimum two-night stay, meaning that the next morning, after breakfast, you get to do it all again. Lots of hotels promise to take you somewhere else, but The Retreat executes that idea with aplomb. You won’t have seen, and you won’t have been, anywhere like it.
À la carte breakfast, Blue Lagoon Skin Care amenities, in-room minibar with soft drinks, beer and wine, Wi-Fi, access to the fitness centre, daily morning yoga, guided group hikes, afternoon coffee and Icelandic pastries are all included, as is access to the Retreat Spa and Blue Lagoon Ritual, the Retreat Lagoon and the Blue Lagoon.
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