The Ion Adventure Hotel may be Iceland's most sustainable hotel. It started out as a power plant dorm, and there’s still a large geothermal power plant close to the hotel - but not so close that we found it annoying. The hotel’s about an hour outside Reykjavik next to the Thingvellir National Park and is close to the largest lake in Iceland. Here’s a link to the park: [ Ссылка ]

The national park’s a UNESCO world heritage site - great for hiking or an excursion to the Silfra continental rift for a walk - or even snorkeling. The hotel can help you arrange all this. if you want to stay closer to the hotel - there are hiking trails right outside the front door. The hotel's in a pretty remote area - a great escape for seclusion and re-connecting with nature - but if you’re looking for cafes and restaurants this is probably not for you.

Booking link: [ Ссылка ]

When the hotel’s Icelandic owner bought the property she hired LA-based architecture studio Minarc, whose principals are also Icelanders. The brief was to transform a power plant dorm into a sustainable-luxury hotel - and they did that very well.

The architects deserve a lot of credit for their creative re-use of a boring building. Adapting - rather than demolishing - is sustainable in of itself - but they went further by improving the building’s energy efficiency during the renovation. The Ion’s won a bunch of sustainability awards, including a 2014 award for Europe’s best sustainable boutique hotel. You’ll find locally-sourced lava, reused wood, Icelandic wool and other natural materials used all over the hotel. Everything from the bed linen to the restaurant's food is organic and fair trade certified.

The pool area itself is so unique - it’s like a giant hot tub with great views to the lava fields and the mountains.

The Northern Lights bar’s a glass cage designed for views of the N Lights, with nice views even if the Northern Lights aren't visible.

The Silfra Restaurant - named after the Silfra fissure up the road serves what the hotel says is “New Nordic food.” The restaurant's interior has a minimalist scandi design - and gets fully booked - both because there’s not another restaurant around for miles and because the food’s excellent.

We hope you enjoy our Iceland vlog.

Here’s a link to a free PDF for this that goes along with this video: [ Ссылка ]

Here’s a link to the our Best Hotels in Reykjavik video we mentioned at the end of this video: [ Ссылка ]

Our ultimate hotel guide will take you inside the best resorts and hotels in Iceland. We visited 30 hotels and stayed at 8 to find the best; how can you make an honest recommendation if you don't try a hotel first. We'll share our candid and uncensored opinions so that you can see if this hotel is the right place for you.

The Swank Guide curates unusual, independent, and sustainable boutique hotel experiences. We’re a small team of 3.5 people – for now. Our founder Don is an American who’s lived about half his life overseas and has traveled to over 60 countries – always looking for that perfect hotel, and often being disappointed. Before starting Swank, Don worked as an entrepreneur in the clean energy space, and then sustainable housing – one of the reasons sustainability is in our DNA.

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