Iceland house by the Ocean through Airbnb, a review
Even before we arrived in Kjósarhreppur, the base for our Iceland House by the Ocean, Jóna was helpful providing the coordinates to her home located North east of Reykjavik. If you’re using Google maps to find your way, I recommend skipping locating the village landmarks along the route and use the GPS coordinates to her house off Road 47, the Miðbuð 1-7 turnoff.
Jóna greeted us with a welcoming smile late in the afternoon as we arrived and guided us thru the do’s and don’ts of her Iceland House by the Ocean. These were easy instructions to follow and we found them helpful during our stay. Jóna is proactive in supporting recycling and we gladly segregated our packaging/waste products.
She also pointed to venues of interest and restaurants inside and outside Reykjavik worth exploring. Jóna was also kind to text us late Friday after receiving an alert to expect the Northern Lights. It’s hard to adequately explain the magic in watching this phenomenon take shape from her house; over the water, between the mountains, dancing between the clouds and stars and over the roof.
As design professionals, we appreciated the measured intimacies and intricate simplicity of the Iceland House by the Ocean design and the care that went into the siting of the building, the framed views, the open concept plan and selected furnishings for this artisan’s house. We had everything we needed to be comfortable for 8 days. The kitchen was well provisioned and had an excellent layout and orientation for easy conversation with others in the dining and/or living areas including the mezzanine room upstairs. Brilliant! I liked the fact that the TV was tucked away upstairs and out of the main living area and away from the visual experience of the house and the natural landscape. Also, upstairs there’s an elliptical step machine to work off the ice cream. The house has a closed fireplace, however Jóna preferred her guests not use it…noting a bad previous experience. This would have been a plus but it did not detract or distract from our unique and wonderful experience. The one (minor) item we found challenging at first was the single bathroom (inside) door swing, which made it difficult at times for two people to use the bathroom at the same time. An easy workaround though.
We found it harder each day to leave this place in the morning to explore the natural wonders of the island given the immediate magical setting. It’s well worth the experience to treat yourself to a good long daily ‘walkabout’ hike along the immediate coastline/road 47 from the house, particularly during dawn and dusk hours. Be careful with petting the horses, as the perimeter fences may be electrified. I got a surprising ‘zing’ from the wired fence while approaching one of the horses located inside a grazing field.