60 suites carved into an 800-year-old lava field on the Reykjanes Peninsula — the only Forbes Five-Star hotel in Iceland, with a private guests-only Blue Lagoon, the Moss restaurant, and 35 suites with their own outdoor lava-bathing platform.
"Carved into the lava itself. The water is the same silica-rich geothermal water as the public lagoon, but here you have a private one. Every suite has a window into the moss field. Iceland's only Forbes Five-Star, and the only hotel in the country worth the inflation."
The Retreat opened on 15 April 2018 as the long-awaited five-star expansion of the Blue Lagoon — Iceland's most-visited destination since the public bathing complex opened on the site in 1992 — by Icelandic architects Basalt Architects, the same practice that designed the public lagoon, the Silica Hotel (the property's mid-tier sister hotel) and the lagoon's spa buildings. The architectural conceit is total: the Retreat is built directly into the 800-year-old lava field that erupted from the Reykjanes-Þingvellir fissure system in the late 13th century, with the entire ground-floor structure cut into the lava and the lava itself preserved as the principal interior architectural surface — moss-covered walls, basalt-floor entrances, lava-cladded suite corridors. The property opened in October 2018 with 60 suites and Iceland's first Forbes Five-Star designation, awarded in the 2020 guide and held continuously since.
The 60 suites — including 25 standard Lagoon Suites, 27 Lagoon View Suites, 7 Moss Suites with private outdoor lava terraces, and the Retreat Suite at 200 square metres — all face the lava field through floor-to-ceiling windows, with the standard category at 70 square metres setting the floor at twice the size of any other Icelandic hotel category. Bathrooms are basalt and oak; all suites include the Blue Lagoon's signature silica-mud and algae products as standard. The Retreat Suite — the property's milestone unit — has a 70-square-metre private lagoon-fed pool, a private 600-square-metre garden cut into the lava, and a dedicated suite host throughout the stay.
The headline programme is the private guests-only Retreat Lagoon — accessible only from the hotel's lower-ground level via the Retreat Spa, fed by the same 38–40 °C geothermal water as the public Blue Lagoon but reserved entirely for hotel guests. Suite categories include access from 7 AM until 10 PM. The Retreat Spa runs the full Blue Lagoon Ritual — silica mud, algae, mineral salt — across an 8,000-square-metre subterranean spa carved into the lava, the largest hotel spa in Iceland. Moss is the headline restaurant under chef Aggi Sverrisson, who held a Michelin star at Texture in London — the kitchen runs an Icelandic tasting programme of seven and twelve courses with a 1,200-bottle cellar. The Spa Restaurant runs the all-day light-eating programme.
The Reykjanes Peninsula position is the principal trade-off. The hotel is 25 minutes by car from Keflavík International Airport (the convenience proposition for travellers using Iceland as a transatlantic stopover) and 50 minutes by car from central Reykjavík. The recent volcanic activity in the Sundhnúkur fissure system — eight eruptions between December 2023 and December 2024 — has briefly closed the property at times, though all eruptions have been to the north of the Retreat and the hotel has remained operationally safe; current monitoring is published on the Icelandic Met Office daily briefing. Visit programme is best framed around the Retreat itself rather than as a Reykjavík city base — the city is a half-day excursion from here, not a daily commute.
The Retreat is the unambiguous Iceland wellness booking — the private lagoon, the 8,000-square-metre subterranean spa, the silica-and-algae Blue Lagoon ritual programme — and the only Forbes Five-Star spa in the country. Book a Moss Suite for the private lava-bathing terrace, a Retreat Spa programme of three to five days, and the Moss restaurant tasting menu in the evenings.
For honeymoons combining the Northern Lights season (October–March) with the once-in-a-lifetime hotel proposition, the Retreat is the unambiguous Iceland answer. The Retreat Suite with the private lagoon-fed pool is the milestone unit; helicopter transfers to the Þórsmörk valley arranged through the concierge; private aurora forecast text-alerts from the staff at any hour.
A milestone-anniversary booking is the Retreat Suite with the private lagoon, dinner at Moss across two of the tasting menus, and a private lava-field hiking day with the Retreat's geological guide. The hotel handles these without ceremony.
Norðurljósavegur 11
240 Grindavík
Iceland
Keflavík International Airport 25 min by car; central Reykjavík 50 min by car; Reykjanes Geopark 5 min by car
60 suites — all 70+ m²
Lagoon Suite from €1,400/night
Lagoon View Suite from €1,800/night
Moss Suite from €2,800/night
Retreat Suite from €9,500/night
Check-in: 4:00 PM
Check-out: 11:00 AM
Opened 15 April 2018
Forbes Five-Star since 2020
Moss restaurant (chef Aggi Sverrisson)
Spa Restaurant — all-day light eating
Private guests-only Retreat Lagoon
8,000 m² subterranean Retreat Spa
Built into 13th-c Reykjanes lava field
Suites all 70+ m²
Beyond Green sustainable luxury member
From €1,400/night. The Retreat Suite books eight to twelve months ahead. Moss reservations recommended at booking. Daily volcanic-activity update published at front desk and via the Vedur Icelandic Met Office briefing.
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