Hostel B47
The 4,645-review workhorse — €47 dorms, 3 min from Hallgrímskirkja, self check-in and free on-street parking in the middle of 101.
Hostel B47 is the 4,645-review workhorse of 101 Reykjavik — a converted residential building on Baronstigur, 3 min on foot from Hallgrímskirkja, with self check-in, free on-street parking, and €47 dorm beds that run €5-7 under KEX and Loft for a similar 101 location. 8.1 rating, clean, functional, staff-light — the smart-saver pick for a long Reykjavik stay.
Hostel B47 lives on Baronstigur, a quiet residential two-block side street that runs off Skólavörðustígur in the middle of 101 Reykjavik. The building is a converted early-20th-century residential house of the sort Skólavörðustígur used to be entirely made of before the cafes moved in — three floors, a small back garden, and a steel door with a code-lock that reception sends you by email the day of arrival. Reception itself operates 09:00-22:00 but the code works 24 hours, which matters because most Flybus arrivals land between 23:00 and 03:00 depending on the flight.
The dorms are 4, 6 and 8-bed rooms with curtained bunks, lockers, reading lights, and shared bathrooms on each floor. Facilities score is 8.1 (so not KEX-level design but solidly above average), cleanliness is 8.5, and staff helpfulness lands at 8.3 — reviewers frequently mention the cleaning team by name and the straightforwardness of the check-in process. The shared kitchen is smaller than Loft's or Dalur's, a galley kitchen with two hobs, a microwave and a small oven; fine for reheating Bónus dinners and basic cooking, less suited to cooking a lamb stew for 8 people.
What B47 is not is a scene hostel. There's no bar, no lounge that's bigger than a small sitting room, no organised activities. Reviewers buy the hostel for the location-to-price ratio: you are 3 minutes from Hallgrímskirkja, 5 minutes from Laugavegur, and you pay €47 instead of €50-54 for it. If you want to drink in a hostel bar, Loft or KEX are 7-8 min walk. If you want to walk to the church, the rainbow street, Kaffibrennslan for cinnamon buns and Braud & Co bakery for rye-bread sourdough, B47 is the right address.
- 014,645 reviews at 8.1 is an aggregate so large it stops being anecdotal — this is what a thousand backpackers agreed on
- 02Three-minute walk to Hallgrímskirkja and the rainbow street on Skólavörðustígur — closer than KEX, closer than Loft
- 03Free on-street parking in 101 — a proper unicorn in Reykjavik's central postcode, where hotels charge €25/day
- 04Self check-in that actually works — the code-lock door and emailed instructions beat most staffed 22:00 reception desks for late-flight arrivals
- 4,645 reviews at 8.1 — the second-most-reviewed hostel in our Reykjavik set, statistically robust data across 5+ years of backpackers
- Three-minute walk to Hallgrímskirkja and the Skólavörðustígur rainbow-painted street — closest 101 hostel to the iconic photo spots
- Free on-street parking on Baronstigur and adjacent blocks — rare in 101, saves €20-30/day that other central hostels charge
- Self check-in 24/7 via a code-lock entry — matches Nordic Hostel on late-night airport arrivals
“Great location, self check-in, very clear instructions. Walked to Hallgrímskirkja in 3 minutes for sunset photos.”
“Clean and cosy room, well-equipped kitchen, plenty well-cleaned toilets, easy self check-in, great location, free parking on the block.”
“Accommodation in the center, close to the iconic church. Everything fast and without problems. Self check-in worked on the first try.”
- Hallgrímskirkja (iconic church)280 m / 3 min walk
- Skólavörðustígur rainbow street150 m / 2 min walk
- Laugavegur main drag400 m / 5 min walk
- Braud & Co bakery300 m / 4 min walk
- Bónus supermarket (Laugavegur 24)450 m / 6 min walk
- Old Harbour1.0 km / 13 min walk
