Refurinn Reykjavik Guesthouse
Vesturbær guesthouse, 8.7 rated — family-run, five minutes from the Old Harbour, and the cheapest legitimate private room in 101 Reykjavik.
Refurinn (the Fox) is the Vesturbær guesthouse most backpackers discover once they've realised Reykjavik private rooms cost less per person than a good dorm. 8.7 from 1,124 reviews, run by the family who live next door, with a shared kitchen you can cook a proper dinner in and a location wedged between the Old Harbour whale boats and the Vesturbæjarlaug geothermal pool.
Refurinn sits on Ægisgata at the top of the Vesturbær side of 101 — a residential two-storey on a street of brightly painted corrugated-iron houses, the kind of Reykjavik block that locals live on and tourists walk past on the way to the Old Harbour. The owners live in the matching house next door and hand over the code to the entry door themselves; there is no 24-hour reception and the place is quieter for it.
The building has six private rooms (doubles, twins and triples) and no dorms — which is why it's technically a guesthouse, not a hostel, but the per-person price works out cheaper than a Reykjavik dorm for any group of two or more. Every room has a sink, most have ensuite or shared bathrooms on the same floor, all are compact-but-spotless with white linens and a wardrobe. The shared kitchen is the draw: full-size fridge, two-ring hob, oven, microwave, toaster, and the cutlery and pots to actually cook a lamb stew instead of reheating a Bónus ready-meal. The 9.2 cleanliness score holds up.
What you are not getting here is a social scene. There's no common room, no bar, no organised walk. Reviewers flag this and buy it anyway, because the trade is a proper night's sleep in 101 Reykjavik for €49 per person. The Old Harbour (five minutes on foot) has the city's best craft beer at Bryggjan Brugghús and Anthony Bourdain's lobster soup at Sægreifinn. Vesturbæjarlaug pool is eight minutes the other direction. Laugavegur and the Laugavegur bar-crawl are 10-12 minutes. For a family of four or a couple on a 5-day ring-road trip, Refurinn is the maths.
- 01Per-person price in a private room beats Reykjavik dorm rates for any group of two or more — the real backpacker maths nobody tells you about Iceland
- 02The shared kitchen is bigger than most Reykjavik hostel kitchens and actually has an oven — cook lamb or salmon from Bónus instead of eating €25 restaurant mains
- 03Five minutes to the Old Harbour and Bryggjan Brugghús craft beer tap-room — the closest budget stay to the city's best microbrewery pint
- 04Owners Magnea and Haukur are named in review after review — the 9.5 staff score is personal, not corporate
- 8.7 rating from 1,124 reviews — one of Reykjavik's highest-scoring guesthouses, with cleanliness at 9.2 and location at 9.1
- Family-run by owners who live next door — key handover by personal code, free tea/coffee/filtered water in the kitchen 24h
- Five-minute walk to the Old Harbour (whale-watching, puffin tours, Bryggjan Brugghús craft beer bar)
- Eight-minute walk to Vesturbæjarlaug — the locals' geothermal pool, €11 entry, far better than the tourist Blue Lagoon for actual Icelandic hot-tub culture
“It's really well located to get to everything yet quiet, it was super clean, the rooms were nice and had their own little sinks. Magnea was lovely — went above and beyond.”
“Amazing place with good location. The property was very clean and I had access to the kitchen. I would highly recommend it for a budget stay in central Reykjavik.”
“The house was in a very good location, very close to the city centre. It was very clean — the cleaning lady did the best work. The kitchen was well equipped.”
- Old Harbour (whale watching piers)450 m / 5 min walk
- Bryggjan Brugghús craft brewery600 m / 7 min walk
- Vesturbæjarlaug geothermal pool650 m / 8 min walk
- Hallgrímskirkja (iconic church)1.0 km / 13 min walk
- Bónus supermarket (Hallveigarstígur)600 m / 8 min walk
- Laugavegur main drag800 m / 10 min walk
