Sel Hotel Myvatn Iceland – Honest Review

We stayed at the Sel Hotel Myvatn Iceland for one night during our Iceland Ring Road trip. In this post, I’ll tell you everything you wanted to know about staying at the Sel Hotel in Northern Iceland to help you decide if this is somewhere you’d like to stay on your Iceland road trip.

Like all of our Iceland hotels, we booked through Booking.com and had no issues.

Table of Contents

• Sel Hotel – Location
• Sel Hotel Myvatn Iceland – Check In
• Rooms at the Sel Hotel
• Restaurant at the Sel Hotel
• Amenities at the Sel Hotel
• Things to do around the Sel Hotel
• Final Thoughts – Sel Hotel in Myvatn Iceland
• Want more Iceland Hotel Reviews?
• More About Iceland

Sel Hotel – Location

This hotel is located in the Myvatn area of Iceland, and it’s kind of out in the middle of nowhere. I guess I didn’t know what to expect – I thought there would be most ‘stuff’ around but this whole area was really deserted. No restaurants, shops, or really anything in the area except hotels.

Across the street from the hotel is a popular stop on the tour bus route. You can go for a short hike to see Lake Myvatn and to see the Pseudo Craters. Before we checked into the hotel, we stopped off over there too, to check it out, but we thought everything was pretty underwhelming. The pseudo craters really seemed to be something that’s better seen from the air.

Sel Hotel Myvatn Iceland – Check In

Check in was super quick and easy but my first impressions of this hotel were a bit iffy. The common areas look quite dated – it looks like it hasn’t been updated since the 80s, with the color of the carpeting and fixtures in the common areas.

And speaking of ’80s, we were given an actual KEY for our hotel room, not a card. You don’t come across that too often!

Rooms at the Sel Hotel

While the common areas are a bit dated to say the least, the rooms are pretty nice. Everything was clean and modern. By Iceland standards, the room was one of the largest we had on our trip. We were on the third floor and had a great view of the Pseudo Craters – I was able to get a decent shot that I wouldn’t otherwise have been able to take.

Some people get frustrated with Iceland hotels and the lack of air conditioning – or just the overall fact that the rooms seem run really warm in general. We didn’t experience that AT ALL during our trip — and we were prepare with a small USB-powered fan. And we are picky – we love to sleep in cool rooms.

Restaurant at the Sel Hotel

We were hungry for breadsticks for some reason and the ones served in the restaurant looked great, so we got an order of breadsticks from the restaurant delivered to the room. They were really good — and reasonably priced. Otherwise, we didn’t eat in the restaurant for dinner.

The hotel also has a bar, with an espresso machine that’s free for guests to use!

This is a popular hotel with tour groups stopping to eat at the restaurant – just be aware that the restaurant can get very busy!

We did have breakfast included with our rate (which I highly recommend doing when traveling in Iceland as it’s so convenient). The breakfast was pretty good, with a large spread of items, both hot and cold.

Amenities at the Sel Hotel

There’s not much for amenities here, but there are two hot tubs and a wood sauna you can use. It’s located in the back of the hotel on a deck, and you’ll have to remove the cover for the hot tubs. It was way too cold to be out there IMO, but we did see some people using it.

Things to do around the Sel Hotel

We stayed at the Sel Hotel Myvatn Iceland when exploring the Myvatn area. Our previous night, we stayed at the K16 Apartments in Akureryi.

Here are places you could visit when staying at this hotel:

Krafla Shower: Read more here: All About the Mysterious Krafla Geothermal Shower in Northern Iceland
Godafoss: Read in more depth here: Guide to Visiting Godafoss Waterfall – Iceland
Whale Watching Tour in Hofn
Game of Thrones Cave
Viti Crater
Hverfjall Volcano
Myvatn Nature Baths
Hverir Geothermal Area

Final Thoughts – Sel Hotel in Myvatn Iceland

I liked my stay at the Sel Hotel Myvatn Iceland! While this wasn’t my favorite hotel I stayed at during my trip, it was a decent stay and I’d recommend it. If I came back to the area, I’d probably try a different place, but this was a good stay — I got a good night’s sleep, the room was huge, the breakfast selection was excellent, and I could take a cool photo of the pseudo craters that I wouldn’t otherwise be able to get. If you’re interested in booking this hotel, here is the official link.