360 Hotel & Spa

The concept is a simple one, and is all the more powerful for it: 360° Boutique Hotel is named for the panoramic view made possible by its hilltop setting and its wraparound glass-walled construction. From here, fifteen minutes past the town of Selfoss, the view takes in mile after mile of wild southern Icelandic countryside, from forests and fields to distant waterways, mountains, and even, when the atmosphere cooperates, the Northern Lights.

This is a proper design hotel, and a fairly luxurious one at that, combining stylish modern furniture and a sort of plush-meets-industrial vibe with floor-to-ceiling windows. The most lavish comfort has to be the spa, with its thermal baths, fed by a mineral-rich spring a thousand feet below ground, as well as a cold-water pool and a sauna.

360°’s restaurant serves a daily three-course set menu for dinner, adapting Icelandic traditions to a modern palate; the ingredients are locally sourced, which makes for memorable flavors. You’ll want to have lunch out and about — the hotel’s location places any number of Iceland’s natural attractions close at hand, from waterfalls and glaciers to geysers, hot springs, and even the Eyjafjallajökull volcano.