Hotel Viking doubles in size and reaches four-star status
Sunday 20th September 2026 on 22:30 in
Iceland
Hotel Viking in Hafnarfjörður has doubled in size and become a four-star hotel, Morgunblaðið reports. The expansion will bring the hotel to 108 rooms, while a new banquet hall in the basement can accommodate 200 guests.
The milestone will be celebrated around the beginning of next month by Jóhannes Viðar Bjarnason and his team at Fjörukráin, a Viking-themed venue, and Hotel Viking.
“This is a major addition. We can go to 110 to 120 rooms, and there is also the possibility of expanding further. We will complete this stage and see what happens next year,” Jóhannes told Morgunblaðið.
Jóhannes has operated the business since Fjörukráin was established in 1990. The venue has become known across Iceland for its Viking feasts.
“It is fun to add a little more to this Viking village,” Jóhannes said.
Construction on the hotel expansion took just over two years. Jóhannes said the work had gone well but taken longer than he expected, citing extensive paperwork and repeated delays. He said the project had been running at full speed for roughly the past year.
The expansion represents an investment of about three billion Icelandic krónur, according to Jóhannes.
The work has included more than the construction of new rooms. Jóhannes has also focused on improving the hotel’s surroundings, bringing 12 people from Thailand to create statues and other decorations.
“They are great artists who offered to make statues and who knows what else. They are not used to making Vikings, but they received good guidance. In the lobby, Thor, Odin, Freyja and Frigg welcome guests, for example,” he said.
The hotel has also been decorated with statues, Vikings and Viking ships intended to evoke the Viking Age.
Jóhannes said one problem arose during the construction. Part of a well-known rock formation behind the hotel had to be rebuilt after it partially collapsed.
“This is the famous rock formation that divides Hafnarfjörður into the northern and southern parts of the town. It is behind the hotel, and we had to rebuild part of it because the elves were not entirely happy with us. Some of the rock fell away, but now we have made a proper home for them again,” he said.