The DNA: The boutique sized Reykjavik Konsulat Hotel – part of Hilton’s Curio Collection – is set in a handsome, wedge-shaped three-storey building that was constructed in the early 20th century as the city’s first high-end department store. It was built by Consul Thomsen, who has given the current hotel its name and who also inspired the interior, which – designed by Freyr Frostason with Pablo Gianfranesco at THG Architects – features an original wall from the department store (that runs throughout some of the rooms as well as the restaurant and bathhouse) plus colourful, mid-century furnishings, handsome libraries and light-filled rooms with black and white photographs of Thomsen and the city in that era.

✅ free Wi-Fi • size matters: 50 rooms & suites (23-55m2) (248-592 sq ft) • hotel opened: 2018 • architecture & interior design: THG Arkitektar • street parking (charged) • no pets allowed • 24-hour front desk • wheelchair accessible