Iceland review - 2007, Qupperneq 83

ICELAND REVIEW 89
For its unparalleled elegance and sophistication, Hotel Holt is truly the aristocrat of
Icelandic hotels. The refined style found throughout the hotel’s rooms and common
areas is given weight and class by fastidious attention to detail that is the result of
a long history of striving for perfection in every way possible.
A
visit to Holt is so much more than a first­class room, or a gourmet meal – it is
an intimate and cultured experience that truly makes all guests at home in the
highest luxury that Iceland has to offer. The 40 rooms and 12 suites share the
classical elegance of aged wood and leather furnishings, creating an auth­
entic lived­in feel while providing the modern services of wireless Internet and televisions.
The suites take advantage of Holt’s position on the hill to highlight views of the pond
and city center.
Inside, guests are treated to the largest private collection of art in Iceland, featuring
over 400 original pieces by Icelandic masters such as Kjarval and Eiríkur Smith, which
goes far beyond being an art gallery. Indeed, it is an art museum in its most approach­
able form, where drawings, paintings, carvings and tapestries seem to adorn every
section of wall space in the entire hotel, without looking cluttered in the process. It is not
uncommon to find ten original prints within a single room, and hallways and end tables
display unique items around every corner.
It is hard to tell where the art stops and the hotel begins, as all of Holt’s unique features
are woven seamlessly together to create a staggering feast for all five senses. The
appropriately named Gallery Restaurant interprets Holt’s stunning art collection in a
gourmet menu under the masterful direction of Fridgeir Eiríksson. This award­winning
chef de cuisine combines Icelandic ingredients with French culinary traditions to create
dishes that are at once unprecedented and timeless.
Holt’s unparalleled collection of single malt Scotch whisky, Cognac, and Armagnac,
kept behind glass in the three lounge areas on the ground floor, afford the perfect after­
dinner experience in a refined setting that is the hotel’s trademark. Also on display is a
small selection of the house’s epic collection of wines, which, with over 4,000 bottles
in the hotel’s underground cellars, constitutes Iceland’s most extensive wine list by far.
There is truly no equal to Hotel Holt’s refined class, which welcomes all visitors into an
exclusive society that goes as deeply as the hotel’s over 40 years allow. At Holt nothing
is done halfway, and its sophisticated tastes define every aspect of the establishment.
A visit to Holt is like a trip to the top of the social ladder, from which you will never want
to come down.
Hotel Holt
i r p r o m o t i o n