to be very honest, not only that jokulsarlon was the peak of our trip, hali was as well.

it was the closest accommodation to jokulsarlon(13.8 km. away to the east), but they don't just make money out of the location. hali offered 3 kinds of accommodation; hotel, guesthouse and apartment. the service was wonderful. we booked a room with shared bathroom, but when we arrived, they said the just renovated that building and it still smelled of paint, so we were upgraded to an ensuite room in the hotel building. (that was quite impressive since later on, we stayed at some places which had a strong smell of newly painted wall)  the room was spacious and the facilities were just perfect. there were extra shared bathrooms and showers even though every room in that building were ensuite.

they also offered a northern light wake up call service, free of charge. but we weren't lucky enough to see any.

on our second stay (one week later), the hotel was probably fully booked. this time, they didn't upgraded us to an ensuite room, but they did ensure us that our room wouldn't smell of paint. and it didn't. though the building (this was the guesthouse part) was a but older and the facilities were as great. the room was also smaller. but of course, that's why it was cheaper.

kitchens in both building was well equipped with milk for coffee and various sorts of tea (more in the hotel building, there was even a instant coffee machine there) shared bathroom was new and convenience. they would also do your laundry for 1,000 isk a batch if you ask them to.

the best part of hali, however, was this:


breakfast!!!!!! i could write a page long on how tasty hali's breakfast was and how i deliberately eat breakfast from seven thirty to ten. the best of the best was the bread. 3-4 different kinds of warm, freshly-baked homemade bread were there for me, a bread lover, to indulge in the crispy crust and soft, warm inside. people at hali could bake perfect bread. other than that they had everything a buffet breakfast should have, including cake and homemade waffles.

writing this absolutely makes me miss the place so much. and i would definitely visit hali again.