"Although Reykjavik is currently in the middle of a hotel boom, the Hotel Borg was the city’s first luxury hotel—and it’s still the most beloved. Jóhannes Jósefsson, a native Icelander who worked in the United States as a circus strongman, returned to his native country with dreams of building Iceland’s first four-star property. The elegant hotel, which opened in 1930, hews to a black, white, and silver palette, an Art Deco gem in the very center of the city. It’s still the hotel of choice for Iceland’s celebrities and elites, whom you’re likely to chat with over warm brown bread and strong coffee at the Borg’s guests-only breakfast. And because this is Scandinavia, don’t look for over-the-top glitz: here, the glamour is in the details, like the sleek silver door handles and the dainty chime the elevator makes instead of a beep." - James Taylor
