HEY ICELAND

I don't write a lot of reviews, and am reluctant to award 5-stars because improvements can usually be made, but overall Hey Iceland excelled in helping us organise our 21 day tour plus assisted with car hire for the additional 5 days. We'd left our booking somewhat late in the season but Inga worked hard to help us to visit the places we wanted, and solved a few problems along the way. We knew the accommodation would be somewhat isolated at times, rather than in towns, so made our own plans for evening meals. A hearty breakfast was always included. The car provided was reliable and more than capable of the ring road and Westfjords. The route took us to all the attractions we wanted to see and Hey Iceland provided some excellent additional suggestions. The tablet was useful but not infallible so we saw some unusual places not commonly visited. It wasn't quite up to date so some roads had changed and new tunnels opened, but overall it was better to have it than not. And some instructions in its use would have been handy as we expanded our understanding of it each day for weeks. Overall we had a great holiday in no small part due to Hey Iceland, and we felt that it represented good value for money.

We used Hey Iceland to book our hotels and car first in 2020 with great email support but then when Covid hit, we rebooked for 2022.

First the positive - it was super easy. The car was great, the tablet in the car was great and almost everywhere we stayed was great. Low budget but clean and comfortable.

It CAN be a great solution but you have to be careful about what accommodations they offer you or really know the geography in advance.

The negative - we got ZERO (borderline unclear) support in advance. We booked our trip months ahead but there was largely silence for extended periods from Hey Iceland to answer questions. I repeatedly asked for ideas about what to do in each place and the suggestions offered usually involved things we had to pay for (which were far more expensive through Hey Iceland that direct booking) versus what to see. I specifically asked for hike ideas and the person helping me said "look on AllTrails."

Once we got to Iceland, we found the locations of our accommodations were often no where near the "town" listed for the location. One place supposedly near Egilssadir was actually 45 minutes out in the east fjords - totally out of the way, nowhere near what we wanted to see/do, no food nearby, and no food offered at the hotel. When we arrived, we found that our room's slanted ceilings meant we could not sit up in bed. The owners were warm and welcoming but the room was not.

Also - we specifically and repeatedly asked to change one accommodation to be closer to Myvatn (we were put in a hotel 45 minutes away in the wrong direction for two nights). The agent just would not budge. The place she chose required significant backtracking. Moreover, it was far closer places we had seen already than the places we needed to reach. Again - no food anywhere nearby and no dinner offered at that location (despite the website's description offering dinner).

We had to pay out of pocket to stay somewhere more convenient and we are still waiting for our refund for the night we did not want nor use.

One hotel they chose was completely out of character. Outside Vik we landed in a hotel geared toward large tour groups with a massive dining hall with long tables. It felt like a catering hall with zero personality The wait staff had no idea how to deal with individual travelers like us (and probably was a Covid super spreader).

Finally - support by chat or phone, offered on the tablet was nonexistent. No one is around on the weekends and no one responded to our issue about the Myvatn hotel mentioned above.

Again - this CAN be a great solution IF you know where things are located in advance but otherwise it's a bit of a crapshoot and buyer beware. You have to be VERY careful and do your research ahead of time.

We booked the “around iceland in 15 days”tour with car rental and accommodations. No bad surprise at all , everything was settled, in any detail, matching our requests, thank you Olof :)A great variety of guesthouses, from the more simple horses farm to a luxurious stay in Akureyri but every time with a very welcoming reception. The Pad was of great help as a gps, a weather forecast or a tourist guide (please forgive our lazyness in sharing places and observations we made during the trip, despite the interactive program). Checking with other guests who were traveling on their own we realized that the hey Iceland rates were very reasonable. We did not experiment the excursions.

Not too busy, waited for the bus to Reykjavik here. Nice place and not too crowed

We loved our trip to Iceland and Hey Iceland made it so simple. We just had to show up and go!