When you’ve got an early-morning flight out of Iceland, convenience suddenly becomes the most important thing. That was definitely the case for us.
We needed to return our camper van the day before flying out, which meant finding somewhere close to both the rental drop-off point and the airport – and Kef Guesthouse fit the bill.
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Location: Ideal for Early Flights
Kef Guesthouse sits on the outskirts of Keflavík, only a few minutes from both the airport and the camper-van depot. After two weeks of roaming Iceland, the simple act of dropping our bags at 3pm and knowing the airport was right there felt like a huge relief.
It’s not a scenic or central spot, but that’s not what most guests are here for. This is purely about practicality – and the location absolutely works.
It’s also a very short taxi ride from the airport, which makes life easy if you’re arriving in Reykjavik without a vehicle and staying here on arrival.
Checking In: Completely Automated
The property uses a self-check-in system.
On the day of arrival, you’ll receive a code that activates at your designated check-in time. Pop it into the keypad on your room door and you’re in.
Quick and painless when you’re wrangling luggage and thinking about tomorrow’s flight.
We arrived just after 3pm, after 10 days exploring Iceland, so we could drop our gear and take the camper van back to its depot without rushing.
There’s no physical key to hand back – the room is always accessed with the code, so “check-out” simply means leaving on time.
Rooms & Facilities: Simple, Clean and Functional
We booked a basic double room with a shared bathroom, which was exactly what we expected – clean, warm and enough space for an overnight sleep before an early departure.
A few handy things to know:
- Room types available:
- Double, twin or family rooms with shared bathrooms
- Family rooms with private bathrooms
- Bathrooms: Individual rooms, plus one fully accessible option
- Kitchen: A good shared kitchen is available for guests (very helpful since there are no restaurants on site)
- Tea, coffee and snacks: Available all day in the common area
- Accessibilty: All rooms are located on the ground floor, so there are no stairs to navigate.
Since we were heading home the next morning, we grabbed some supplies from the supermarket in Keflavík and cooked dinner in the guest kitchen. Easy.
There’s free on-site parking too (you’ll need to reserve a spot), which is handy if you’re dropping back a hire vehicle or still travelling with your own.
The Wi-Fi was great too – strong enough for uploading photos, checking in for our flights and catching up on messages.
Exploring Keflavík
After dropping off the camper van, we wandered back through town to stretch the legs. You can walk to restaurants in Keflavík if you prefer to eat out, but with weather coming and going, staying in suited us perfectly.
It does take about half an hour to walk right into the centre of Keflavík, but if you’re just after a supermarket, the nearest one is half that distance.
If you’ve got time to spare, you won’t be short of things to do in the Keflavík area. Try these:
- Viking World – museum with a full-size Viking ship replica.
- Icelandic Museum of Rock ’n’ Roll – small but fun, all about Iceland’s music scene.
- Giantess in the Cave – quirky giant troll figure by the harbour.
- Duus Museum & Art Centre – local history and art in old harbour buildings.
- Rainy Day Bookstore & Café – cosy spot for coffee, cake and a read.
Despite lots of early departures, we didn’t notice much noise overnight, and we both slept well.
Breakfast & Shuttle Options
Breakfast is optional and served from 5am–10am — great if you’re the kind of traveller who needs a coffee before facing airport security.
Breakfast prices:
- Adults (13+): 1750 ISK
- Children: 1200 ISK
(You’ll need to book it before 9pm the night before.)
Since we were leaving before sunrise, we made our own simple breakfast in the kitchen instead.
There’s also a shuttle service to the airport operating from 4am – 9am every 30 minutes.
Cost: 3500 ISK per room.
It must be pre-booked, and there’s no shuttle from the airport to the guesthouse, so keep that in mind.
We booked the 5am shuttle, and it worked exactly as advertised.
Price
For our September stay, a one-night room cost just under €200 (around $350 AUD) – steep for what is a very basic property, but completely standard for Iceland.
In any other country I’d call that poor value; in Iceland, it’s simply the norm.
Like anywhere, prices change depending on the season and demand. Check prices here for your dates.
Who This Guesthouse Suits
From what we saw – and judging by the shuttle crowds at 5am – Kef Guesthouse is primarily filled with travellers doing exactly what we did:
- Returning rental cars or camper vans the night before
- Catching early flights
- Wanting the simplest possible end to their Iceland adventure
If that’s you, it’s spot-on.
If you’re after views, amenities, dining options or a memorable stay…this isn’t the place. But if you need a clean, convenient, fuss-free sleep before heading to the airport, it absolutely does the job.
Kef Guesthouse isn’t fancy, and it isn’t trying to be.
It’s functional, well-located, easy to check into and perfect for early departures – exactly what we needed after ten days on the road.
Would I stay here for a holiday? No.
Would I stay here again before an early flight? Absolutely.
Looking for a guesthouse in Reykjavik instead? Read my review of Guesthouse Aurora here.
TRAVEL PLANNING ESSENTIALS
Find flights – I always use Skyscanner as my starting point when searching for flights. One search will give many options including airlines I may not have thought of. This means I can find the best possible flights to suit my needs
Book accommodation – my go to is always Booking.com for the best places to stay. It’s not just hotels anymore, but hostels, apartments, B&Bs and more. I love that the bookings are usually cancellable, and that I can book now and pay later.
Hire a rental car – RentalCars.com is my go to here. It allows me to do just one search and it finds cars from many of the different supplies, so no checking multiple websites to compare.
Get travel insurance – you would have heard by now that saying “if you can’t afford travel insurance, you can’t afford to travel”. If we’ve learnt anything from the last couple of years it should be how essential travel insurance is. I use CoverMore for my insurance.
Pick up an eSIM – I tried an eSIM on my last trip and it was fantastic. I set it up before I went so it was ready as soon as I landed, and I still had access to my home number for emergencies. Get your own eSIM at Airalo.
Book activities, tours & attractions – I use a few different websites for this. Viator and Get Your Guide tend to be the first places I look. In Asia, Klook often has more options, and in Australia it’s Experience Oz.
Manage your money – the best way to manage your different currencies is with an account from Wise. You can hold money in many different currencies, and use them with the ATM card or from your phone.
