I left my heart at Hótel Búðir

We drove up to Snæfellsnes on Saturday for an árshátíð – EPI’s company very generously invited the staff plus spouses to spend the night at the lovely Hótel Búðir, complete with an amazing three-course dinner and breakfast the following day. A great time was had – after dinner of course everyone retired to the bar-slash-lounge and did what Nicelanders do on such occasions: drink and sing Icelandic songs, very loudly.

Hótel Búðir is situated next to the ocean and has a gorgeous beach of golden sand right next to it. The amazing Snæfellsnes glacier is visible to the west on a clear day. The hotel is actually in the middle of a lava field that stretches for miles all around it. It’s all new and modern, having been built just a few years ago after the old Hótel Búðir – a landmark for decades – burned down. I have both good and bad memories from the place – my mother worked for a summer at the old hotel and I spent a few very miserable days there as a child; then EPI and I returned several years ago and spent a magical weekend at the old hotel, that by then had been renovated in a trés romantic style.

I had never stayed at this new hotel before – I’d taken a boo inside when we were hiking on Snæfellsnes two years ago – and if truth be told was prepared for a bit of a snobbish reception. It’s rather pricey, and has had a fairly high-profile clientele in the past, including Cate Blanchett [one of my favourite actresses] with her family last summer. But! My fears were unfounded, and EPI practically had to pry me away from the place yesterday. In short, I found everything about it to be absolutely delightful. While completely up to standard in mod-cons [the only thing it might install is wireless Internet, although I didn’t miss it], it had an extremely relaxed country-hotel atmosphere and very friendly and professional staff. I couldn’t fault the service [a rarity for YT, heh] and the food oh my God. Saturday’s menu:

Appetizer:
Succulent scallops with cauliflower purée and miso-truffle.

Main course:
Rack of lamb done to perfection [medium rare] that melted in your mouth; red-onion fig jam; potato gratin; demi-glaze.

Dessert:
French chocolate cake with marinated fruit and whipped cream.

Not only was the food flawless [perfectly cooked, on warmed plates, etc.], the service itself was extremely professional and so incredibly relaxed and natural that you felt like you were having dinner at the house of a close friend who really enjoyed having you.

The breakfast the next morning was excellent also, particularly the whole-grain homemade bread with a hint of oats and cinnamon. After breakfast and check-out [sniff!] EPI and I decided to tour some of our favourite haunts in the area, most notably Arnarstapi, Hellnar and Djúpalónssandur/Dritvík. However, just as we drove into Arnarstapi we got hit with a torrent of sleet and decided not to get out of the car so as not to have to get back in all wet. Instead, we reasoned, we’d head to Hellnar and hopefully by then the snow shower would have blown over – which is exactly what happened.

After walking around there a bit and taking some photos of the amazing landscapes there [this stone archway, for instance, is as tall as a three-story building - perhaps more evident here] we proceeded to Djúpalónssandur, a long black sand beach with amazing pebbles that have virtually all been rounded into perfect spheres by the crashing of the waves and that make a glorious pearly sound when the tide goes out. We walked right up to the edge of the water, and I was so busy taking this picture that I failed to notice the size of the wave that came my way, until it was up around my ankles. I started to run backwards, but as the tide went back out it literally sucked the sand out from underneath my feet and I took an oh-so gracious backwards dive into the foam. Backwards, because the only thing that sprung to mind was keeping my camera out of the water – so I ended up on my back, soaking wet, with the hand holding my camera sticking up like a flag of victory. Whoo-hoo! Alas, it ended our afternoon of sightseeing, as my hiking boots filled with water and I had to wear my stilettos for the rest of the afternoon. [not really]

Anyway, at this time of year there is nobody out there and you feel like you’re miles from civilization [which you are]. By late afternoon we wanted some refreshment – coffee, pastry, even a bottle of water – but alas the closest store was probably a two-hour drive away. Which meant – aw shucks! – that our only option was to go back to Hótel Búðir for coffee. By the time we got there, however, the fish soup sounded more inviting, so that’s what we had and boy, it.was.to.die.for. More of those succulent scallops plus lobster in an amazingly piquant and creamy broth. So imagine my delight today when looking at the hotel website I found the recipe there. Yow-sa!!

Anyway, have I gushed enough? Are you convinced? I swear this is not an advertorial, although – Búðir people?? If you’re listening I’ll be happy to gush about your hotel a whole lot more in return for a few nights’ accommodation. In fact, I'm prepared to move in and be your resident blogger. Mokay? Just say the word.

OKAY OKAY, LET’S NOT PROSTITUTE OURSELVES, SHALL WE?
Ahem. The weather in the capital right now is stormy and it was partly cloudy today. Temps are 3°C [37F] but feel like –3°C according to Yahoo weather, which is turning out to be a most superexcellent resource, much better than old mbl.is which I have relied on so far. Sunrise was at 8.23 and sunset at 18.57.