Fosshotel Laugar, Akureyri

Apart from Laugar, our stay in Iceland was wonderful. The country is absolutely amazing and there are many things to see. When we drove up to Fosshotel Laugar we were greeted by the stench of rotting fish which seemed to cover the whole area. After two days, the smell either went away, or we got used to it and didn't notice it anymore. North Iceland has much to offer and many things to see. Fosshotel Laugar is far away from all of them. The rooms are very, very expensive even though they have no televisions, flyscreens or even toilets. If you're going mad from boredom in the evening, you can always entertain yourself by reading the adolescent and pornographic graffiti underneath your matress. The walls are paper thing, so if listening to your neigbors making love in this most unromantic of locations is your idea of entertainment, you won't be dissappointed. I think the staff was undermanned because they always seemed to be sweaty and running around in a frenzied yet unsuccesful attempt at making this place look more like a hotel less like a crackden. They did try to be friendly, but the overall effect was similar to being stuck in an airplane with engine failure plummeting towards the ground while a stewardess tells jokes to cheer you up. There is a heated pool in the cellar the hotel, but none of us dared to even dip a toe into the murky water which was full of paint-flakes, fluff and other unidentifiable things in it, save for one man from our group, who went for a swim. Later on the trip he developed a nasty ear-infection which he attributed to his brave venture into the murky underbelly of the hotel. The food was all right, but our experience was turned sour by a drunken and belligerent tourleader from another group. During our meal, we also saw our bus driver pinch a waitress.