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Angeweener
Sidbury, United Kingdom

A magical Stay!

Review of Torfhus Retreat
5.0 of 5 bubblesReviewed 31 Mar 2024
My husband and I had the best couple of days at this beautiful retreat! The bedroom and bathroom were perfect and a particular mention to Doddi for his amazing service! Also, to the chef the food was outstanding. We ate at the restaurant both nights and it was exceptional we absolutely loved it all. We had the wine pairing both nights and it was really excellent! Thank you all for a wonderful stay in a beautiful and special place. PS We said yes to the wake up call and saw the Northern lights ...fabulous experience!
Date of stay: March 2024
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
5.0 of 5 bubblesValue
5.0 of 5 bubblesRooms
5.0 of 5 bubblesLocation
5.0 of 5 bubblesCleanliness
5.0 of 5 bubblesService
5.0 of 5 bubblesSleep Quality
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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8 - 13 of 78 reviews
Reviewed 24 January 2024

The rooms are comfortable. The outdoor hot tub was convenient to the room and beautifully done. The staff were all very friendly and helpful. We had dinner at Torfus the two nights we were there. The food and service were outstanding. Some of the best cuisine we have had anywhere. It is very conveniently located in the Golden Circle. We'd highly recommend a stay at Torfus when you are visiting Iceland.

Date of stay: January 2024
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Thank jnj182
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 12 January 2024 via mobile

What an incredible place. Our cottage was warm, with two bedrooms, a fantastic shower-room, living kitchen lounge and the most amazing geothermal tub from which to witness the night skies. Transport is provided to take you to the club house where the chef prepares exquisite local fresh food that both my wife, teenage kids and I enjoyed immensely. All washed down with paired wines and spirits. If you’re lucky you’ll see the northern lights as well. The retreat could not be more accommodating and attentive. Situated 90 minutes from Reykjavík and v close to the Golden Circle sights meant that we got to experience the strokkur geyser on our own. Totally blown away by the friendliness of the locals and the sheer beauty of the harsh landscape in the winter. Just go, you won’t regret it❤️

Room tip: July/August are the busiest months. Take plenty of warm layers if you go in winter
Date of stay: January 2024
Trip type: Travelled with family
Thank 427richarda
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 12 January 2024

I’ll start by saying it is a beautiful property and the first place we saw Northern Lights, so it is very special in those ways. Unfortunately our experience was lackluster other than that. We travel quite a bit to luxury 5-star, $1000+/night resorts so we are comfortable with that price point, but expect a certain level of amenities and service that we didn’t find here. Everything just felt a bit chaotic and subpar. Here are a few examples:

Two people had to consult with each other on how to let us in the front gate and check us in, which lacked polish from the start. Regardless of the cost of the hotel, my confidence is low when your confidence is low. I think we were arrived early (although I’m not sure because not one communication stated check in time), but we were overly communicative that we may be arriving at 1pm due to weather but we were happy to wait in a lounge if needed. We were pleasantly surprised with 1pm access to our room, but the whole entry was as if they were confused by our presence.

Furthermore, rather standard items were missing from the rooms like hair conditioner, body lotion and bath slippers.

We decided to spend 48 hours on property to relax and enjoy the scenery, especially in the highly promoted hot tubs, after finding ourselves with two open days when The Retreat Hotel at Blue Lagoon cancelled our reservation due to the volcano. Considering the sun is only up for 4 hours per day this time of year, our timeframe to enjoy the outdoors was limited. We went to our hot tub around 12:15pm on our only full day there and it was cold. Long story short, we called multiple times for it to be heated and were told “30 minutes” every time for over two hours. Since this was how we planned on enjoying the sunny hours of our day, to spend half of it waiting around and feeling like a nuisance calling to ask for it to be functioning was frustrating.

Maybe the most disappointing part though was the dining. It’s a 3-course meal that no one explained to us, but through TripAdvisor we had learned was prix fixe and about $100 per person plus the cost of wine. It’s bizarre that no one at the hotel explains that, but we were researched enough that we declined dinner the first night because we have very specific dietary restrictions and we thought it only fair to give them 24 hours to accommodate them. Attached is a photo of the communication. After being assured there were no issues, we sat down to dinner to be told we’d both be having fish and venison (if you see the photos attached, you’ll see that was almost comical). When I kindly referenced our requests, the waitress got very defensive and started arguing that: 1) they don’t serve chicken; 2) we didn’t give them enough notice; 3) they can’t get beef in that area, etc. Finally they served my husband fried chicken gyoza as an entree (although one wonders where the chicken came from since they don’t serve chicken?). It was fine, but our dinner bill for 3 courses with wine was $500 USD to have fried gyoza that he could have gotten most anywhere for $10 or less. We each had 5 glasses of wine so I can only surmise they were $30 per glass, but I don't really know because all we saw was a total at the end. My meal was very good, but not out of the ordinary (asparagus soup, artic char and a brownie) and we enjoyed the wine, but please don’t charge fine dining prices if you can’t operate like a fine dining restaurant and accommodate requests given more than 24 hours in advance, especially when no other dining options are available on property. It’s a captive audience and apparently their way or nothing. The sommelier (I apologize, I forget the gentleman’s name) was really lovely and one of the service highlights.

If you stay here, I recommend nearby Vinstofa, Mika or Fridheimar for dinner instead.

Check out was equally lacking in service. The conversation was me smiling and saying that I was there to check out, her coldly stating that our $500 dinner was our only outstanding total then processing my card. No “how was everything?”, “did you enjoy your stay?”, “thank you” or even “have a good day”. It was almost bizarre how little personality existed with the majority of the staff.

Outside of the sommelier and seeing the northern lights, I would caution to manage your expectations staying here. We had been debating between going there or going south to Hótel Rangá and wound up regretting our choice overall.

Date of stay: January 2024
  • Trip type: Travelled as a couple
    • Value
    • Location
    • Service
Thank 319christinas
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 7 January 2024

Loved the landscape, the setting of the lovely cottages, the warmth of Torfhus and especially the fine dining in such a remote location. Don t expect luxuries inside the cottages, they are quite basic, clean and comfortable with a full kitchen. The cottage for 4 is quite small , only 60 square meters in total, no place for bags, but it feels cozy inside, with beautiful soft lanterns, we liked the TV screen digital fireplace , the geotermal pool and the views from the window. Pay attention to the northern lights because they don t call you to see it , even though we asked. I assume they were not aware. But keep checking on cloud clear nights. If you have doubts, just point your camera to the lights and if you see green , they are northern lights. Soon if you are lucky they will completely develop and you will see them green or red also without the camera. Try to go out far from lighted places to enjoy them the most. We were lucky to see a beautiful one on the last night.
The restaurant compensates with excellent dinners every night, breakfast is not as good, very basic and all self service. The hot food was dry, we didn't like it. But the bread is always fresh and homemade. Roberto has been really attentive and caring and also the restaurant chef was really nice. Being able to enjoy excellent food in such remote location in the middle of a frozen winter was a highlight we are grateful for.

Room tip: in winter bring spikes for your shoes the paths are all ice
Date of stay: January 2024
  • Trip type: Travelled with family
    • Value
    • Location
    • Service
Thank Carla C
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 29 December 2023 via mobile

This gem is in a spectacular location. Any direction is a breathtaking view. The cabins are lovely, well appointed and the outdoor basalt hot tubs are a treat. And the three course tasting menu dinners are amazing. Icelandic lamb and venison were delicious. Great wine pairings too. Highly recommend

Date of stay: December 2023
Trip type: Travelled with family
Thank jonadoc
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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