Iceland’s pockmarked landscape chronicles an epic, ongoing struggle between fire, water, and earth, steamy exhales from the deepest depths of the earth surfacing at every corner, sinews of lava intermittently spilling forth, and ragged volcanic rocks. Iceland’s violent contrasts along its most mythological and primordial south western Reykjanes Peninsula make for a unique backdrop for the nation’s only 5-star resort, The Retreat at Blue Lagoon Iceland, a serene oasis hidden in plain sight within Iceland’s most popular destination.

 

 

The first thing you may notice upon entering The Retreat at Blue Lagoon, after the first promising glimpse of those turquoise waters, is the remarkably mute atmosphere that emanates into every corner of the property. The silence is strikingly noticeable in contrast to the ebullient crowds swarming only a building away at the public end of the geothermal pools of the Blue Lagoon, a section cordoned off from this 62-room resort using a gentle combination of architecture and landscape. The hush welcome bodes well for anyone seeking an escape into an entirely different state of mind and body.