ICENAVI · MÝVATN HOTEL FIT
Hotel Laxá gives the south shore a cleaner exit towards Húsavík; Sel Hotel Mývatn keeps the lake sights and northbound roads closer. Before comparing rooms, decide whether Mývatn is the main event or a stop on the way north.
ICENAVI HOTEL FIT · MÝVATN
The Better Hotel Depends on Which Miles You Want to Avoid
We only score the route factors that actually change the booking decision.
Close to the main lake sights, making it easy to split Hverir, Dimmuborgir, and the craters across different days.
Easier to get onto the main road when heading to Húsavík, Akureyri, or the east coast the next day.
Both hotels require you to check the day’s wind, snow, and daylight; location cannot replace a road check.
Start with Your First Sight and Next-Day Direction
Mývatn is not a single cluster of sights around one corner. The Námafjall geothermal area, Hverfjall crater, the road toward Dettifoss, and the lava fields around the lake are scattered across different roads. Sel Hotel Mývatn sits near the main cluster of lake sights, so a two-night stay lets you save the morning light for the craters and visit the geothermal area in the afternoon. The savings are not a huge number of miles, but rather avoiding the need to drive back to the hotel to grab something and then head out again.
Hotel Laxá is on the south side of Mývatn, with a clearer connection to Route 1 and the direction of Húsavík. If you are arriving from Akureyri, visiting Goðafoss first, and then heading to Mývatn, this location makes the next day’s whale-watching or northeast coast trip feel like a straight line. The downside is that if you suddenly want to grab dinner by the lake or pick up a few supplies, you won’t have the same range of town-center options.
| Your trip’s main job | Better-fit hotel | What you save | What to check first |
|---|---|---|---|
| Two days staying in Mývatn for sights | Sel Hotel Mývatn | Less repeated driving within the lake district | Room type, dinner, and daily operating hours |
| Mývatn, then on to Húsavík | Hotel Laxá | More direct exit to the main road the next day | Breakfast start time and road conditions |
| Winter, only one full day | Depends on your last sight | Avoids a cross-lake return drive after sunset | Hverir, wind, parking, and walking sections |
| Need dinner and a few supplies | Compare hotel dining first | One less time hunting for food in the dark | Whether meals are served on your arrival date and how to book |
Mývatn Sights Do Not Fall into One Simple Driving Line
The Mývatn Nature Baths are often treated as the final stop of the day. If you stay at Sel Hotel, getting back to your room after a soak is quick, which is perfect for tidying up your walking gear and wet clothes in one go. At Hotel Laxá, you need to factor in the departure time from the baths and the drive back to the south side before dinner. Some people think an extra stretch of driving is no big deal, but in winter, wearing a wet swimsuit, with the sky already dark and a camera in the car, that drive feels completely different.
Hverfjall crater and Dettifoss cannot be answered with a single “northern sight” label. The crater requires walking and a buffer for wind; Dettifoss is more affected by seasonal road conditions. Choosing Sel Hotel Mývatn does not automatically open Route 862 in winter, and choosing Hotel Laxá does not mean there is a safe shortcut if you cancel. If you want to separate the sights from the road conditions, start with the Mývatn and Húsavík destination guide, then read the Mývatn Nature Baths vs Vök Baths comparison.
When you zoom out on the map, the most important detail is the “last stop.” If your last stop is the Mývatn Nature Baths, Sel Hotel offers a shorter drive back to your room. If your last stop is Goðafoss or Akureyri, Hotel Laxá feels more like a natural end to the day. This is the most useful dividing line between the two hotels.
Compare Breakfast, Dinner, and Room Cost with the Driving You Avoid
Northern hotel rates should be compared for the same dates, number of guests, room type, and cancellation deadline. For planning, you can use a budget band of roughly HK$1,300–3,400 / NT$5,200–13,600 for two people per night, though actual prices will shift with season and availability. If one hotel looks a few hundred dollars cheaper but you have to find dinner elsewhere, buy breakfast, and add an extra drive, that difference may not exist.
Hotel Laxá’s room options should be viewed alongside your next morning’s departure time; Sel Hotel Mývatn requires you to factor in dinner and room tidying on lake-district activity days. Two large suitcases, waterproof pants, and camera gear need usable floor space, and the cheapest room may not allow two people to unpack at the same time. Platform photos only give an impression; area, bed type, bathroom, and cancellation terms are the data you need before paying.
If breakfast needs to align with an early whale-watching departure, the start time matters more than the variety. If the Húsavík whale-watching is cancelled, staying in Mývatn lets you pivot to the geothermal baths, lava fields, or a museum; this fallback needs to be considered alongside hotel dinner and the return drive. If you plan to drive to Húsavík at dawn, Hotel Laxá saves some north-south backtracking, but don’t apply summer navigation times directly to winter.
One Night vs. Two Nights Changes the Better Base
For a single night traveling from east to north, Hotel Laxá feels more like a transit hotel: arrive, eat, sleep, and head to Húsavík or Akureyri the next day. For a single night where Mývatn sights are the main event, Sel Hotel Mývatn makes it easier to save the short daylight for the lake district, rather than treating the hotel as another distant sight.
For two consecutive nights, Sel Hotel Mývatn’s proximity pays off more, because you can save the windy day for short trips and give the good weather to the craters and baths. Hotel Laxá is better suited to splitting two nights between Húsavík and the northeast coast, at the cost of calculating the drive back to the south side for every Mývatn sightseeing day. If you want to compare town supplies with lake-district nights, read Mývatn lakeside vs Akureyri hotels, which handles a larger base-choice question.
In winter, don’t just ask which hotel is closer. Road wind and snow, daylight, and activity cancellations will change your planned first stop; keep a cancellable room and write the latest departure time into your itinerary. In summer, longer daylight can absorb an extra drive, but it won’t make up for a missed breakfast or a closed restaurant.
If you are driving into Mývatn from the north, finish your Goðafoss stop and Akureyri supplies first, then decide whether to go straight to the hotel. Hotel Laxá is good for breaking this long transit into “arrive, dinner, sleep”; Sel Hotel Mývatn is better for starting the lake-district itinerary immediately upon arrival. This order is especially practical for families with kids, those needing to charge devices, or people just transferring from a long-haul flight, because one less detour means one more flexible option.
If you have a fixed whale-watching time slot, the hotel location must serve the check-in time. A morning check-in at the Húsavík port locks in your breakfast and departure time; staying in Mývatn is not impossible, but you need to allow a road buffer from the hotel to the port. If the weather has already slowed your drive the night before, Sel Hotel’s lake-district convenience cannot offset the morning pressure. Conversely, if the activity is in the afternoon, staying in Mývatn lets you finish a short hike first before moving north, increasing Hotel Laxá’s transit value.
Comparing hotels in the same region also requires looking at what you do if a booking is cancelled. If whale-watching is cancelled, you can shift the time to the Húsavík maritime museum, the Mývatn geothermal area, or the Nature Baths; but each fallback has its own closing time and road direction. At Sel Hotel Mývatn, pivoting to a short lake-district trip is more natural; at Hotel Laxá, you can save the northbound gap for Húsavík. Keep one indoor option in your booking, and your itinerary won’t only have a sunny-day version.
Before paying, I would copy four pieces of data to my phone: the hotel’s full address, breakfast start time, last dinner order time, and the next day’s first stop, plus a line for room area and cancellation deadline. These details explain whether a night is a good fit better than a lake view or popularity. Once you are in Mývatn, if signs, weather, or activity meeting points differ from the plan, reorganize around the first stop; don’t drive to exhaustion just to prove the original plan was right.
If you only have an hour of daylight left upon arrival, don’t force three lake-district sights on either side of the hotel; pick one spot where you can park, finish the walk, and go straight back to your room, so you have the energy for the long transit the next day. If the hotel doesn’t have the dinner you need, buy simple food in Akureyri or Húsavík first—this is a common oversight in northern hotel comparisons that easily strips flexibility from a plan.
Mývatn base decided?
Compare Hotel Laxá and Sel Hotel Mývatn for the same dates
Check room type, breakfast, cancellation terms, and next-day direction to see whether the location difference saves meaningful driving time.
Related reading
Start with Mývatn’s daily sights
Organize the main line from the Mývatn sights guide, then add activity times from snowmobiles and geothermal baths.
More reading
Then Match the Hotel to Your North Iceland Transfer
Húsavík vs Akureyri hotels covers the whale-watching base; if you want to stay in the lake district, also look at Berjaya Mývatn Hotel.
Q&A | Hotel Laxá vs Sel Hotel Mývatn
Which is better for two nights in Mývatn?
If the lake-district sights are the focus, Sel Hotel Mývatn reduces repeated driving; if you are heading north or east the next day, Hotel Laxá’s exit is smoother.
Which is better for winter?
Look at your last stop and the next morning’s direction. Winter road conditions are unstable, so both hotels require a cancellable option and a road buffer.
How much is one night in a Mývatn hotel?
For planning, use HK$1,300–3,400 / NT$5,200–13,600 as a budget band for two people per night, and verify against specific dates and room types.
Is Hotel Laxá far from the geothermal baths?
It is on the south side of Mývatn; the distance depends on the day’s road conditions and the order of your stops. Don’t let the hotel name replace the map.
References
- Hotel Laxá official website (room types, location, and services).
- Sel Hotel Mývatn official website (room types, dining, and location).
- Visit Mývatn (lake-district sights and activity background).
- OpenStreetMap contributors (base map for this article).