Sleeping bag accommodation

When I travel overseas, I enjoy finding unique hotel arrangements that make the lodging arrangement more convenient for the traveler and still profitable for the innkeeper. One of my favorites is the 24 hour stay in parts of Eastern Europe and Russia, where for the price of one night’s lodging, a guest is allowed to stay for 24 hours from the time they check in. I think the hotel industry in the United States could do a lot to break out of the standard mold and offer services that are more valuable to travelers.

I came across another good idea here in Iceland. It’s called sleeping bag accommodation. When you book a room, you ask for either a prepared bed or sleeping bag accommodation. A prepared bed is what you get in a standard hotel room. In sleeping bed accommodation, the room is the same as usual, but without bed-linens. The guest is expected to bring their own sleeping bag. As a result of not having to clean and replace the linens, the innkeeper charges the guest less.

Sleeping bag accommodations can come in two types – either a dorm room shared with other guests, or standard singles and doubles, identical to typical hotel stays but without linens.

We booked our first sleeping bag accommodation last night at the Hotel Framtid in Djupivogur. We had the option of a prepared room for 10,100 kroners, or a two-person sleeping bag accommodation for 6,800 kroners. Both had shared bath. For the 3,300kr savings (about $28), we were ready to ditch the sheets. We ended up with a cozy room with a nice heater and a view of the harbor. I’m a new fan of Icelandic sleeping bag accommodation.