Police have shut down the same guesthouse three times for operating without a license, and former guests have taken to TripAdvisor.
Stundin reports that AR Guesthouse was visited by police earlier this week and shut down for the third time. In all three cases, the reason has been the same: operating without a license.
The police also reportedly arrived in the early morning hours to shut the place down, sending guests out immediately – some of whom have yet to get a refund. As Hugh O of Ireland wrote on TripAdvisor of his stay there:
“Booked AR Guesthouse for 7 nights as our base in Iceland. Everything was going fine until we got a knock on the door from a police officer at 7:30 am on our 4th morning staying there. We instructed that we had to leave immediately as they were shutting the guesthouse down due to them not having a business permit. We, along with all the others staying, had to pack up immediately. this was the last thing we wanted to hear after being gone all day before touring. As of today, i am still waiting to be refunded for 4 nights stay and have not been contacted by AR as to when i am going to receive this refund. If you were on a tight budget i.e. backpacking this would have ruined your whole experience.”
Interestingly, the main page of AR Guesthouse makes it a point to mention that they provide “fully licensed accommodation”.
When Heiðar Reynisson, the owner of the guesthouse, was reached for comment, he contended that “they have already given this place an accommodation license; they just don’t want to honour it”, before telling reporters to “talk to someone other than me.”
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