Sitting on a hillside above one of the world's smallest capitals, Hotel Føroyar doesn't just offer views of Tórshavn – it practically is the view. This is where international football teams crash after matches, where visiting musicians decompress, and where you can walk barefoot through rain and drizzle to reach what might be Europe's most dramatically situated spa. The hotel sits low and long against the landscape, its grass roof blending into the hillside like it grew there naturally. Which, in a way, was exactly the point.
Location
Photo by Ólavur Frederiksen
The hotel sprawls along Highway 10 in the northwestern outskirts of Tórshavn, about five minutes by car from the city center. From up here, the entire capital spreads below – framed by the suburbs of Hoyvík to the north and Argir to the south, with the island of Nólsoy rising from the sea to the east. Below the hotel sits Viðarlundin í Kerjum, a small forest that serves as more than just scenery.
How a Hillside Grew a Hotel
Photo by Ólavur Frederiksen
A hotel called Føroyar existed here at least as far back as 1968, hosting conferences for the Viking Congress. But the current building arrived in May 1983, when shipowner Jákup Joensen (also known as Jákup í Lopra) bought the property and opened it as Hotel Føroyar. Later it became Hotel Borg, then switched back to Føroyar again when Smyril Line purchased it in 1991. By 2005, a group of hotel staff bought the place themselves.
Photo by Les Moonwalkers
The building was designed by Danish architectural firm Friis & Moltke, who created something deliberately anti-monumental: a flat, elongated structure with 216 beds and that famous grass roof, carved into the rocks as if the hillside simply grew a hotel. From outside, the long horizontal lines mirror the landscape. From inside, enormous windows dissolve the barrier between room and terrain.
Lounge - Photo by Hannes Becker
In 2020, the hotel underwent major renovations, expanding from 160 to 200 rooms and adding new Executive Suites. The corridors and rooms display original artwork by leading Faroese artists including Edward Fuglø, Ragnhild Hjalmarsdóttir Højgaard, Tróndur Patursson, and Hansina Iversen.
Ruts Restaurant
Ruts restaurant - Photo by Beinta á Torkilsheyggi
The restaurant occupies a space that feels both modern and understated, with those signature oversized windows commanding the room. It's open-plan without feeling cavernous, the kind of place where you can settle in for a long meal without the décor demanding too much attention.
Photo by Beinta á Torkilsheyggi
The kitchen focuses on local and seasonal ingredients, serving them buffet-style for both lunch and dinner. Lunch spreads include roasted vegetables, grilled salmon, fresh salads, new potatoes, and a selection of cheeses. There's also sushi and sashimi made from North Atlantic fish.
Dinner brings out prawns, oysters, and langoustines. The menu occasionally features traditional Faroese preparations – skerpikjøt (dried mutton), dried whale meat, dried fish, and blubber appear when the kitchen leans into local tradition.
Photo by Paul Brechu
The views, though, might upstage the food. Floor-to-ceiling windows look straight out over Tórshavn, the harbor, and Nólsoy beyond. On clear days, the North Atlantic stretches to the horizon. When fog rolls in, the city below disappears into white.
Standard Room
Standard Room with Sea View
These rooms sit on the lower floor of the main building – 25 square meters of whitewashed walls, high ceilings, and space that feels larger than the measurements suggest. Big windows open to let in that famously crisp Faroese air.
You get either one large double bed or two singles, with the option to add a rollaway bed or crib. The bathroom combines shower and bathtub, and there's wifi, Chromecast, coffee and tea facilities, a hairdryer, and ironing equipment included.
Executive Suite
Executive Suite with Sea View - Photo by Beinta á Torkilsheyggi
Double the size at 50 square meters, these suites occupy the upper floor of the main building. The layout separates living and sleeping areas – the living room comes with a sofa, television, and dining bar, while the bedroom connects to a bathroom equipped with both a bathtub and walk-in shower.
Photo by Beinta á Torkilsheyggi
The bed measures 200 by 200 centimeters. Minibar service gets refreshed daily, and turndown service is included alongside the standard amenities.
Ress Spa
Ress Spa's hidden pathway - Photo by Beinta á Torkilsheyggi
Getting to Ress Spa means going outside. There's no climate-controlled corridor connecting hotel to spa – instead, you change into shorts, sandals, and a kimono, then walk a 100-meter wooden path carved between rock cliffs. Rain, drizzle, wind, whatever the weather throws at you, you're in it.
The walk passes old stone houses and dramatic cliff faces before your feet get washed with hot water flowing from both sides of the floor at the entrance. The pre-freeze, post-thaw ritual is apparently deliberate.
Spa House
The spa building was carved into the hillside in 2021, with a major expansion completed recently. It's built from stone and wood, all tactile materials and vast glass panels that make the distinction between indoor and outdoor feel negotiable. The design stays restrained – nothing feels over-designed or trying too hard.
Photo by Beinta á Torkilsheyggi
Inside, a heated pool looks straight out at the landscape through floor-to-ceiling windows. The boundary between water and view dissolves. Silence dominates.
Photo by Beinta á Torkilsheyggi
Outside, more pools wait – including an infinity pool where the water seems to pour directly into the Faroese landscape.
Photo by Beinta á Torkilsheyggi
There's also a rooftop pool, ice bath, and outdoor jacuzzi completed in 2024, all exposed to weather and sky.
Photo by Beinta á Torkilsheyggi
The sauna area offers multiple options, including steam rooms and different temperature saunas.
Photo by Beinta á Torkilsheyggi
Phones, tablets, and cameras aren't allowed anywhere in the spa. The pace is slow, deliberate.
Photo by Beinta á Torkilsheyggi
For treatments, the menu includes Sálarró (a full-body massage with organic oils), Orka (firm sports massage), Hugró (head, neck, and back treatment with lavender oil), Rótfesti (foot and lower leg massage with hot stones), Lavender Dream (exfoliation followed by full-body massage), and Kvirra (hot stone treatment for face and body).
Each treatment focuses on muscle relaxation and skin care, delivered in treatment rooms that maintain the same minimalist, natural aesthetic as the rest of the spa.
70,000 Sheep and a Secret Path to Town
Photo by Hannes Becker
Hotel Føroyar sits surrounded by sheep – all 70,000 of them that outnumber the Faroe Islands' 55,000 human residents roam these hills. The landscape is moss, grass, rock, and wind. Multiple walking trails start right from the hotel doorstep, wet and windy routes that disappear into the terrain.
For getting to Tórshavn, there's a secret: a quiet path down the hill through that small forest below the hotel, leading directly into the city. It's a 15-minute walk that cuts through the dark plantation with its curvy trails, emerging in the capital with views of Hoyvík, Argir, and Nólsoy framing the approach.
Most people skip the taxi once they discover it. The hotel also sits next to Highway 10, a mountain road that runs north to south on Streymoy island – quieter than the main routes, and popular with cyclists looking for challenging, blustery rides through dramatic scenery.
45 Oyggjarvegur, Tórshavn 100, Faroe Islands
