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when I arrived in Hotel Ranga In Iceland, what excited me the most was seeing the button on my room phone that said, “Aurora Wake-Up.” The small black button seemed insignificant considering its size but, in my opinion, it was one of the most important features of the hotel.
Each day, I would click the button and receive an automated message informing me that I had been added to the Aurora Wake-Up calling list. And every night I went to bed with my fingers crossed. Just as I was falling asleep on my last night, the phone in my hotel room rang at 11:30 pm and an automated message alerted me to look for the Northern Lights. I jumped out of bed, put on my coat and hat, and ran out, following the other guests.
The auroras were difficult to see with just my eyes. So I took out my phone, pointed it at the shifting clouds above me, and took a photo with the slowest possible motion speed. That’s when I saw them. Greens and purples cutting through the clouds in a variety of different shades. As I walked through the front courtyard of the hotel, which is located in a remote area in the southern part of the Nordic island nation, not only could I see the lights through my camera but, as my eyes adjusted to the darkness , the stars became clearer and more vivid than I had ever seen before. As the night progressed, I made friends with a family from Connecticut who was also staying at the hotel. The five of us spent the next few hours taking pictures and waiting for the clouds to change so we could see them even better.
I loved staying in a hotel with a Northern Lights wake-up service. Especially since, on that last night of my trip, jet lag had finally caught up with me. When it came time to watch it, I was on the verge of falling into a deep sleep and might have missed the show.
Take your phone outside
I asked the experts at Hotel Rangá, who paid for my stay, to help me understand my experience, especially since I couldn’t see much with just my eyes. Eyrún Aníta Gylfadóttir, marketing director of the hotel, explains that “when solar activity is low, the cameras can capture the northern lights that are less visible to the human eye. Using a long exposure on the camera allows more light to enter the lens, making it visible in the photo. However, when solar activity is high, the northern lights are easily seen with the human eye.”
How the wake-up call works
Each day when I pressed the Aurora Wake-Up call button on my phone, my room number was added to a list. “If a guest doesn’t answer the phone to wake them up, we go and knock on the door to make sure they don’t miss the lights,” Gylfadóttir says. “The lights can also change quite quickly, meaning they could have been visible when the night guard made the decision to initiate the wake-up call, but had then gone out when our guest left. Sometimes it’s a matter of seconds, sometimes it’s a matter of minutes, sometimes it’s a matter of hours. “We never know how long they will be visible.”
Hotel HusafellLocated in the town of Húsafell, west of Iceland, it also offers its guests an aurora wake-up service. “People can book their individual rooms at reception and if the northern lights appear during the night, our night receptionist will call their room to let them know,” says Áslaug Ragnhildardóttir, group coordinator at Hotel Húsafell. “Then they need to go out and look north to see the northern lights.”
When to see the lights
The appearance of the northern lights is extremely difficult to predict, since the lights can be seen anytime from early September to mid-April. There are some Northern Lights prediction apps available for download. The Hotel Rangá team uses the forecast website Iceland at nightwhich says it’s pretty accurate.
Hotel details
Hotel Ranga It is intentionally located in a remote area in southern Iceland, so that visitors have a better chance of seeing the lights. It is also a great place to see several waterfalls and other popular attractions. The starting rate in winter is €394 ($426) per night for a standard room. The hotel also offers a four-night stay for aurora hunters called Age of dawn with an initial rate of €303 ($328) per night in a standard room. The average rate for all room categories in winter is €600 ($649) per night with breakfast and access to the geothermal hot tub included.
Hotel Husafell It is also located in a remote area ideal for seeing the Northern Lights, but further north in Iceland. “The hotel is very close to Iceland’s second largest glacier, Langjökull, and many times the clouds break and we can see (the northern lights) here,” Ragnhildardóttir says. Hotel rates, which include breakfast and unlimited access to the hotel’s geothermal pools and hot tubs, range from $308 to $875 per night, depending on room size and time of year. Hotel Húsafell often publishes special offers on its website, especially during the low season.
My recent trip was in late August and thanks to increased solar activity this summer, I was able to cross the Northern Lights off my bucket list. But even if you didn’t, there’s plenty to do in Iceland, from seeing active and dormant volcanoes to driving past incredible waterfalls and eating delicious foods. I hope to return soon.