Eleven Deplar Farm, Iceland.
Travellers rarely remember every detail of a hotel room. What endures is how a place made them feel. For former Vogue Australia Editor-in-Chief Kirstie Clements OAM, that moment came while floating in the geothermal pool at Eleven Deplar Farm in Iceland: warm water, freezing air and snow falling like feathers around her. “This must be what heaven feels like,” she remembers thinking.
Hidden in the Fljót Valley on Iceland’s remote Troll Peninsula, Eleven Deplar Farm occupies a former sheep farm surrounded by steep mountains, rivers and fjords. The intimate 13-room luxury lodge sits low beneath a grass-covered roof, almost disappearing into the landscape. Inside, timber, stone and vast windows create warmth without distracting from the extraordinary Icelandic wilderness beyond.
Days at this remote Iceland adventure lodge are shaped by the weather and the seasons. Guests might heli-ski across untouched slopes, ride Icelandic horses through the valley, hike, fly-fish or sea kayak before returning to the indoor-outdoor geothermal pool, sauna and flotation tanks. Yet, as Kirstie’s experience suggests, the memory that stays may be quieter: snow touching warm water, the shock of cold air against the skin and the feeling of being suspended somewhere between the elements.
It is a powerful reminder that the most memorable luxury travel experiences are not always the most elaborate. They engage the senses, create genuine emotion and could only happen in that particular place. Luxury is remembered as a feeling, not a list of features—and that is what turns a beautiful hotel stay into a story someone continues to tell.
Hear Kirstie reveal more of the places and experiences that have stayed with her on The Wanderlist Podcast – Your Little Black Book for Travel HERE. Wanderlust Union is a Sydney-based luxury travel, hospitality and lifestyle PR agency specialising in strategic communications, travel media relations, brand storytelling, creative partnerships and campaigns for luxury hotels, resorts and destinations across Australia and internationally.
