Is this the coolest new hotel in Iceland? Northern lights, cross-country skiing, hot springs and chic cabins

The road to Highland Base at Kerlingarfjöll can be smooth – a two hour glide from Iceland’s capital Reykjavik. Or it can be rutted, with potholes formed from ice and take seven hours of lurching, sliding, reversing – tyres on the truck sent to collect you (think a luxury minibus meets Hummer with tractor tires, blacked out windows and a system that deflates or inflates the tires to adjust to the aforementioned potholes), groaning and grinding as they work over the lumpen road.

Based almost in the middle of Iceland, Kerlingarfjoll is Iceland’s third largest and newest geothermal area, formed only 10,000 years ago, and is still part of a very active volcano. A popular summer ski resort until 2000, the area is now a 142sq mile nature reserve under the protection of the state of Iceland, and is home to bubbling clay pits, geysers, coloured mountains formed from the earths elements that shift shade as the light changes, and Highland Base – a luxurious hotel, refurbished from the original ski resort, ready to accommodate those visiting for an adventure or a romantic night under the northern lights.

Personally I’ve arrived here for the former, but wind up with the latter too. Despite allowing three hours to get here, the journey has taken over double that, due to a perilous combination of snow and ice which has melted then re-frosted multiple times, plus now it’s rainy and windy. It’s nothing our driver can’t handle but it does mean that by the time we arrive it’s dark. But then it would be – it’s winter in Iceland and the sun shuts shop around 3pm. The hotel is deliciously warm and elegantly decked out: sheepskin rugs, natural linens and honey-blond wooden furniture. Dropping our bags off at the reception, I’m shown to a room that is so simply decorated it would make even the staunchest minimalist squeak – it’s perfect. Pegs for coats, fleeces, other coats (you need many layers), cubbies for hiking boots, and a steaming hot shower powered by nature’s own hot water tap, and filled with products from the Blue Lagoon, the hotel’s famous sister.

Dinner and drinks are served in the main atrium, where wind whips rain drops across the double height windows as we are served a deliriously umami mushroom soup followed by a pink and tender piece of Icelandic lamb, with crispy potatoes and braised cabbage, washed down with a cold Icelandic beer. Bed is suddenly appealing after our long journey – and as Ms “I can’t sleep anywhere that’s not pitch dark and absolutely silent” – let me tell you I have found my perfect spot.

In the morning I’m greeted by the soft pink sunrise illuminating the pale green grasses of the lower hills that surround the hotel. My room opens out into the wild, and I can imagine myself in the near 24 hours of daylight that Iceland’s midsummer offers, throwing the doors open and enjoying a cocktail here. However right now, the wind is 67mph and it is minus three. Time to climb the mountain!

Luckily for me, I’m dressed head-to-toe in 66North, Iceland’s number one outdoor clothing brand. Founded on the 66th degree of latitude, the brand was found to cloth Iceland’s fishermen and lifeboat teams – if there’s one thing they know, it’s how to make clothes that can withstand Iceland’s brutal weather. Although today their puffer jackets are just as suitable on the streets, as their collaborations with Ganni and Charlie Constantinou prove. Layered up with a Polartech Thermal Pro fleece, a shell jacket, waterproof trousers and a wee faux furry hat complete with ear flaps, I feel indestructible against whatever nature throws at me. “Icelandics have a real connection with nature, Bjarney Harðardóttir, the brand’s CEO and co-owner tells me. “We can go hiking in our lunchtime. Also our natural resources are so important, we have to keep everything in balance, because there’s not a lot of resources. We have been at the forefront of geothermal energy for a long time, it heats our houses.”

Hiking up the mountain, the rest of the modern world vanishes and we are deposited into a make-believe land of trolls and magic. A rainbow appears behind us, while the bright morning sunlight bounces off the snow in front. The wind is strong – at the top of the mountain it’s hard to stand up. Crystal clear glacial water drips down the mountain, watering teeny tiny flowers, but when you zoom out, you can really feel the vastness of the mountain range. Back at base, we are all happy and exhausted – and ready to lie down in our rooms while the weather changes and heavy rain blows in. But the magic hasn’t ended yet. Despite the rain we decide to take advantage of the sauna, plunge pool and geothermic baths after dinner. It’s not unpleasant being immersed in hot water, while it’s raining but all of a sudden the rain stops, and the final magical twist of our trip appears: above us is the most incredible green and pink aura dances across the black velvet of the sky. We run out to the car park, still in our swim suits, in the freezing cold to watch it. “She only appears when she wants to,” Bjarney tells me later. “You were very lucky. But cold, I imagine,” she laughs.

From £335 per person per night based on a two-night stay and two people sharing, https://highlandbase.is/