Inside the Icelandic Lodge Where Justin Bieber Just Spent a Week

A remote 15th-century sheep farm in northern Iceland has found a new purpose: it's the birthplace of Justin Bieber's next hit song.

The 31-year-old’s four world tours have taken him to six continents, performing in front of tens of thousands from Mexico City to Cape Town to Taipei. So, when it came time to record his next album, Bieber chose a distinctly different destination, staying at Eleven Deplar Farm for a week and working on new music at the onsite recording space, Flóki Studios. The singer called the experience the “best trip of my life”—and he's shared no less than 20 Instagram posts so far, documenting his musical retreat.

The 13-room adventure lodge sits in the dramatic Fljót Valley in the island nation’s Tröllaskagi peninsula near the Arctic Circle, in a region “isolated by rugged mountains, untouched rivers, and pounding surf,” the property says on its website. The remote location offers an experience that lets guests disconnect from the hustle of urban life, with adventures like horseback rides, fly fishing, fat biking, and heli-skiing. 

During his weeklong stay there, Bieber shared photos on Instagram of himself riding a heli-skiing, sitting by a campfire, playing ping pong, and walking along the coastline without any sign of another human in sight. He often used Iceland's stunning natural scenery and architecture as a backdrop for portraits. The two-time Grammy winner even included some images of the country's wildlife, with all the photo credits of his time in Iceland going to Rory Kramer, a wildlife photographer. 

In between enjoying the middle-of-nowhere setting, he and his team appeared to be hard at work on new music, with photos of him singing into recording mics while looking at his phone, as well as playing the drums, piano, and guitar.

Eleven Deplar Farm and Flóki Studios also shared videos and images of Bieber’s stay, including one titled “peaceful moments from Justin Bieber’s trip to Flóki Studios,” and another documenting his stay with photos of him enjoying the snow-capped mountains and rolling fields. 

While some have been concerned by the artist’s recent posts, “the Iceland setting seemed like it was the perfect retreat,” an insider told People magazine.

Eleven Deplar Farm’s stays are situated in “off-grid stylish cabins” with living roofs, floor-to-ceiling windows, and cozy decor accents like driftwood, Icelandic wood, and Fljótaá River stones. There are 10 king bedrooms, five of which have sleeping lofts, two queen rooms, and one with bunks. There’s also a gym with Peloton bikes, rowing machines, free weights, as well as a separate yoga and Pilates studio with a reformer. Other fun amenities include a 5,000-square-foot spa with three treatment rooms, as well as a geothermal pool, floating tanks, a cold plunge, and a sound bath studio.

“Thank you @justinbieber for bringing your talent and energy to Deplar Farm and Floki Studios,” the hotel and studio posted on Instagram. “Between heli-laps, cold plunges, and time in the studio, it was an unforgettable week. Your sound, in this setting, was pure magic—grateful to have shared it with you and your crew.”

The lodge is part of the adventure hospitality brand Eleven Experiences, which also has lodges in Patagonia, the French Alps, British Columbia, the Bahamas, and Colorado. The company also hosts guided adventures around the globe, themed around fly fishing, skiing, hiking, biking, mountaineering, water sports, and music. 

Bieber has long been a fan of Iceland, and even filmed his 2015 “I’ll Show You” music video—which has been viewed 534 million times on YouTube—on the nation’s southern coast, and featured popular locations like Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon, Seljalandsfoss waterfall, Reynisfjara black sand beach, and Sólheimasandur's abandoned plane. He also filmed at Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon, which also made an apperance in Game of Thrones—the exposure made it so popular that it had to be temporarily closed to travelers in 2019.