LONDON — When Noel Santillan typed the word Laugarvegur instead of Laugavegur into his rental car’s GPS, the New Jersey resident couldn’t have imagined that the extra “r” would make him something of a celebrity in Iceland.

Mr. Santillan, 28, arrived at Keflavik International Airport on Monday morning after a five-hour flight from New York and was eager to get to the Hotel Fron on Laugavegur, a main street in Reykjavik, Iceland’s capital, local news media reported. But the spelling error got in his way, according to Visir, an Icelandic news website.

While driving nearly six hours over icy roads, Mr. Santillan, who works in retail marketing, had an inkling that something might be wrong, local news reports said.