“Excellent location, bona fide luxury hotel, but some of the relaxation facilities are quite small”

TRIP REPORT Just checked out.  Wife and I were looking for a Saturday night staycation here in Seoul area, and picked this hotel.  We had visited the basement bar/lounge ("Timber House") a couple times in the past, but this was our first time to stay overnight. I'm Discoverist and paid 29k poin... more

TRIP REPORT Just checked out.  Wife and I were looking for a Saturday night staycation here in Seoul area, and picked this hotel.  We had visited the basement bar/lounge ("Timber House") a couple times in the past, but this was our first time to stay overnight. I'm Discoverist and paid 29k points for the stay. Although check-in is supposed to be at 3pm, we decided to drive in early (at 12:15pm) anyways.  The hotel doesn't have access to a ton of parking spaces, and there is no self-parking.  Valet parking is 20k KRW per night. At the check-in desk, we were told that a room matching our booking (just the basic King room) was already available, which was great.  We got Room #507.  The 4th floor appears to be the lowest one for rooms, and we read online here on FT that the 4th floor rooms sometimes can get some mosquitoes due to proximity to that floor's garden.  While the hotel is ~24 floors in total, we were totally OK checking into the 5th floor room.  Like I said, I'm Discoverist. (During check-in they granted the standard Discoverist 2pm late checkout.) Upon entering the room, the TV was on, set to the Hyatt channel with some soft music, which is typical of such hotels, but the music was soothing. Bose Soundbar below the TV was nice. Overall the room is certainly befitting of the Park Hyatt brand.  No major complaints.  Our room was in fairly good shape, with very minimal wear & tear.  Certainly little in the way of anything looking like abuse from previous guests.  Some corner/edge scuffs here and there, but finding those required looking at them from about 6 inches away. My wife and I liked the size and the layout of the room.  Certainly a good enough size to spend 7+ nights in, in case we'd want/need that.  There is actually a short L-shaped 'hallway' between the bedroom and the bathroom, and that hallway is quite wide.  Anyways, very different from what we're used to.  The bathtub is very big, and the bathroom was a fine place to loiter. (Note: The (disposable) slippers provided are extremely slippery on the bathroom's marble floor.  So, the elderly and athletically challenged should definitely take heed.) (A note for Korean staycationers: Our experience was that the wear-and-tear at this Park Hyatt was far less than at another Park Hyatt in Korea.) The only part of the decor that I didn't care for, was the wood color and the carpet rug under the bed.  The wood seems to be be Red Oak with a light/orange stain (?).  Looks a bit 1990's. The rug looks very worn and looks like something coming out of a college dorm, also in the 1990's.  Neither is a big deal, but those do deviate from this decade's sensibilities, in my opinion. A few days ago, my wife and I booked the hotel's Weekend (Seafood) Brunch at 150k KRW per person for yesterday 1:30pm.  Given the variety of seafood (6-7 types, including king crab, lobster, king prawns, murex snails, and whole abalone), unlimited ribeye/prime rib, and the quality of the food overall (some very well-made decadent desserts), I think we were satisfied with it.  That 150k KRW came with one champagne/wine/beer and one coffee/tea at the end of the meal.  (If you do book this, just be aware that the sparkling water they offer is actually 15k extra, while still water is free... the staff didn't actually mention that 15k cost.)  Certainly a better deal than, say, other non-hotel lobster buffets around town. After staying here for one night, I think the coolest part about this room is just how separated the bathroom is from the bedroom.  Although the bathroom and bedroom are separated by a clear glass wall, there is a blackout curtain behind the tub that one can pull down electronically.  It means that one person can sleep peacefully while the other person can have some freedom to take a shower late at night. For breakfast, after taking on that Weekend Seafood Brunch buffet, we didn't want to go to buffets two days in a row (and anyways, we are lowly Discoverist and all y'all's breakfast commentary scared me off too haha), so instead went to the 7-11 a block away to buy a few packaged bakery goods and a couple yogurts which was just fine. The pool/fitness/dry sauna (altogether referred to as "Park Club") are complimentary for elite status guests (including "Discoverists").  That was a pleasant surprise to me.  But I will also add that the sauna facilities were a bit disappointing overall.  On both the men's side and women's side, there was only a cold 'jacuzzi' sized for 1-2 people, and a hot jacuzzi sized for 4 people max.  Of course, these jacuzzis are both supposed to be enjoyed while nude, and for that hot jacuzzi, even 4 is a crowd.  Only 3-4 showers on both sides too, although those shower booths were big and had their own doors (unlike sauna shower areas at most other hotels in Seoul). The swimming pool is only 25m long, so not really that enjoyable if you are looking for some serious laps. (The design of Park Club seemed a bit awkward to me. Usually, in these upscale/luxury Korean hotel facilities, you first go to a shoe locker and then a clothing locker. At this hotel, some get a shoe locker, and then others don't. And then you get a bathrobe in your clothing locker, that apparently you are supposed/expected to wear when you exit the men's locker room to go *up the stairs* to the swimming pool. When I came back down the stairs, a staff member ran after me to give me a bathrobe. Not a big deal; just a strange quirk of the layout and the routine/culture at this hotel.) The good news, though, is that it appears that people don't really use these facilities (perhaps because staycationers already know how small they are?).  I went around 11:30am on this Sunday morning and only saw 1-2 other people total in the men's locker/jacuzzi side; and then only a couple and their 3 small kids in the pool (besides my wife).  (If you've been to either the JW Seoul Gangnam or Westin Josun, yeah, these facilities are tiny compared to those two places.) I think this hotel is unique for those who want the convenience of no more than suffering the 10 steps outdoors :-) to get to tons of shopping, while staying at a luxury hotel, and yet without being so gauche ;-) to stay at a hotel that is actually directly connected to a shopping mall. If that's you, this is a very good hotel for you.  :-) Housekeeping rang our bell to come into our room at 1pm even though we are Discoverist and had scheduled the 2pm late checkout.  So, even though this overstep seems, according to my experience, to be par for the course among luxury brands among chain hotels in Seoul, it was still a bit unbefitting.  Lots of hotels in Seoul can't seem to figure out the ICT useful to avoid this faux pas. We checked out at 2pm, and then headed straight to a cheeseburger place around the corner for a quick bite, just walk past the GLAD hotel next door.  (The Park Hyatt told us that we could have 2 extra hours of parking, beyond our 2pm checkout.) Verdict:  It's a nice luxury hotel. I went in expecting a poor man's Four Seasons Seoul, but I can see why people might appreciate this hotel's location more.  The standard room (King bed) is very big for 1 person, and can be more than adequate for two too.  My wife and I could have been comfortable in this room at this hotel for even a full week... All that said, I'm a world traveler, having spent thousands before on hotel rooms, and even with these Seoul hotel prices, could not be coerced to stay here paying a dime more than $370 USD cash.  The night that I stayed, this hotel was going for over 700k KRW and that, to me, is a bit silly.  29k Hyatt points was, as it were, relatively bearable.

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“Park Hyatt Seoul”

Finished a great stay at Park Hyatt Seoul. Was upgraded to a deluxe suite which we enjoyed. There is on-going construction right in front of the hotel which gets noisy day and night. We fall asleep fast, so was not a big issue. The deluxe suite has a desk area which was nice, but because the shap... more

Finished a great stay at Park Hyatt Seoul. Was upgraded to a deluxe suite which we enjoyed. There is on-going construction right in front of the hotel which gets noisy day and night. We fall asleep fast, so was not a big issue. The deluxe suite has a desk area which was nice, but because the shape of the room is square with windows front and back, feels smaller compare to a regular suite which has a longer shape with more windows toward the city center. The breakfast could improve compared to other hotels in the area.

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“Next to COEX”

This property was right next to COEX and it could be accessed via the subway tunnels without having to cross the street. It was very convenient running across to the shops and playground with the kids. The staff was friendly and treated my daughter with a decadent mini cake for her birthday. Hou... more

This property was right next to COEX and it could be accessed via the subway tunnels without having to cross the street. It was very convenient running across to the shops and playground with the kids. The staff was friendly and treated my daughter with a decadent mini cake for her birthday. Housekeeping was on point and very friendly. The kids enjoyed their baths with being able to splash everywhere with the enclosed shower space, but having only one toilet in the standard suite was a challenge with the family. The standard suite at Andaz had a powder room. The room was also showing wear and tear with scratches all over the floors. The views would have been great if Coex and the city but there was a lot of construction going on in the area. This caused a lot of construction noise late into the night and a ton of traffic if you wanted to get in and out by taxi. The elevator set up is also a headache since you need to take two elevators every time you want to go to and leave your room. Andaz also takes the win on breakfast in terms of what was offered and the service. Staff was friendly but did not come by often. Overall good stay but I would choose the Andaz over Park Hyatt in Seoul.

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“Easter vacation in Seoul”

Minimalism of the room is what I appreciated… Japanese imprinting in architecture of the spaces is evident! Position is excellent, the subway station is right a few meters of the exit (Samseong-dong). The surrounding area is full of any commercial services, Coex center is very close to the hote... more

Minimalism of the room is what I appreciated… Japanese imprinting in architecture of the spaces is evident! Position is excellent, the subway station is right a few meters of the exit (Samseong-dong). The surrounding area is full of any commercial services, Coex center is very close to the hotel! Only an aspect is to improve: quality of the products for breakfast and enrich bakeries. I am certain they could do better in this!

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