24 Guesthouse Seomyeon

The location was great, but the cheaper price didn't make this a comfortable hostel alternative like I'd hoped. I could hear everything through the paper-thin walls, and a movie night was so loud it kept me awake until 00:30. I could also hear guests coming back since my room was next to the entrance. The room was clean and okay otherwise, but the bathroom smelled of sewage, made worse by having no window. Service was basically nonexistent. Nobody was at reception until 3pm, even though I'd requested an early check-in and never heard back. Breakfast was just coffee and two cereal choices.

A loud music bar is in the same building, and the music went on at high volume until 5-6 a.m. The room itself was okay, though, as I also saw in other reviews, I got the impression they just make the bed without washing or changing the sheets. The location was handy, with three subway stations fairly close and lots of restaurants and convenience stores nearby. Breakfast was very basic. The instant coffee was already gone at 8:15, even though breakfast starts at 8.

The photos gave us the wrong idea. We booked a twin room expecting the bright, airy one with windows, but got a pretty ugly room instead. The sheets hadn't been washed, and the outdoor part of the AC made noise. We were told not to hang out in the common area because they have movie nights every now and then. We couldn't make dinner, and a loud group of friends kept chatting after the movie until 11pm, even though it was supposed to be quiet after 10pm.

At about the same price as a dorm bed in many places, having a private room can still be preferable despite all the problems. The room size was okay for the cost, and it's centrally located with a decent mall across the road. I never tried the included breakfast. Room 308 had no usable internet at any time, and other guests said a few rooms had the same issue. The internet did work in the fourth-floor lobby. My room smelled of mould and other bad odours. The washroom made the whole room reek of poo, with a smell from the drains like something dead and decomposing. Water went down the sink very slowly. The bedding was dirty and smelled like someone had slept in it before me. It didn't seem to have been washed in a long time.