Le Idea Hotel

The staff were friendly, but that was the only bright spot. The room felt like Gwigok Mountain Lodge, and the bathroom and blanket were dirty. There was a moldy smell, and I got so itchy that I left after just 10 minutes. Don't trust the photos. The reviews are suspiciously good too. Are they using part-time commenters? Not even worth one star.

That coffee machine downstairs made a really good cafe latte, and I liked having a bathtub in the bathroom. Leaving my car key in the room was a bit of a hassle, though.

The room made me so uneasy that I couldn't sleep, even though the staff were friendly. The air conditioner had a damp, moldy smell, so I wore a mask. The bathroom had rust, mold, and water marks everywhere, with nowhere to hang a towel. The kettle was stained and had residue that wouldn't wipe off. Walking barefoot left the bottoms of my feet black, and the bed was hard. It was October, but there was only one thin blanket. I layered up because I was cold, yet my bare legs still itched, so I kept scratching and kicking the blanket away. Mosquitoes bit me more than ten times, and the subway nearby was incredibly loud. I barely slept all night. I booked on a whim without knowing what the place was like. I was so upset and eager to leave that I forgot to take pictures. It was the worst, and it spoiled the trip. I'm never going back.

The place is right by the beach, which seems handy if that's what you're after, but my room faced the mountain rather than the ocean. The facilities were clean and the air conditioning was cool. The water stopped working partway through my stay, and ramen smells came through the ventilation fan, which was really unpleasant. Watch out for mosquitoes too.