Incheon COCO Hotel

There are several good places to eat just seconds away, and the neighborhood felt welcoming. The owner was friendly and happy to help make catching my flight as stress-free as possible. It’s within walking distance of a train station that goes to the airport. Prices are competitive, the place feels new and is super clean, and the toiletries are good quality. There are plenty of TV channels too.

The owner treats employees like slaves, doesn’t pay them, and fires them without a reason or proper payment. He seems to think paying with towels is enough. The rooms are filthy: floors aren’t swept, toilets and sinks aren’t washed, and the beds are left very dirty. Nothing gets washed. Look closely and you can see hair in the drain and on the floor, along with grime on the windows and doors. There’s also a foul smell, like sewage and chicken coops.

We booked two rooms through Yanolja for Saturday, with check-in listed as 8:00 AM, so we thought we’d have plenty of time. We got there at 9:30 AM, already paid, and were told to wait while they cleaned. They said they hadn’t checked the other guests out because they thought we’d arrive late. Then they rushed those guests out, started cleaning, and asked us to give them ten minutes. They apologized for the weekend and offered an upgrade plus a 1:00 PM checkout. I was exhausted and just wanted to rest, so I accepted, although waiting more than 15 minutes was frustrating. The supposed upgrade wasn’t bigger or fancy, just a bag. We don’t use bags! Worse, the room reeked of cigarettes, as if someone had just smoked. The floor was wet and creased, like the blanket had just been thrown down. I complained, but only staff came out, not the owner. I went downstairs and asked for a discount or cancellation because the room was in such bad shape. A staff member said they understood and would cancel. Then the owner showed up and said that since we’d booked through Yanolja, we had to get the refund from them. But Yanolja doesn’t accept same-day cancellations, does it? We weren’t cancelling because we hadn’t shown up. We were cancelling because of the hotel’s poor service, and we’d asked within 15 minutes. We were travelling with friends and had booked a place to rest. Instead, they’d given our paid room to someone else and told us to wait while it was cleaned. Why should we just sit there and accept that? I can’t understand why they let another guest use a room we’d already booked and paid for. The sanitary conditions were awful, and the owner kept telling me to go to Yanolja for a refund. We argued for three hours, then I drove home in the morning and finally slept there. The weekend standard rate was 70,000 won, and premium Netflix was 90,000 won, but I couldn’t rest and ended up fighting about it until I got home. I’m exhausted and the money was wasted. I lost 160,000 won. I never want to return. Don’t run a business this way.

My wallet went missing from my room, and the manager wouldn’t do anything to resolve it. What am I supposed to do? I’d avoid this motel.