NO.25 Hotel Dongam

The beds are heated, which I appreciated, and for a budget stay near the train station it wasn't bad. Still, the neighborhood isn't great. Check-in at 5pm is inconvenient, the bathroom feels too small for a large American, and the internet barely works. I kept having to connect to different rooms.

“It wasn't me, I didn't do it, man!” could be this hotel's name. Management blamed my luggage for damaging the room, which it hadn't, and said I'd nicked the TV table. Charging foreign guests $40 USD per room for administrative reasons and hundreds more for other alleged damage doesn't feel ethical. The owner's son Gary spoke some English and seemed cool, but said he was following orders from the top and wasn't in charge. Be ready to leave or get kicked out if you don't hand over the money. Save yourself the hassle and skip this place.

We booked two rooms for two weeks and barely stayed one night. We arrived at 1 a.m., exhausted, and hadn't checked every corner of the entry door or looked for marks on the desk. At checkout, management accused us of causing mold, damaging an entry wallpaper panel, and breaking a table. The spots and other damage were already there when we arrived. They still made us leave the next morning, even though our two-week Agoda reservation was paid, and we missed a fun event while trying to prove we hadn't caused the damage. It became our word against the manager and staff. I called Agoda.com to request an investigation, and they wanted $700 USD to fix a desk or table that was already chipped, saying it needed urgent repair. Meanwhile, a previous guest had burned the nightstand with a cigarette, and the bedside battery charger was broken too. We had to call the police and request a report because we didn't know how much more they might charge to our card. The hotel is in poor shape as well. There was a lot of mold, though I believe it was environmental rather than caused by guests. The floors were uneven and hard to walk on, and the makeshift doorways in the toilet room had an unnatural step down that could be dangerous for your feet, ankles, or legs. Another guest mentioned a moldy smell in room 205. We were first put in rooms 207 and 206, and I worry the next guests in 307 and 305 may be blamed for damage that's already there. I travel internationally often and have done so for 12 years. Locals told us the earlier good reviews may be from when an older man ran the place, before the new management. The new managers seemed to be in their early twenties and didn't understand customer service. South Korea is lovely, and Bupyeong is a nice area to enjoy on a Saturday, but I'd avoid staying here and the stress of defending yourself.

Right by the train station, the location is great. The rooms are cozy, clean, and well supplied.