Shiny Hotel

We spent three days here during our time on Jeju Island, and the manager’s fluent Korean and English made booking and staying much more comfortable. It’s an easy place to reach by car, motorcycle, or bus 111 from the airport or west coast, and the country setting gives you sunrise and sunset views from the room or hotel. The hotel is on the east side, not too far from Sunset Peak. It’s a simple, quiet place, and a convenient base for Woljeongri Beach, Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak (Sunset Peak), Seopjikoji (Cape), Manjanggul Cave, and other sights. The owner also has another property with a volcanic crater. You might be able to visit it on his ATVs if you ask and he’s available. Thanks to Shiny Hotel for a lovely stay.

Good value and a great place to stay, with well-known coffee spots and several small volcanic parks nearby.

I’m sharing what happened to me for reference. Whether this would be acceptable is for each person to decide. The check-in itself was stressful. I booked well in advance but couldn’t reach the B&B despite trying repeatedly through Booking.com. Booking.com’s customer service was also hard to contact and inefficient, so I wasn’t sure I’d be able to check in at all. The B&B eventually replied close to check-in time. When I arrived, the building looked shut down: no lights, no staff, and nobody at the counter. As a foreigner without a phone to call, I went to a nearby restaurant for help. The restaurant owner called the B&B owner, who said he wasn’t home and had sent a friend. We then waited a long time for that friend to finish dinner, even though we’d arrived early hoping to rest. Once I got into the room, there was no hot water, the wifi didn’t work, the floor was unswept and covered in hair, and the bedding triggered my allergies. I spent a while negotiating with his friend, and during that process the uncle began physically assaulting me. It made me very uncomfortable. They eventually moved me to another room, but that floor was poorly cleaned too, and the supplied comb and toothbrush were broken. Fortunately, we had to prepare our own. The whole building felt out of service, with no lights or air conditioning. I waited 1.5 hours for the boiler to heat the water, and even then it was barely hot, about the temperature of a heated swimming pool. In winter, that would have been unacceptable.

We had a comfortable three-day family stay. The room and bedding were clean, and the owner was friendly and helpful, even showing us around.