Haevichi Hotel and Resort Jeju

The staff were friendly and knew their stuff, and we had plenty of time to unwind at the pool and Gym. The beach is close, and the restaurant was amazing. It was a bit cold to swim in the sea, but still worth it. We’ll definitely come back.

The rooms were spacious and lovely, and our east-facing balcony had a partial sea view. In the morning the sun made it very bright and glaring. We came away disappointed by two incidents of service that felt discriminatory and unacceptable. At check-in, the night receptionist was kind and helpful while explaining the guest information sheet. But when we compared the Korean and English brochures side by side, we saw they didn’t contain the same information. Most notably, the English one left out the adults-only pool. It seemed as though the pool was only meant for Korean speakers, and we would not have known about it if the receptionist hadn’t mentioned it by accident. Earlier, we’d asked the morning receptionist to help book a restaurant outside the hotel because we were having trouble with NAVER reservation. Once she realized it wasn’t a hotel restaurant, she seemed reluctant. She then spent three minutes looking at the same screen as if making the booking, before handing back our phone and saying reservations weren’t possible, even though the website said they were. The hotel has a lot to address if it wants to appeal to international guests.

There’s a nice beach close by and plenty of restaurants within walking distance. The rooms are spacious and nice, though the food is expensive. The pool shuts as soon as there’s even a mention of a thunderstorm, and everyone has to get out for regular ten-minute breaks. I guess this may be a Korean thing, though resorts elsewhere might have similar rules.

We appreciated that the hotel was clean and the staff friendly, but the pool restrictions were a major downside and hadn’t been mentioned when we booked. Even children who could swim and were supervised by their parents had to wear life jackets in the 1.3m outdoor pool. During lifeguard breaks, everyone, adults included, had to leave the water. Swim caps were also required in the indoor pool.