Seogwipo Worldcup Resort

From the room, you can see the night sea and even the squid boats. The room was fairly spacious and nice, and breakfast was great value.

I booked two nights through Agoda for mid-August, and the stay ended with me leaving after a dispute over my room. I’d known the property as Paul A Resort, when it was for police officers only, and I’ve visited every year since it became Seogwipo World Cup Resort and opened to the public. For about four years, I’d considered it a hidden gem and recommended it to friends and family. Beophwan is close to Old Seogwipo and Jungmun, with good shops and a pleasant atmosphere and infrastructure. Accommodation has been expanding around there. The resort is a four-story building. In the past, Premier Deluxe meant the fourth floor, whose interior felt a little more luxurious than the other floors, and I always booked it. I work in IT and check the hotel website before trips. A year ago, the site had changed the room names and listed details by floor. This time I arrived early and asked about checking in ahead of time. They said check-in was at 4 p.m. After spending time outside, I came back and was directed to a third-floor room. I noticed it wasn’t what I expected, checked my voucher, and called the front desk because I thought there’d been a mistake. Last year, I’d also first been given a third-floor room, but was moved to the fourth right away. No one called me back, so after 30 minutes I rang again and spoke with the person handling reservations. They said that although I’d booked through Agoda, the hotel dealt with a Korean agency as an intermediary, and that my booking was for the third floor, so they couldn’t move me. I contacted Agoda to complain. The issue was that the hotel and booking site had changed the room labels to “3rd Floor Mountain View/Ocean View” and “4th Floor Mountain View/Ocean View,” whereas Premier Deluxe had previously referred only to the fourth floor. My June voucher didn’t specify a floor. Based on my earlier stays, I’d assumed Premier Deluxe meant the fourth floor, and the hotel, Korean agency, and Agoda all gave different accounts. I’ve booked through Agoda for all four years and still have the vouchers. I pointed to the Premier Deluxe wording on mine and what I’d experienced on previous visits. I called the hotel several times, hoping to discuss it politely with the manager, but they wouldn’t engage with my situation and kept repeating the Korean agency’s position. The hotel gave me the agency’s contact information, and I spoke with them. They weren’t rude or abusive, but they kept refusing, so we got nowhere. I emailed Agoda my old voucher and explanation. Things got so absurd that an Agoda representative listened in while I spoke to the Korean agency. Agoda eventually contacted the agency and emailed me cancellation details. By then, I’d been dealing with this since check-in at 4 p.m. I was in the lobby after leaving the room, live-streaming(?) a conversation with the agency and Agoda for about an hour as hotel staff watched. While waiting for Agoda’s cancellation email, I told the hotel I was leaving and booked another nearby hotel for the same day. While the hotel was still denying that the Korean agency had contacted them, an Agoda representative called. They said they hadn’t contacted the agency, offered to upgrade me to the fourth floor for 40,000 won, and said they couldn’t cancel my booking, so I’d lose the full two-night stay. After nearly four hours, I couldn’t keep trying to have a polite conversation, so I left. The lobby staff had watched the whole thing. They showed no sympathy or comfort, and didn’t react when I turned back after confirming at the front desk that I’d forfeited my reservation. I need to have a serious talk with my police acquaintance about what happened.

There’s plenty of space, parking, breakfast, friendly staff, and a convenience store, all at a really affordable price. The only drawback is the smell in the room. Even so, the price makes it worthwhile.

The two-room setup worked really well for our family trip, and the location right beside Seogwipo World Cup Stadium was handy. The facilities feel a little dated, though the price is reasonable.