Anjeonjang Myeongdong

For the price, I thought it was very good value and would recommend it to budget travelers. The bed was great, so I slept really well. I’d requested a quiet room but got one right opposite the lift. It was generally quiet, though I could hear people talking. The air conditioning was a little noisy, with the chilled water audible when it was on, but I’m not a light sleeper, so it didn’t bother me much. The hotel seems to be next to 7-11 under the name raum167 hotel. I had no issue with that, and the room was well furnished. It’s a very convenient location, a short walk from Seoul Station Exit 4, with Namdaemun market about seven minutes away on foot. They also kept my luggage after checkout.

The staff were attentive and helpful, spoke good English, and one could speak Mandarin. We got in around 1 a.m., and the owner was waiting for us. They redirected us to the sister hotel, Raum169, one block up the hill, which honestly felt like an upgrade. We had a Double Room with a Queen bed. It came with a big TV with Netflix and free cable channels, a bathrobe, mini fridge, small towels, toiletries for men and women, and a coffee table with a kettle, cups, and Maxim coffee. Housekeeping refilled the coffee, paper cups, toilet paper, and towels daily. The toilet was spacious and clean, with good water pressure, a tap, a shower head, and a rain shower. Shampoo, conditioner, and shower gel were provided. The flush was strong enough for toilet paper, so we didn’t need to put it in a bin. There was no bidet. Down at lobby level, the cafe lounge had a TV, coffee, sofas, tables, chairs, and recycling bins. There was also a toilet at reception that you could use after checkout. Luggage storage behind reception was in a large area watched by staff, and self-checkout was easy, just drop the card in the mailbox. The lift required a room card.

This was the worst hotel I’ve ever stayed at. My booked room clearly had sunlight, but they put me in a completely dark room where I couldn’t even fit my suitcase. They insisted it was an upgrade, even though there was no desk and barely space to move, and deliberately gave me the wrong room without admitting it. They even said they’d refund me if I wasn’t satisfied. It felt like dealing with gangsters. The person handling this seemed to be Chinese and in Korea, and was extremely rude toward Chinese people. I don’t know where they got the nerve. The room smelled strange and unpleasant, the soundproofing was terrible, there was no elevator, and the air conditioning was freezing as soon as I walked in. Cooking fumes from the tall building next door were getting into the hotel, so the air felt really poor. There was never anyone at the front desk. This hotel has artificially inflated ratings on platforms like Xiaohongshu and Agoda in China. A lot of reviews there are abnormally high, including baffling claims that guests were upgraded to a completely different hotel. When nobody was at reception, I went looking for this supposed new building but couldn’t find it anywhere nearby. The owner wouldn’t answer when I asked. It was a scam, and the building didn’t exist.

I stayed at the Agf starting point. It wasn't bad.