DW Design Residence

There’s nowhere to store your luggage. They just leave it in the middle of the room. I regretted booking this dump. The photos look nothing like what you find when you arrive, and I posted a video. The place looks like an abandoned house as you walk up. No one is at reception, and you have to call for the entry code. It’s farther from Hongdae Main Street than it seems. The bedsheets were stained, and sitting in the lobby, you can hear people using the toilet in their rooms. There was a family with a noisy child, and you can hear everything through the walls. Staffing hours are misleading. If you’re stuck in the basement, the Wi-Fi is weak and doesn’t connect to the hostel. The sink doubles as your shower. This is a hostel, not a three-star hotel. I’ve never seen such a dump, and the excellent reviews on Hotels.com feel fake. Avoid it.

The passcode lock was the only lock on the door, with no extra lock from inside. My first-floor windows were so high up that I didn’t bother opening them. The bathroom smelled bad even with the ventilator running the whole time. The place wasn’t very clean either: there was a ball of dust on the chair, and the shelf looked old. I’m usually easygoing about accommodations, but I was so disappointed that I nearly gave up the payment and moved out.

No one from the staff was ever around, and the front desk was unattended throughout our stay. The door’s keypad kept beeping and setting off its siren all night. It beeped after every button press, then the alarm kept cycling. Without a peephole, I couldn’t tell what was happening and was terrified someone was trying to get in. I got no sleep and felt unsafe. When I reported it, the property offered neither help nor a refund. Hotels should give you a safe place to rest, and this one did neither. I expected them to make it right, but they didn’t help at all. Very dissatisfied.

The good thing is the location: it’s on a quiet street in a busy district. Aside from that, I wouldn’t recommend staying here unless cleanliness isn’t important to you. The hotel is at least ten years old according to Google reviews, and it clearly needs renovation. I had to phone the receptionist, which was fine, but she only gave me the room number and code, with no checkout time or instructions for opening the door. The towels smelled bad, and there was no bath mat. There’s nowhere to put clothes in the shower, and the bathroom flooded for about ten minutes after I showered. The room didn’t feel clean, as if they only changed the sheets and vacuumed. It also smelled damp unless I left the AC running all day.