Hotel the Designers Cheongnyangni

The nearby subway is convenient, but being close to the subway/KTX station also means noisy mornings. There aren’t many interesting shops, malls, or places to eat within walking distance. I changed rooms once, yet there was still a faint smoke smell despite the hotel being described as non-smoking. The pillows didn’t seem clean, and the bed was a bit hard, with visible patches or stains and a not very white appearance. Housekeeping sometimes left the room dusty. They usually provided three bottles of mineral water daily, but toward the end of my stay there were days when it was forgotten or missing. On my last night, the blanket and bedsheet were slightly torn, which hadn’t been the case before.

My family and I stayed here, and it was awful. The room was small, cold, smelly, and stained all over. After we used the valve and shut it, the water kept running. The receptionist called it the best room in the hotel, but I don’t agree. We booked online and tried to get a refund, but they refused because of the online booking. I wouldn’t recommend this place to families.

I’m very unhappy with how rude the staff were. I booked six days and then an extra day. At 8:00 AM on November 16, I asked the receptionist clearly if I could stay in room 606 without checking out, and they said I didn’t have to leave or check out. There’s clear video recording of this. When I came back that evening, I called to confirm that checkout was from 12:00 to 3:00 PM, at 15,000 won per hour, or 45,000 won for three hours. I didn’t agree to that. A staff member came to the room demanding immediate payment. I said clearly I’d come down in another hour, but he kept insisting and was very rude. Then my friend went downstairs, and the same staff member demanded 60,000 won, even though they’d quoted me 45,000 won on the hotel landline. This felt like a scam, theft of property, and intimidation of a traveling guest. I hope people reading this never book here. All my conversations are recorded by video camera.

The suite upgrade was kind of them, and the room was very large, with armchairs and a massage chair. It also had towels, a hair dryer, toiletries, and dressing gowns. We paid 800 euros for 3 nights because we booked last minute, and the hotel is quite far from the city centre, though the station is just a few metres away, so getting into the centre is easy. For that price, there were some problems: sewage smell came from the drain beside the bed, so we had to seal it with plastic; the sink had very little water and was partly blocked; there was a kettle but only tea, no coffee. Even on floor 15, the noise was pretty bad, so we had to close the windows. Breakfast wasn’t the greatest either, to be honest.