Koreana Hotel

The staff were very polite and helpful. They even found and booked us a great strawberry-picking place just outside Seoul, and I'd stay here again. Our room had two double beds, plenty of space, and a bathtub. The facilities felt classy, the room was comfortable, and breakfast was good quality with barista-made coffee included. Some fixtures were a little old: our shower head leaked a bit, and the tub plug didn't seal fully, so we had to keep topping up the water. The location is very central, and parking was an affordable 10k won a day without valet, with valet also available. It was a bit pricey for me, though that seemed in line with Seoul prices and the location. The carpark entrance is steep and very tight. You may need a little running start to get up without losing traction, especially in wet weather. Once inside, just drive slowly. If you're not confident behind the wheel, I'd pay for valet.

We could walk everywhere we wanted to go in under 20 minutes during our short stay, so we didn't need to use public transport. The location was the best part. The service was good, and the hotel always smelled clean when we walked in. Our room was cleaned and made up while we were out exploring. The rooms are a bit dated, and the place was always busy while we were there.

The good parts were the location, the comfortable firm bed and pillows, the huge wardrobe, and the laundry facilities. The toiletries were fabulous too, high quality and smelling divine. The room was much less appealing. The carpet was filthy and stained, and fluff stayed there for days, so it wasn't vacuumed daily. The surfaces were still dusty. The furnishings were old, and one chair's upholstery was coming apart. The room was unbearably hot and the temperature wouldn't go below 23 degrees. Reception brought an electric fan and showed us how to open the window for ventilation, but then we got street noise. There was only one side table, and the bed was almost against the wall. I had to shift it over to fit the single chair down the side, then use that as a bedside table. Breakfast was ridiculously expensive at $48 AUD per person, so we bought things from the convenience store next door. The lifts also took ages to reach our floor. No one showed us to our room or helped with our cases.

Make sure you check your room booking. I forgot I'd reserved a room with two double beds at check-in, and was given a one-bed room instead. The front desk confirmed my reservation and switched me to the right room when I went back. Later, another letter arrived asking me to come confirm the reservation again, which felt a bit disorganized. The first room was also very different from the two-double-bed room.