Plein Hotel

I was in Seoul for a business trip. The subway station was far enough away to make walking there tough on hot days. I did find a reasonably priced chicken place about a 15-minute walk away, and the chicken was delicious. The room could have been cleaner, but otherwise I had no major issues.

Before deciding to stay here, look up "Konkuk University Blang" on Yanolja or Yeogiyotte and read how the owner replies to low-star reviews. I don't understand the point of running a business if customer feedback just gets blamed on the customer instead of leading to fixes. I booked through one of those sites and left a one-star review. Whatever the reason, the owner reported it for copyright infringement, apparently because it made them feel bad. The review was hidden for a month, and I had to ask for it to be reposted after that. Once it was back up, the owner could no longer report it. It feels like consumers are allowed not to offend anyone, but aren't allowed to know what they're booking. My room layout didn't match the one I'd reserved. When I asked the receptionist about it, they said everything was in the photos. The air conditioner was broken, so I wrote that in my review, but they denied it. You can decide for yourself whether what I'm saying is made up. I don't need to write any of this here, but I wanted to share what happened.

The Secret Garden didn't look anything like the photos, and I wouldn't book it. The bathtub was broken, the sink kept leaking, the barbecue grill was dirty, and the lighting was so dim I had to rely on a single headlight. The place wasn't especially clean either. If you want that room, that's your choice, but I'd spend the money somewhere else. I booked two nights, but ended up unable to stay in the Secret Garden and switched to a Party Room. Truly the worst.

I booked this place to spend time with friends. It looked different from the photos, the facilities fell short, and they hadn't even provided basic amenities. The missing emergency flashlight was just the icing on the cake.