R Guesthouse Jongmyo

The interior looked pretty nice, and the host was helpful. Getting there was the hard part: it's near the attractions, but the place was difficult to find and the surroundings felt a bit sketchy.

We got in late from the airport and found clear instructions waiting for us, including how to enter and details about the room and guesthouse. The stay at R guesthouse Jongmyo was comfortable, though it's tucked down a small side street and you need to know where you're going. At night, the logo lights up on the ground right in front of the entrance. The main bother was noise from other guests talking loudly in the corridor at midnight and again at 7am.

The neighborhood just around the guesthouse and to the north has an old-school, working-class Seoul feel, with little electronics shops and cheap haircuts nearby, ₩7000. The front desk was helpful, and my room and bathroom were clean with good climate control. The doors were loud, but I still slept through the night. My only real annoyance was the check-in system: I never got a reservation code, and it couldn't find my name, so someone at the desk had to look me up.

I liked having a kitchen to cook in or eat dinner, and the customer service was pretty good. The place is right in the heart of Seoul, so there's plenty to do and see outside. It was comfortable overall, though a bit hard to find at first and sometimes no one was at the front desk. The room felt humid, the hot water ran out quickly, and there was no dryer for the laundry machine.