Seoul Inn Hotel by the Designers

Getting around was easy, with a bus stop 1-4 minutes away and Yeoksam Station on Line 2 about a four-minute walk. The beds and pillows were very comfortable, and the simple free breakfast was tasty. The building has 12 floors but only one lift. I was there off peak, so it wasn't an issue for me. Some staff were cool but polite. There was no floor mat in the bathroom, though. Still a good hotel.

I'm three weeks into a four-week stay, and this has been my honest experience. My rating is 1.75/5. The biggest hassle was the toilet. It kept clogging and wouldn't flush properly, and I asked for it to be unclogged around ten times. Staff only recognized there was a problem after 2.5 weeks. I wasn't moved until week three, and then had to pack everything, leave it in the open lobby while the room was prepared, and unpack again later that day. There's no proper luggage storage area. Cleanliness has also been poor. The sheets and pillowcases often have so much dust that I use a sticky roller after housekeeping changes them. I've seen hair on the mattress under the bedding, and stains on the bedding and pillows. Housekeeping doesn't clean under the very dirty bed, and I've found previous guests' hairs on the floor and dust in the keyboards in rooms with two computers. In winter the AC remotes are taken away, so the room gets very hot after a shower. I don't want to open a window because there were two mosquitoes in my room even with the windows closed. I also couldn't check out through the hotel's "quick and easy food delivery" app because of technical payment problems. There are some positives: modern-looking fixtures, a fairly nice sink area, and a big TV that I never used. The hotel is close to the subway and convenience stores, and offers a simple free breakfast and drinks downstairs, like water and soda. But the walls and doors are thin, so outside noise is easy to hear. Staff don't speak English very fluently, and it's rare to get a smile or a welcome when returning to the hotel.

The room was larger than any I've stayed in before in Seoul, very clean, and had plenty of bath supplies. They also have car parking. We were visiting the Gangnam area for the first time, and the hotel is near Gangnam center and the airport bus route. From Incheon Airport we took one bus with luggage storage, which dropped us at Yeoksam station. It was convenient for visiting Gangnam's library and Complex Mall.

The bus stops right outside, and there are lots of restaurants and cafes around. Our triple room was very compact, so fitting three suitcases was a squeeze. The beds were very hard and not comfortable for me.