Shilla Stay Samsung COEX Center

We got to the hotel around 1 p.m. to leave our luggage, and Rose kindly let us into a room just 15 minutes later. The lobby staff were helpful, offering complimentary coffee or tea and water while we waited, and their English was quite good. The hotel looks lovely, right across from the huge Coex mall, in an area full of high-rises and skyscrapers. My only gripe is that the rooms could be better soundproofed. I enjoyed my stay and recommend it if you like shopping.

As a woman traveling alone on my first trip to South Korea, I felt safe and comfortable here. I really liked my room and its city view, and the location was fantastic, right across from the mall and very close to the subway. I’ll definitely be back to South Korea, and I highly recommend Shilla Stay Samsung.

The construction noise and dust go on 24 hours, so being told to open the window when the centrally controlled AC is off at night is ridiculous. You have no control over the temperature in the day either. They offered a fan and cheap earplugs that didn’t work well. Even the corridors and lift lobby felt like a sauna in the middle of the day. There were loose shower faucet fittings and towel hangers, and the partial shower partition let water splash into the dry toilet area. They use paper cups in the toilet and pantry, and there were only two power sockets in the room besides the toilet. I’ve been to Seoul often for work, but this was my most ridiculous stay. I’d always thought Korean hospitality was top-notch, and this hotel completely changed that impression. I’ll stay far away from any “Shilla Stay” hotels in future.

Everything else about this property is great, but the air conditioning policy made our stay miserable. Like others have said, they turn it off at night, and my room reached 30 degrees Celsius. Staff moved us to another room and brought fans, which helped, but telling guests to open a window isn’t a solution. I don’t blame the staff, but I do blame corporate for this misguided policy. When I asked when the AC would run full time, they said “around June”. That’s unacceptable, and plenty of other guests were complaining too. Please do better.