Aventine

haha
Never stay at JW Marriott Dongdaemun or W hotel then. Washlet less.

Shilla has Daerim, state of the art washlet toilets. The same used by Lotte hotel and GH Incheon. Wash and dry your butt 15 different ways (a mild exageration). Auto flush and lid too. Park Hyatt has an older Toto but it has the wireless panel. Works well enough too.

pricesquire

SO happy I can call you my client

Aventine

King of the Porcelain!

stargold

Okay, in an attempt to guide the conversation away from the toilet talk...

I need to decide where to "staycation" with the family when I'm next back in Seoul in early August.

GH would normally be the default choice, simply because of my Diamond membership and the outdoor pool (which doesn't require ridiculous extra charges unlike Shilla and the W). However, I hesitate because:

- Ridiculously crowded all around during summer peak
- Underwhelming hard product (esp the shower-over-bath arrangement in standard rooms)
- Lounge unremarkable and basically a street market atmosphere during cocktail hour
- FHR amenity is buffet for two at The Terrace, which - if you trust the Korean bloggers - is the worst 5-star hotel buffet by a significant margin, so next to useless
- Other FHR benefits overlap with my Diamond benefits.


For the same price (shockingly), I can go to the Shilla, which I have not stayed at yet. But my thoughts are:

- Much, much nicer rooms
- Hopefully not quite as crowded as the GH
- FHR benefit is a more useful USD100 F&B credit per stay (though doesn't go far in that place!)
- However, no access to the outdoor pool with a FHR package (you have to book one of the local packages which includes access, but then no FHR benefits)

So...

1. Am I just hesitating over an obvious choice, or is there still an argument to be made for the GH?
2. Does anyone know the typical FHR/Virtuoso experience at the hotel?
3. Does an upgrade into any of the categories above Business Deluxe (which would normally include club access) actually provide club access? I only ask because some non-chain hotels with the nicer club lounges will always charge extra, even if you are upgraded into a room that would otherwise provide it.
4. Is the indoor pool still nice? Am I likely to be mourning the lack of access to the (admittedly amazing looking) outdoor pool?
5. Any other obvious choices that I should think about?

Thanks!

Aventine

stargold

Thanks for the very helpful comments. But look what you've done - I've gone back to thinking about the GH! I just assumed the Shilla would get a more enthusiastic response.

I think the Executive corner rooms you're talking about are listed as Grand Deluxe rooms with mountain view? If so, I might as well just book it from the beginning as GH seems to be Diamond Central and I don't want to count on an upgrade. It's a pretty marginal rate difference.

Otherwise, I am also seriously considering booking the PH instead - any thoughts? I've only had breakfast there which I was impressed with, but unfamiliar with the rooms/facilities.

(Everything would be so much easier if I can just drag the whole family down out of the country, but they don't want to go far so I am stuck with the assortment of the mediocre offerings in Seoul )

Aventine

You should try Shilla. My Shilla and GH experiences are my own and not always replicable, right? What I know that's good and cool about Shilla.

- Parkview is still one of the top buffets in Seoul for any meal. Breakfast, lunch, brunch or dinner.
- they've got Samsung SMARTtvs and great HD channels. They even use it to welcome you to the hotel and more.
- the urban oasis thing is supposed to be very nice. Not as spacious as GH's outdoor pool but definitely one of the shiny new improvements there.
- their contemporary Korean restaurant is in Asia's top 20 from the San Pellegrino folks.
- the shuttle bus service is always courteous, prompt and free but sounds like you have cars.
- More street cred with your Korean family than Hyatt, if money isn't an issue and room cost is similar? Shilla is the ultimate Korean luxury hotel, bar none.

Yup. Grand Deluxe King rooms. I just call them by their former name (old habits die hard). They come with a mountain or pool and Han gang river view.

I usually stay at GH for work related reasons so going to Gangnam and COEX would be a traffic hell for me. I also hate that they have no self parking and charge you 30,000 won to park your car outside in a public lot (my own quibble). Cornerstone is a fine restaurant for breakfast and brunch. The rooms there are aging but comfortable. The pool there is quite small and the changing room is shared with the athletic and spa facilities. Can get crowded.

How about Park Hyatt Busan? That's a helluva nice hotel if you could get them down to Busan for delicious Busan hanwoo galbi and Haeundae! Every room is spacious, even the base ones. Consider the possibility .

Aventine

This post from the GH thread in the Hyatt forum might interest you stargold: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/25004394-post202.html

stargold

Thanks once again for the useful bits of information which is very informative, although I seem to be no closer to a decision

I have seen the summer pool policy - the concept of having to choose between date of check-in and date of check-out for using the outdoor pool seems ridiculous, but I know just how crowded it gets so I can't blame them.

Ultimately it seems to be my decision between GH because family keen on the outdoor pool (and I can't really justify the cost of Urban Island at Shilla), or better overall product at Shilla but no access to an outdoor pool. If I can establish that FHR upgrade includes club access, it would sway things further in its favour, but not sure about this.

PS. I just realised I would feel utterly gutted if I went for GH and it rained

Aventine

Monsoon season, hence, it is very likely to happen in August. Conrad Seoul's policy is equally dumb too. One hour during your stay, that's it AND they charge for fitness center and spa usage.

What sways me about GH vs. Shilla if money is relative is the humanity at GH Seoul. The Shilla staff feel like robots. At least the Bell men and Grand club staff have some sort of jovial interaction but Shilla's staff are like Korean Air flight attendants - prim, proper but kind of soul-less. They do their jobs with a certain sense of superiority since they work at Samsung owned Shilla hotel. At least as a Diamond and frequent guest, the staff know me at GH and do their best for me. Shilla, I was just another 2 day weekend guest.

The Shilla GM didn't really give me time of day when my Executive room flooded with a clogged drain. Just cursory apologies (in Hangul) and a free hotel car ride to PH. I was livid and still really haven't forgotten that. I guess I shouldn't expect him to speak English but you would think Lee Boo Jin would pick a bilingual (partially?) Korean ajeoshi to be her GM.

Kagehitokiri

what about banyan tree?

do any seoul hotel pools not sell memberships?

great details Aventine including your posts in linked thread

stargold

At USD 7k per room for my dates... ever so slightly priced out
But did you also see the generous size of the pool, at 8m x 14m? I think all Seoul luxury hotels sell fitness club memberships, which in turn give access to the pool, so I doubt it.Very helpful indeed - and I'm quite convinced he actually lives at GH SEL and PH PUS

Kagehitokiri

so BT only showing presidential online. if you contact hotel, availability may be different.

when does new four seasons open? September?
http://www.fourseasons.com/seoul/ser...cilities/pool/

edit - what are member crowds like at banyan tree? has outdoor pool.

Aventine

Ahh, Banyan Tree Seoul. The hotel with pools in the rooms. Might as well pick your zoo! I'd rather be at Shilla than Banyan Tree if I had to be in Jangchung-dong.

Why not consider JW Marriott Dongdaemun? No outdoor pool?

Late September to early October and it's another membership based fitness and spa as well.

PanAmWT

I am going in late August during the big holiday long weekend. Location-wise the best property is Ritz-Carlton. I am surprised that there seem to be no direct comments on this hotel even though there were several specific inquiries. Would appreciate any info.