SkiAdcock

First Autograph Collection in South Korea.

http://news.marriott.com/2015/09/aut...uth-korea.html

"THE PLAZA, a member of the Hanwha Hotels & Resorts brand, will join Autograph Collection Hotels, Marriott International’s exclusive portfolio of hotels recognized for celebrating bold individuality. The contract signing ceremony took place today and the strategic alliance will become effective in early 2016.

THE PLAZA is located in the center of Korea's historical district, nearby sites including Deoksugung Palace, Gyeongbokgung Palace and Sungnyemun Gate. Seoul’s 600-year history and rich culture is an essential part of THE PLAZA’S guest experience and design aesthetic. The hotel is located across from City Hall and Seoul Plaza and is close to important financial institutions and corporations."

Cheers.

SkiAdcock

Now open. Category 7. Has an executive lounge (18th floor)! Also has something I've not seen before. Deluxe Triple Room (3 single/twin beds) as one of its room types. Also has 9 different type of suites. Hotel has 22 floors.

"THE PLAZA Seoul is Korea’s premier luxury boutique business hotel, combining contemporary style with ultimate convenience in the heart of downtown Seoul. World-renowned Italian interior designer, Cuido Ciompi utilized a series of indigenous patterns, colors and natural elements to create an ultra modern hotel celebrating Seoul’s rich history and traditions. The Plaza boasts a beautiful array of artwork, including traditional Korean craftwork and premium design items by famed Korean artists. Hotel restaurants include TAOYUEN, a Chinese restaurant featuring modern Shanghai-style cooking; MURASAKI, a Japanese restaurant that combines modern techniques with simple and casual Neoclassic Kaiseki; and TUSCANY, an Italian restaurant helmed by Michelin-star head chef Maurizio Ceccato."

This room features Club lounge access
Open: Sun-Sat, Open: 0630 - 2200
Complimentary food:
- afternoon tea
- hors d'oeuvres
- dessert
Complimentary non-alcoholic beverages
Honor bar
Business services, for a fee
Complimentary pressing, 1 garments per night
Club Level located on the 18th floor.
Enjoy express check-in and check-out.
Complimentary use of sauna.
Free conference room rental up tp 2 hours.

Hotel website:

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/trave...ph-collection/

GateGuardian

I'm thinking of staying here in September. Does anyone know if this hotel is close to subways and other tourist attractions?

SkiAdcock

Website says

Subway Station
City hall Station 0.1 miles W
Located in the major transportation hub, direct connection to subway station(1 minute on foot)

Few minutes on foot from the hotel, one of the five palaces of Korea’s last dynasty, the Joseon.

THE PLAZA is located in the center of Korea's historical district, nearby sites including Deoksugung Palace, Gyeongbokgung Palace and Sungnyemun Gat

Local Attractions
Deoksugung Palace
Bukchon Hanok village: Traditional residential area and entertainment
COEX
Jogyesa: Center of Zen Buddhism in Korea
Gyeongbokgung Palace
DDP (Dongdaemun Design Plaza)
Changdeokgung Palace with Secret Garden
N Seoul Tower
Hangang River Cruise
63 Square : Aquarium, Duty free mall, Observatory, Entertainment

SkiAdcock

Received an email re: a promo at the property. However, not sure it applies to everyone.

"From November 16, 2016 - March 31, 2017, earn triple Marriott Rewards® points with every stay, 7 days a week. Plus, we offer free access to THE PLAZA Fitness Club and swimming pool.

Offer is for intended recipient only and may not be transferred or forwarded."

When I click on the book now, it takes me to a page where I can book but to the right of it, it also says 'email this deal to a friend'. So if someone is interested in taking advantage of it, PM me your email address & I can presumably email you the deal/then presumably you'd be eligible for the promo.

I literally have no idea why I received this email/promo as I've never been to Seoul & have no plans to go there at this point.

Cheers.

MSPeconomist

IIRC this is the modern hotel located on the sort of square under the Westin Chosun, as you walk toward the palace and public library. There's an underground passageway with shops as you go to the subway which allows you to avoid crossing some busy streets.

I've walked to the main train station, which has the ICN airport train, but I wouldn't want to do this with much luggage.

stargold

1. Hotel is excellently located for tourists. Basically, everything that people say about the Westin Chosun location also applies to the Plaza, as it is just across the street.

2. IIRC the lower category rooms are very small - hopefully they will give decent upgrades to Plats.

3. The hotel is just a short cab ride from Seoul station, so if you will be travelling during peak traffic hours this may be better than the KAL Limousine Bus (which is usually the most convenient option).

calvinoeh

Wonder if the Plaza a better option than the Westin?

transportprof

The food is better at The Plaza. But the rooms are better at The Westin, generally speaking.

SkiAdcock

A FT friend just sent me a trip report after his stay there last week.

"SUMMARY

Just completed a 5 day stay at the Plaza Seoul, Autograph Collection, over the Chinese New Years holiday. This was our 5th trip to Seoul but the first at the Plaza which only joined Marriott last year. Seemed that the hotel was literally sold out for the entire stay and the Exec Lounge/Club was packed.

Arrival ICN - now easy to take the train from ICN to Seoul Station. Two trains, one an Express (37 min) at $8 and another with stops (53 min) at $5 (if you buy only one way they charge an extra $0.50 but you can get the deposit back upon arrival at either end) or via Bus 7501 ($16 each way, over 60 min). Although I had reached out to the hotel to provide its name and address in Korean, and although this hotel has been in the very center of the City opposite City Hall for 25 years, our taxi driver had no idea where this hotel was and had to GPS it !

Five minute taxi ride ($4) from Seoul Station to the hotel. Marriott ID: except for a Autograph Collection plague on the front door I saw no other identification throughout this entire property being associated with Marriott. Was informed prior to arrival to checkin at the Club level and as a Platinum had been approved for early checkin (arrived ICN at 0930) and that we had been upgraded to Premier Suite (but before anyone jumps up and down their suites are only 40SM vrs their business and deluxe rooms which are 30SM but the extra 10SM was very welcome).

Checkin at their Club was expedited and they immediately asked about choice of PAG and provided a tourist map along with answering questions like how to get to Myeongdong (cosmetic area) using the underground as it was -11C. When asking about the small Deoksudung Palace across the street they provided 2 comp entrance tickets (although entry is only $1, and free if over 65). Staff remembered my name each day at breakfast. Late checkout - proactively asked if I needed a 4PM checkout, but due to flight time only asked for 1330.Protesters - for and against Park on opposite side of the street. Protests against US installation of THAAD down the street. Noisey but without violence.

Breakfast until 10AM - only in the lounge ($30/person if you want restaurant). Must use key card to get breakfast in lounge. Only 12 2 person tables along with couches, if you want to eat sitting on the floor! The hotel was sold out and the staff needed roller skates to keep up with demand (clients were mostly Japanese). No egg station, or similar, so everything pre cooked. Bagels surprised me but ask for cream cheese along with platters of smoked salmon. Saw folks entering when the lounge was full asking to go to restaurant but were just told to return in 15 minutes so even when packed restaurant option not available.

Bathroom- Hermes bath products. Both an oversized rainshower and tub.

Lounge in Evening - from 5-9PM with food served until 7:30/8PM. Two reds, 2 whites and an Italian bubbles (no hard stuff) with 2 hot dishes.

Lounge during the day - open, with various cakes and fresh fruit although they ran out of strawberries on day 2.

Shuttle bus - 3 times a day (10;30, 1300, 1500) - first stop larger Gyeonghuigung Palace, second stop is old Hanock City and third stop, unknown

Pros - location, location, location. The 4 lifts serving the 22 floors don't take more then 5 seconds to reach you. Lounge staff are excellent but really needed roller skates. No children allowed in lounge at any time (same at other Seoul hotels, but here, actually enforced). Anything you needed fixed, gets immediate attention. Wife liked the heated toilet seats.

Cons - lounge seating very uncomfortable for me at 6'2" as I felt I was sitting on the floor. Limited lounge seating. Hallways are very poorly lit. Clothes closet/safety box ante room very poorly lit."

SkiAdcock

Here's info re: The Club (their name for exec lounge pre Marriott days) & other information via a document provided at check-in. The FTer sent me an image, but I couldn't get it to display properly so will rekey the info (you're all welcome).

CLUB LOUNGE

Club Lounge Hours: 6:30am-10:00pm, 18F

Continental Breakfast: 6:30am-10:00am
Afternoon Tea 11:30am-5:00pm
Happy Hour 5:00pm-9:30pm (hors d'oeurves 6:00-8:00pm)
Evening Snack 9:00pm-10:00pm

Breakfast is only available in the lounge. For breakfast at the buffet restaurant, The Seven Square, the additional fee (W30,250/person, including VAT & service charge) will be charged.

Personalized check-in and check-out service

Lounge Conference Room (8 persons): 2hours/day, max 4hrs/day for group staying guests (subject to availability)

Complimentary club access is for guests staying at club room. For additional guests, will be charged as following:

Continental Breakfast W38,000/person (including VAT & service charge)
Afternoon Tea W17,000/person (including VAT & service charge)
Happy Hour W40,000/person (including VAT & service charge)

Children under 13 are not allowed to access

ADDITIONAL PRIVILEGES

Complimentary laptop rental

The Plaza Fitness Club - access to sauna, swimming pool, gym. Weekdays 6:00am-10:00pm, Sundays/Holidays, 7:00am-9:00am, located in the Annex, 16F, Closed on 3rd Friday of month

Complimentary regular laundry service: 1 shirt/blouse through day (non-accumulative during stay)

Complimentary wired/wireless in room. Access to 'plaza_guest' with room number and last name.

Room amenity: Hermes, Nespresso coffee machine

SPECIAL OFFERS FOR MARRIOTT GOLD/PLATINUM ELITE MEMBERS

Hotel F&B 20% Restaurant discount, Laundry 20% discount, The Belle Spa 20% discount

Complimentary access to 1 additional guest accompanying with a member (Sharon's note: think this refers to exec lounge access)

vishalgupta22

I have some pros and a con to add:
Pro: Internet consistently clocked about 50 MBPS, Welcome (The moment you step inside the door, someone takes care of your baggage, staff is extremely courteous), Extremely nice bidets.
Con: Concierge is average at best. Their knowledge of anything which is not touristy is extremely limited. For example they couldn't find us a coin laundry and told there were none close by (tried multiple concierge). On the other hand, the guys at Courtyard (5 mins walk) happily found us a coin laundry. Also in terms of tourist advice CY Concierge was way more knowledgeable.

nldogbert

Hi,

I had a one night paid stay at this property.

Location: Located right in front of Seoul City hall and square, it is very well located especially for first time tourist and even repeat visitor to Seoul. There is a metro stop just outside of the hotel, but basically you can walk to different attractions within 2 km of the hotel radius. Close to the Namdaemun market area.

Check-in: Initially approached the front desk for check-in, but upon knowing that I was an Elite member, was escorted to the lounge (18th floor) for check-in. Fast and efficient check in with a run down of the benefits at the lounge.
Was informed that I was "upgraded to a room with a view of the plaza and the nearby Palace.

Room: A corner room with a close to 180 deg view of different attractions. (becareful this can be an issue if you are too sensitive to noise as it faces traffic, the occasional protest marches, and other street noise) - which I had no issue with and they normally ended by 10pm. Room was very beautifully decorated - a modern twist to the room which was functional (might not be a taste for all). Size was OK - though I had the Premium Suite room reserved. I did have a peek at the normal rooms and they are small. I do not really agree to how they categorize the rooms, as mine was far from being even a mini suite. I would say it was more of a Premium room - which would have been a better categorization. There seem to be a fireplace that can be used during the winter months. TV channel options were good and the bed was very comfortable. There is a tablet like control for everything in the room. One unique feature not seen often, is that the curtains will automatically close and open when the key card is removed when leaving the room.

Bathroom: Not very large and might even be too small when 2 are in the area. Functional with a walk in shower or bathtub (again on the smaller side). There is the Japanese/Electrical type toilet which is a smart one - flushes every time you have use it (you need to sit on it). Toiletries were from Hermes (not sure if this is only for Premium rooms).

Executive lounge: The lounge is not very large, in a long type of layout instead of a larger square type layout. There are different small spread between the main meal times.
This is where in my opinion as a 5 star hotel, failed miserably. I was warned of how busy it will be, and therefore, they tried to avoid this by splitting the evening session into 2. I selected the 2nd option and even that, arriving at that time, no proper table was available and lots of guests turned away and requested to return later or they will call their room. I opted to just sit at the couch area and shared the area with other guests. This is situation is still understandable, though they should not sell so much access or arrange a better arrangement if they know they will not be able to cope (e.g. let guest with access to have other options at other F&B outlet of the hotel).
However what was totally unexpected was the quality of the food - a total failure. I do not know in which country are chicken nuggets, cheese sticks and just plain pasta covered in tomato sauce seen as a quality meal fit for an executive lounge. I can understand that they will need to do fast food refill, but just serving those items in the lounge is just not acceptable unless you are at some fastfood chain or some children party. Did not bother to complain, but just could not believe my eyes.

Breakfast: I had this in the lounge which for me was a good selection of Asian and Western choices.

Staff: In general, as expected all staff were friendly and helpful especially with the crazy service charges in Korea. (that is why tipping is not needed in Korea)

Gym/Spa/Sauna: These facilities are located in their annex building - I guess some people will feel this as an inconvenient especially during the winter months where you need to get out of the hotel cross the street to the next building.

Elite benefit: As a Plat, upgraded to a better room with a view, given lounge access, one free clothing item per day laundered, late check-out. As stated by others, if you want to have breakfast at the restaurant, you will have to pay extra.

Generic: In general, not too bad of a hotel. For the price/quality paid, I would say it was slightly on the expensive side especially the size of the room and quality of the food. I would actually give this hotel a 3.5 rating based on my experience. However from location point of view, this would still be a good choice in Seoul for a luxury hotel.

Cheers!

SkiAdcock

Thanks for the update on this & other Seoul properties.

Cheers.

Srisarin

over the last 5 years we've made 3 leisure trips to Seoul spending 5-nights each at the JW (the older one), the Renaissance (which is no longer within the family) and lately the Plaza.

Due to its prime location and despite the potential price difference, if we returned to Seoul we'd opt for the Plaza due to -

- Easy access via Airport Express and short taxi ride (although the drivers still know the hotel only as the Plaza)
- Status recognition (suite upgrade)
- Crowded lounge but they still found us seats (note shifts when over crowded)
- Underground access to night market shopping and dining (last trip was in winter so desired)
- Tourist sites start across the street or easy 5-min taxi away