Le Meridien Hotel Seoul
Both my wife and I live quite far away from the wedding venue (Lotte Hotel Jamsil) as well as Cheong Dam Dong (where we have to do our make up before the wedding). The thought of driving early Saturday morning to the hotel as well as make up studio made us both exhausted.
Thus, I began my search for a hotel in Gangnam District, which was a reasonable distance to both the wedding venue as well as the make up studio. As a legacy SPG Ambassador, I will prefer staying at legacy SPG Hotels due to their staff/front desk being able to recognize and deliver the same SPG service prior to its merger to Marriott.
After some consideration, we decided to book the Le Meridien Hotel since this is one of the few full service hotel in Gangnam District.
Room booked: Classic King, Guest Room, 1 King, City View
Room received: Studio Suite, 1 King, City View
This was a former Ritz-Carlton Seoul and completed renovation in September 2017 and the hotel lobby and the main entrance is a 5 minutes walk from Sinnonhyeon Subway Station (currently as of February 2019 – the area near the subway station is conducting massive construction. However the noise and the construction was some distance away from the hotel).
The hotel lobby is on top of a small hill and the hotel entrance and it’s a typical Le Meridien hotel and design (very chic design and entrance). The check-in was very efficient with a dedicated Elite Member check-in desk at the right corner of the main lobby. The staff recognized my Ambassador benefit and presented me to choose one of the welcome amenity:
- 1,000 Points
- Breakfast at the Terrace Buffet
- Welcome Gift
Also they informed me that I was upgraded to the Studio Suite – which I was quite thankful for since my wife and I had a total of 4 check in carriers and 2 carry on luggage. The Studio Suite King was on the small end but it was sufficient for one night at circa 500 sq feet.
As you walk in you have the closet, mini bar, fridge on your left hand side. I loved their hangers - it was extremely nice and sturdy for winter coats.
Since it is a Studio, the half of the section has a sofa, small table and a TV
The other half the room was a King Size bed. Right next to the bed was an USB Plug as well as universal power plus (I'm still not 100% sure why some hotels haven't upgraded to these yet)
As you turn right from the hall way you will see a sink, shower and a toilet. As typical Le Meridien fashion, all the toiletries are Malin + Goetz.
I'm a huge fan of bidet!!
My Ambassador informed the hotel that I was traveling for my wedding and my honeymoon. So the hotel did prepare some bottle of wine as well as some cheese!
The room was sufficient for one night and with the location (around major tech and finance companies), it works great for business traveler.
As Ambassador, I was entitled to use the Club Lounge which offered breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and happy hour drinks. The food and drinks were decent in comparison to lounges in the US and the service was extremely attentive. I wouldn't spend all my time in the lounge but it was extremely quiet post breakfast as well as lunch time to work and make couple calls. The afternoon tea as well as happy hours were filled with guests who were enjoying their drinks and taking numerous photos.
Since it was a day before our big day, both the wife and I did not do anything crazy (just a quick drink and a couple massage). Next day we woke up early circa 7am and headed down to Terrace Buffet on Ground Floor for breakfast. The breakfast was a buffet with a combination of Korean, Eastern and Western cuisines (apologies no photos) but from memory:
- Korean
- Chinese
- Japanese
- Western
- Fruit
- Fresh Juice Counter
- Coffee/Tea Counter
- Salad
For breakfast the offering was immense and tasted much better than the Sheraton Seoul Palace Gangnam. After a checking out, we called the taxi to leave our luggage in Lotte Seoul Jamsil and prepared for our big DAY!!
After a chaotic 9 hours.... all was a quick blur! Now 100% ready for the honeymoon!!
Wedding Photo