Thank you for your feedback and information so far.
Originally Posted by
orbitmic
If you do a quick search you’ll find a few threads about the same which may be useful as well as some on individual hotels (Sofitel, fairmont etc) though unfortunately your budget will exclude those top end properties.
One thing I’d say is that in my experience, hotels in Japan and Korea (not only Accor) are very stingy about upgrades so I’d certainly avoid making any choice based on hoping for an upgrade, especially with only Gold status. Also note April is peak time so there may be quite a lot of hotels which are full anyway.
Originally Posted by
Goldorak
On top of that, the lower brands have no or limited upgrade possibilities.
I've had fairly good luck with upgrades (40-50%) in SE Asia (mainly Thailand and Malaysia) so I really appreciate you mentioning this. Will definitely avoid trying to play upgrade roulette and just book the best value room for us. Will look around further for each of the Ibis properties as well.
Originally Posted by
Babboon
What do you want to do when you're in Seoul?
Thank you so much for this very through breakdown. We will arrive late on a Monday evening at Gimpo Airport and have three full days in Seoul. One day will be a full DMZ tour (ideally through the American USO as they seem to include the tunnels, Demarcation Line and everything circumstances permitting). Another day will be Bukchon village, Ikseon-dong, Seoul Tower, 1-2 museums. We aren't keen on shopping or medical tourism. Am thinking for the third day maybe a day trip to Nari Island, Paju of or somewhere nearish Seoul. Will definitely look at reviews re: breakfasts at the Ibis's. I think it'll be fine for the missus. We can also have a look at breakfast spots nearish those hotels. Naver will definitely need to be downloaded (especially as we will probably rent a car to work our way towards where I used to teach and ultimately Busan). I take it Uber won't work for taxis. How is Kakao T in set up, rides, and pricing compared to regular taxis?