Background: Today is Chuseok - aka Thanksgiving Day in Seoul - the biggest 5-8 day holiday of 2006 in Korea, or so I've been told. Seoul seems to be empty... many people have returned to their home towns for the holiday.

So I'm suckin down my morning cup of java this morning and I stroll across this article in the Korea Times. I'll quote the jist of the article here:

'Ritz-Carlton Seoul is offering a 12,000 won room package, offering a one-night stay at its Deluxe room and complimentary used of the hotel’s swimming pool and fitness center. By adding 30,000 won, guests will be offered a breakfast buffet for two.'

It ain't so I thought to myself - W12,000 won ($12.00 USD) for a room at the Ritz Carlton in Seoul over the Chuseok holiday. It's gotta be a typo me thought... and so I put the paper down and had another cup of coffee.

But since everything is town is virtually closed... including the gym and the pools... maybe I better take a closer look-see at this one, I thought to myself. It would be nice to have a gym and a pool available over this holiday... and bars, and restaurants, and room service availalble at my beck and call.

And so I called the Ritz and spoke to a nice lady named Isabel, who put me on hold for quite sometime... but who eventually came back and confirmed to me that, yes, the Ritz has a 12K won rate thru the end of Chuseok (for those who don't know, the last day of Chuseok is this comming Sunday).

To reiterate, she confirmed the 12K won rate advertised in the Korea Times... there was NO MISUNDERSTANDING about that...and so I booked two nights beginning today, Oct.7th. As a matter of fact, we had a nice little conversation about what a good deal this was... and she stated, 'it's because the hotel is empty is time of year, sir.'

So I called my friend and told him about this deal... so he called up and booked it too... was quoted and confirmed at 12K won.

Anyway, 5 hours later my wheelie and I strolled up the rather steep hill to the Ritz... and the nice folks came running out to help w my bag.

Initially, my impression of this hotel was very positive. Five people offered to help me before I had even reached the front desk. But as luck would have it, the front desk couldn't find my reservation... but eventually my name did pop up in their system. So they swiped my credit card - when suddenly I noticed that 12K won had become 120,000 won. And so I began the routine of questioning the rate. According to the website, the cheapest rate that they had for these dates was 150,000 won. So immediately I knew that something had gone awry... (I knew that they didn't have a 120,000 rate on the web... and so suspected that someone had just conveniently added a zeroes to the previously quoted rate). The 120K rate was just 'all too convenient.'

Jack, the front desk manager was called in... and he kept repeating that it was not possible to have a 12k won rate... and I insisted that is was in the Times. Unfortunately, I didn't bring a copy of the article with me... but they strolled thru their own internal computer system and found a copy of the article I listed above. And there it was...12,000 won per nite for the Chuseok holiday.

The front desk manager strolled to the back to speak to the reservations manager... and after discussions, they both refused to honor the rate. I asked them to call Isabel who had previously confirmed my deal, and they did ringy dingy her at home. Initially she denied having quoted me the rate, but eventually admitted to the quote. (Let's make no mistake, this was a really nice lady when we initially chatted).

Anyway, even after confirming the rate with Isabel, both of the managers on duty still refused to honor the deal... but did offer me 'a really big upgrade' if I would accept the 120,000 won rate. I asked to speak to the general manager... but he was on Chuseok holiday, doncha know... and so the front desk declined to call him or give me his cell number, insisting that he would call me on Monday.

Call me on Monday, Mr. GM??? Gee thanks... I hope that you had a great Chuseok Mr. GM???

And so I essentially got kicked to the curb by manager Jack...

Anyway, I don't have particularly warm feelings about the customer service offered at the Seoul Ritz Carlton. It's their loss actually, cause I could have easily dumped $400 bucks in the restaurants, lounges, and room service. After all, Seoul is now considered by many to be the most expensive city in the world... now surpassing Osaka and London it is said.

So there you have it people... a newspaper advertising the special 12k won rate for the next three nites.

It's yours for that taking... if you're in Seoul for the next few days... and have more hutzpah than I did this date. LOL.

Cheers.