Superguy

I'm looking at staying there this weekend. Does the Grand King Corner Suite River View get lounge access as well, or do you have to get the executive version of it?

I'm only a gold, so no guaranteed access. What's my best option for breakfast? Should I get it included in the rate?

If there's no lounge access, I'm debating between an executive room and the suite. What would you suggest?

I've never stayed at a Conrad anywhere, so the prospect is exciting.

monahos

In my past stays there as a gold, I was always given lounge access and a river view room, upgraded from the most basic one. I cannot imagine a gold staying in a suite not getting lounge access.

Pick the Conrad breakfast option in the HH MyWays page, instead of the bonus points. If you don't get lounge access, that will let you have the excellent breakfast spread in the restaurant. If you get lounge access, the staff is usually trained to change your MyWay preference to bonus points (don't forget to change it back after your stay! I had no idea they could change my preferences permanently), so you can get both the lounge breakfast and the 1k bonus; you may or may not be able to have breakfast in the restaurant instead. The lounge breakfast is pretty good and varied enough to fill up even voracious eaters, however the variety in the restaurant is much greater.

As mentioned upthread, this hotel gets hectic on weekends due to local families on 'staycations' (I hate that word...) with their kids (an upscale version of what happens at Embassy Suites in the US on weekends), which, along with the fact this is one of the nicest city Conrads anywhere, might durably distort your expectations from future Conrads

As for the rooms, the standard ones are very nice. If it fits in your budget however, the corner suite will make for a more special stay, the much larger window area making the river a centerpiece rather than an afterthought.

Superguy

Ok, you convinced me. Unless my plane goes mechanical, Chase will cover the prepaid rate for the first night.

Hilton was having one hell of a sale - I got the suite (non-executive) for $225 USD plus tax. I'll have that for 2 nights. The rest of my stay isn't in Seoul, so that hotel will be a huge step down.

I was going to stay in an executive room at the Grand Hilton Seoul, but the niceness and the location of this one is so much better - especially since the price is virtually the same.

I'm really stoked for this. F on the way over, and a suite at the Conrad. Can't get much better. ^

Thanks for your input!

monahos

You can't go wrong at that price, especially with the first night free. The Conrad has a lower tax rate to boot, yielding more HH points for a given outlay.

Make sure you sign up for the Conrad bonuses floating around, two of which have been officially extended to 4/30/16:
- 2k per night
- 5k per stay 2 nights and up
- the 2/3/5k for 1st/2nd/3rd stay offer may or may not be alive, I can't find a link right now.

No comparison between a suite at this Conrad and an executive room at the Grand Hilton, this is easily 3 levels up and should get your trip started the right way

Superguy

My bad, I should have said $225 per night. The "free" night was trip insurance in case of a delay due to bad weather.

Done. Thank you very much! ^

I'm way excited. This is the first time I've been able to find a Conrad within my travel expense limit so this was an opportunity I couldn't pass up.

CMK10

Agreed, I stayed at both hotels and the room at the Conrad was in every way better than the room at the Hilton. The Hilton is still a very good hotel, which should highlight again how great this Conrad is.

coterie

First time at this hotel for upcoming stay in a week. I received a great rate with the flash sale for W220k for myself. When I tried to change the number of adults in the room to 2 adults the rate jumped to something like W250k. Is this normal for Conrads or for Hilton in general? (I am a long time Hyatt and received matching status and decided to try out this hotel instead of my usual Park Hyatt.)

stargold

It is usual for many hotels in Korea/Japan and indeed a number of other places in the world, not just the Conrad or Korea.

(For example, some hotels in Abu Dhabi/Dubai have a similar surcharge for 2 people, but others don't)

Superguy

You guys were right - it's an AMAZING hotel. Best Hilton property I've stayed at to date.

I didn't get the executive lounge access I wasn't upgraded. They wanted another $65 USD a night for that. Not worth it IMO.

Restaurant breakfast buffet was phenomenal. Only other one close to it that I've experienced was the Hilton Narita (that place sucks for the most part, but they have a darn good breakfast buffet).

I'd stay there again in a heartbeat. ^^

abaheti

Agreed. We tend to ignore it in the USA, but abroad the HH elite benefit of including spouse/etc for free (ie: book for 1 pax, but show up with 2) can mean actual cash savings on rates -- even ignoring benefits like lounge, free breakfast.

Richmond_Surrey

I stayed in Conrad Seoul during Easter, 4 nights. Booked King River View and was upgraded day before arrival to King River View Executive. Nice view from the room, you can watch sunrise and sunset, however in spring visibility is limited by smog coming from China.

Lounge is worth visiting between 17.00 and 19.00 for cocktails. Some hot food, a bit of cold, great desserts, alcohol. 5 minutes after 19.00 food and alcohol disappear and you only have cold and hot drinks left. I didn't have breakfast in lounge so can't comment on it. Food pictures are in the album, link at the bottom of the post. I had no problem with having breakfast in restaurant while staying in exec room. No one changed my preferences in my profile and no one said anything when I showed up at restaurant in the morning. They had my room number on the list.

Turn down service was a bit inconsistent. Didn't get any on first two days, then different level on other days. As other stated, hotel is almost brand new and very modern. I noticed some electrical glitches. Light in hall is automatic and when people walked on corridor it switched itself on, couple of times in the middle of the night.

Subway station is 10 minutes walk through shopping mall and tunnels. If you want to do sightseeing, I would advise to stay somewhere else in the city, as travel on public transport to central Seoul and main attractions can take up to 45 minutes one way. I took airport limousine bus from ICN, 6030. It took about 50 minutes to get to the hotel and it was first stop. On a way back bus was late, I was told it's usual, so take earlier bus to account for standard 15 minutes delay. I think it's much easier option than train + subway, no walking.

One word of caution: UK debit cards don't work in most ATMs in Seoul/Korea. I wasn't aware of it and was caught short of cash. Luckily had some USD and CHF and exchanged them in reception. I read that there are some ATMs that service UK debit cards but I didn't encounter them. It wasn't issue with my cards, I called my bank and they were fine. You can find more about it on internet.

In general very pleasant stay, came back with bag of different toiletries as usual ;-) I still prefer Conrad HK, next on a list is Conrad Tokyo.

King River View Executive




Nice bathroom with TV behind the mirror.




Sunrise from the room.


Night view from the room.


Rest of the pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/AZMTKL/C...7--JeE8-vTzgE#

gummibar

I will be arriving in ICN in Sept at around 10:30pm on SQ602. Does anyone know whether I can still make it to the shuttle bus to Conrad? If not, would you advice me to stay one night at Incheon (Grand Hyatt) then make my way to Conrad the next day or just take a cab to Conrad late at night?

teemuflyer

I believe the last bus leaves around 11:00 PM and the ride is a little short of an hour. If you want food and a nightcap, I'd do the GH, and make it over to the Conrad in the morning, as the bar at the Conrad closes at 12:00 AM or 1:00 AM depending on the evening and there isn't much else open nearby at that hour.

CMK10

FWIW, the restaurants at the GH close at 10 PM. I know this as I ended up there last month after a late arrival at ICN and was stuck eating overpriced room service.

Superguy

I'd take a cab into Seoul at that point. Try to find a flat rate taxi that caters to foreigners. You can get them as low as 65,000 KRW.