shelby101

Was just there in a renovated room. They told me all renovated rooms were like mine. Small like European rooms, Round table with at sofa and no close outlets for working. One outlet in area and others across the room.
As a Globalist have come to expect more than what they gave.
Think the new design is bad for anyone doing business. I have several issues and the room manager of the day said she would give 5000 points for inconvenience. Now after 2 weeks got an email saying the new Room manger is not coming till April and may give points sometime in Mid April. No one at the hotel has authority to provide any compensation at this time.
Extremely poor customer service and extremely lousy new room configuration.

Aventine

I got stiffed 5000 points here too years ago.

geewhy

I will have a two-day connection in Seoul, arriving ICN early morning on first day and leaving from ICN late evening on 2nd day. I'm debating between GH Seoul and GH Incheon. A few questions to help me decide:

- Early check in: which hotel might be more generous in terms of early morning check in? I assume it might also depend on occupancy which is a Saturday.
- I plan to book with points and then apply a club access award, I could also use my cat 1-4 Free Night cert, but then club access award can't be applied to free night booking.
- Which hotel would be more convenient to get to tourist sites using public transportation?

VegasGambler

Incheon is far from Seoul.

If you actually want to see the city, stay in Seoul. Budget significant time to get to/from the airport (similar to flying out of NRT in Tokyo, if you've been there -- 80-90 minute drive in "good" traffic. Could be up to 2hrs if traffic is bad)

The GH is unfortunately not near a subway station. You can walk to one, but it's a steep uphill climb on the way back. There is a fairly convenient bus stop. Also, taxis in Seoul are SUPER CHEAP. This makes it difficult to get them during peak times (the government controls the prices, and keeps them too low, so demand far outweighs supply). Getting one from the hotel is easy, getting one back to the hotel (particularly at night when people are leaving bars and restaurants) is a challenge; understand how to get back using the bus if you need to. It can take over an hour to get a cab at night.

Google maps does not work in Korea, so don't plan to rely on it. Places are there and GPS works, but the data is bad and directions don't really work. This is due to the government classifying their map data as a national security secret.

Public transit signs are not really in English. Figuring out what's going on with the buses is non-trivial. Google translate (picture mode) can be a big help.

Despite what people say, almost no one speaks English, especially when you leave Itaewon. Not a problem at the hotel (they speak english there) but be prepared to point at pictures on menus.

geewhy

Thank you VegasGambler. I will go with GH Seoul. I was hoping to rely on Google map for public transportation. But now it seems taxi may be the way to go or maybe Uber?

Aventine

Uber operates sparingly and is pretty much banned. Normal taxis are the way to go.

krazieman

I'm checking in Apr 3, decided not to burn a DSU. Sounds like maybe I should be using one?

Aventine

I wouldn't bother. Their Grand Executive suite isn't really grand at all. Unless you have DSUs to spare?

krazieman

Thanks for the advice. No, I'm actually looking to conserve DSUs. I'm burning a DSU for the GH Taipei for 5 nights right before and have to use another 2 for Austin and Nepal.

VegasGambler

The subway is definitely usable, even not knowing Korean. I can't remember if google maps will give you public transit directions (I was there over a year ago). I think it does, but I remember that it wasn't very good. It can definitely help though. If you search online you can read about Google's fight with the Korean government to be able to provide a decent map product. There is a Korean map app too... I think it might work better.

For the bus, the stops are mostly (not all) labeled in English. The bus drivers generally do not speak English. It's possible to use (I figured it out) but I recommend doing some research before you go out. It's much more difficult than somewhere like Tokyo where Google maps will make it extremely easy to navigate.

Cabs really are the way to go, but, again, if you plan on catching one at a peak time, have a backup plan. One night I just could not get a cab and ended up having to wait 40 minutes for a bus to get back to the hotel (it was near the end of the schedule). Not the end of the world... but I honestly do not know what I would have done if it had been later and the buses had stopped running.

I had a great time though. Seoul is an amazing city and fun to explore. Great food and I really enjoyed the local booze.

rwm818

Agree with this - I just was there. Was hoping maybe for some improvement after the renovation.
What they call a "suite" is actually just a large room - which does help since the regular rooms are so small.
But the suite just has a divider cabinet in between the bed area and the living area. There aren't even doors to separate the 2 areas like you would expect on a suite.

I do like the new Club arrangement - down on the LL level. Much larger area and nice service - more hot items, etc. Rather then the old "2 club" system on the 15th/17th floors
Other than that, the renovation really didn't seem to change things much...oh well

krazieman

Good to know. Checking in 4/3. Suite is not available on 4/3 but available for the rest of my nights. I may still go downstairs the second night and ask for a suite.

Aventine

The only proper suites are the ultra premium ones like the Presidential suite. The new GC is much, much nicer.

rwm818

The Hyatt runs a shuttle - from 10 am to 9 pm. It's not continuous - runs only on the hour. It's fairly convenient, although for my longer stay I wished it started earlier and ran later (9 am to 10 pm would be much better!)
The shuttle can drop you either right at Itaewon subway station - or Myeongdong subway (the main downtown shopping area)

Taxis are ok, but you do need the Korean translation for destinations. Also, as I was just reminded - on rainy days it can be a ..... to get a taxi. Coming back after a nice dinner in Gangnam - we had to take one of the super expensive "black" taxis.

MSPeconomist