Luxury Hotels in Seoul
 

I'm going to be in Seoul for five days and am beginning my research for luxury/boutique hotels in the center of Seoul. I am definitely open minded, but I did find it curious that the following brands have no presence in Seoul:

- Four Seasons
- Mandarin Oriental
- Shangri La
- Peninsula

Any idea why?

While I don't have the answer to your question, here is a list of hotels in Jongno/Myeongdong/Namsan, which are roughly in the center of the city but north of the river:

THE PLAZA hotel

Grand Hyatt Seoul

Lotte Hotel

Shilla Hotel

Gangnam, center but south of the river:

Park Hyatt Seoul

Ritz-Carlton Seoul

JW Marriott Seoul

There are also luxury "hanok" (traditional korean houses) if that is your taste.
Here is an example of one: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/517829

I am not sure why they are not in Seoul but Seoul itself does not have very many luxury hotels in general. Either due to geography or political reasons it has limited the availability of top end hotels.

It is too bad really because Seoul could really use a few more decent hotels in the area.

Having said that, the ones that are here offer very good service.

I looked in the luxury hotel forum to see if the topic had come up reasonably recently. Here is what I found:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/luxur...est-hotel.html - has reports into 2012

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/luxur...tel-seoul.html

However that doesn't speak to why the brands you are interested in aren't there. If you would like this thread moved to the Luxury Hotel forum where such topics are discussed, please use the little red triangle to make the request. Of course, you can feel free to leave it here just as it is.

There should be a separate thread to "hanok". I think this would be an awsome way to spend your time in Korea, the traditional way.

It definitely is. I had the opportunity to stay in one, near a famous mountain. The place even had the old fashioned underground furnace that would heat the entire floor. If you're looking for a hanok in Seoul, Bukchon would be the best place.

I've seen a few bigger sauna/spa complexes in the provinces that feature this kind of cabins.

I am having a hard time deciding between the Park Hyatt and the Westin Chosun. The Park Hyatt seems the better hotel, but its location suffers. Is it that bad?

I suppose it depends on where you need to be in the city. Westin Chosun is practically in the center of the city while the Park Hyatt is located south of the river in the trendy Gangnam and next to the COEX.

I don't think you can go wrong with either hotel.

I'll be a first-time tourist, so I believe it makes more sense to be in the middle of the city. It's too bad that the Westin is neither a Visa Signature hotel or a Mastercard World Elite hotel...

While the Westin is more central the Park Hyatt would put you right next to the Kimchi Museum which is in the basement of COEX. ;)

On second-look, The Plaza seems preferable to the Westin. While the basic rooms are small at the Plaza, the larger ones (at the same price of the cheapest at the Westin) look pretty decent.

Of note, the Shilla will be closed for most of next year.

If you stay at the Plaza, see if you can get a room with a view out the front of the hotel. There is a large open green grass space in front of the Plaza and at times there might be a festival or some event happening when you are there. It may be a good picture opportunity.

Thanks for the suggestion. I've got an Executive Suite room for the moment, which are on the corners of the building.

Unfortunately, my reservation is so far out, that all the myriad of MasterCard/Visa and 'CityEscape' rate codes that exist don't apply yet.

That plaza in front of City Hall gets very noisy, even on weekends. The grand avenue that runs next to it leads to the main palace, and is often the place for major protests where riot police confrontations occur. There's usually little actual violence but it's just a noisy place to be and I have been awaken early in the morning on a weekend before from the loudspeakers, and that was from a block away at the Westin Chosun.