jahason

Thanks everyone for the advice.

MPower78

I'm going to Seoul for 3 weeks and my family is coming with me.
I've stayed at Renaissance for $75/night + taxes before however, I'm wondering if anyone has better deal at any Marriott properties in South Korea.

Also, which property do you recommend for kids? Do they have concierge lounge at either Renaissance or JW Marriott? (I wasn't Gold when I stayed at Renaissance before)

littlevoices

I haven't stayed in any hotel in Seoul except the JW (2 years ago), it had probably the best lounge of any Marriott I've stayed in. The lounge had three cuisines available for all meals (Japanese, Western and Korean) and you could easily never leave due to the quantity, and quality, of food available. The lounge was also very spacious and had very good staff and some nice drinks. Location-wise it was also right on top of a metro station.

As such you might want to consider having a look - pricewise I'm going to guess it isn't going to compare to $75/night though.

sunrider101

it depends how old your kids are. areas around JW is more educational, areas around Renaissance is well, it's more business oriented, and since your family is going to be with you for 3 weeks, i think that matters. Concierge lounge in Renaissance is not bad. they are well staffed, friendly and mild mannered. However, the entire Renaissance building is very old and its clearly showing wear and tear.

I know this is Marriotts page but, do you have to stay at Marriott? If not, there should be some other decent options, such as ICH, shilla, etc and so on.

SkiAdcock

Do the hotels have exec lounges that are open on the weekend? If not, do they provide breakfast coupons? If they're closed, are they key accessible for sodas? Are there i-net terminals?

If someone knows & can post, I'll update the exec lounge stickey.

Cheers.

sunrider101

renaissance lounge isn't open on weekends. they give 2 breakfast coupons at first floor buffet, which has assortments of ridiculously delicious items (i think its the best breakfast i have ever had at Marriott anywhere). sodas are available for club lounge (not the exec breakfast lounge), although on weekend, no dinner is served. I just paid for LAN last yr (Am only gold), although i believe marriott is giving out free internet in asia from this year on?

SkiAdcock

Thanks for the update. I'll update the stickey.

Internet is free at all full-service hotels worldwide as of January this year. They just announced that in Asia, they're going to make i-net free at all Marriott properties, not just Marriott, Ren. Not sure when that starts, but that means i-net at CYs would be free, for example. There's a thread on it somewhere in this forum.

Cheers.

tcook052

3 weeks is a long time in a hotel and have you considered the Marriott Executive Apartments instead? You don't say how big a family you're packing but based upon the large one bedroom apartment I enjoyed in Budapest the bigger suites with a kitchen might be worth a look, especially since in Seoul you don't give up location with it being very central in a city with excellent public transportation.

FWIW I stayed a both the Ren. and brand new CY last Oct. and much preferred the latter to the former. The CY is sleek, new and modern while I found the Ren. a little dated with furnishings and ammenities.

Jgish

JW lounge is open 7 days a week. 3 internet terminals.
On some stays, I was able to choose between the decent (albeit smaller) breakfast spread in the lounge, or opt for the extensive cafe buffet downstairs. This varies though...I've stayed multiple times on the same rate and had different results asking for coupons to go downstairs.

Evening food choices are good, but not as elaborate as Singapore, Sydney or Bangkok.

SkiAdcock

Thanks. I'll update the stickey.

Cheers.

eastnortheast

I have stayed quite a bit at the JW Marriott, and I think it is one of the best hotels in the Marriott chain. Rooms are nice and spacious - and the views from either side are good, though the river view is preferred (odd #'d rooms). That being said, there are some downsides.

You did not mention how old your kids are. There is a great hiking area directly across the street that has some good paths that go on for a while - a relative oasis in the concrete jungle. However, to go to any of the sites in Seoul will require a subway/bus ride. The JW is right on top of 3 subways lines as well as a major bus station, but the hotel is not in a location where you can go out the front door and start walking around to see interesting sites. Traffic can be crazy, so if you are trying to get back to the hotel via taxi during busy times of the day, it can eat up a lot of time.

As others have mentioned, the lounge is great. They have a great fitness center and pool (free to guests). The fitness center is also by membership, so there are a lot of locals that come to use it. The pool is more designed for swimming laps, so am not sure how big a deal it would be to have kids splashing around.

You wont be able to touch $75/night at the JW - minimum would probably be at least twice that. The suggestion of the Marriott executive apartments is a good one - you should definitely look into that. It is right near the #9 subway line and pretty close to all of the sites.

Rondelltg

The CY at Times Square is right on top of a mall. It is my choice of places to stay when I am in Seoul. There isn’t a pool at the CY but if you go out the front and then a couple of blocks to the left is a family indoor water park. The lounge is open on the weekends and breakfast is a full buffet served daily. I update this with Sharon each time I return from there. There is a market at the train station around the corner (to the right) Stop at the stand on the left just before going down into the station and get one of those flat pancakes 50 Won (0.40/each)they are great and have a cinnamon taste. Also there is a very nice cheesecake restaurant around that same corner (to the right) that’s nice quiet and very reasonable ($3.00/slice). I lived and worked in Korea for 10 months and loved it.

Good luck in finding anything at $75/night though.

Hope you enjoy your time there.

Ron

darthbimmer

I've stayed at the JW, Renaissance, and Courtyard several times each. I haven't stayed at the Marriott Executive Apartments, though a colleague of mine has. The JW and Apartments are probably best for a family stay based on space in the room and access to transit. The Courtyard's next to a high end shopping mall (Times Square) and near a major train station, but its rooms are small. Having 3-4 people share a room will probably drive you nuts. The Renaissance's rooms are standard size but the hotel is not really convenient to transit. It's about a 15 minute walk to either of two stations.

You should expect to pay a lot more than USD 75/night for these hotels. When I visited last week, public rates started at $250 before service and taxes. I'm planning another trip for the near future, and rates are dropping a bit, though I'm still looking at $175++/nightly.

MPower78

Has anyone stayed at Renaissance Seoul?
I'm visiting Seoul, Korea with my family (wife with 2 kids, 6 and 4 year-old) trying to book a room at this hotel and just spoke to local representative about accessing club lounge as I'm plat elite hoping my family can get in for breakfast and dessert but she told me it would only be for myself and I would need to pay 30,000 KRW for my wife and 6-year old kid.

How do they check when you get into the club lounge? is it just with key card like US properties or do they care...?

MPower78

Thank you all who left suggestions.

now I finally got an ok sign to go Seoul and my wife and I spent a quite of time searching for activities and other entertainment for my kids (6 and 4) and decided that we should stay near Kang-Nam area where either JW or Renaissance are located due to Lotte World as they have amusement park and ice link (kids need to take speed skating lessons) and my wife and kids will be spending alot of time near there.

That being said, I may need to stay at Renaissance as it is close to 2nd (green) metro line (easy ride to Lotte world) but JW is on 3rd (orange) metro line which will require to transfer... Also, I could only get $75+tax for 3rd week of July so, I may have to use points for the other 2 weeks.

Howver, my wife and I really liked Marriott Executive Apartments as they have washer/dryer in each room but sucks that I can't use my points there.

BTW, how do they check when you get in lounge? I just spoke to a representative at Renaissance and she said I could only get in and my wife and son (6-year old) will need to pay for 30,000KRW to get in for breakfast...?
Was it the same case for anyone who stayed either at JW or Renaissance with family?