Finance_underling

I surfed around and read news that the Westin Chosun hotels in Seoul and Busan will be rebranded to Chosun as part of Shinsegae Group's hotel restructuring. The article states that the Westin name will be dropped:

http://pulsenews.co.kr/view.php?year=2017&no=429826

In past news, another hotel-owning subsidiary under a Korean conglomerate is also making a name change. SK owns what was the W hotel on Walkerhill and will revamp it as Vista Walkerhill hotel. It has been closed likely due to renovation.

Another renovated hotel will be undergoing a brand name change as the former Ritz-Carlton property in Gangnam will switch over to SPG and re-open as a Le Meridien. As a result, Starwood hotels will maintain a luxury presence in South Korea albeit in a smaller footprint.

http://pulsenews.co.kr/view.php?year=2017&no=430157

dburns

Very interesting, so come 2018, no Westin, no W, just a Le Meridien. Of course, SPG and Marriott will be even further along the integration by then, so it might not matter as much.

Thanks for sharing.

Jimgotkp

Darn. I was looking to stay at the Westin Busan. Guess it's a good thing that Hilton's new property is opening soon.

Finance_underling

Would've been interesting if they opted to turn the RC hotel into a St Regis. A butler would be nice.

Aventine

It's more of a 4 star offering geared towards local staycationers with kids. It's also located in the boonies of Busan.

SPG still has a good footprint in Seoul with budget and luxury with all the Alofts, Four Points to the new Le Meridien in Sinchon and the ex-RC in Gangnam.

Antonio8069

Along with the Sheraton Grand Incheon.

I read the article and it is really an ad for a dude who is setting up his brand (Chosun). Not at all clear from the discussion.

Also, there is no effective date (s)? All of the properties mentioned above are still on offer on the SPG site, incl. the Westin @ $191 via:

http://www.spghotescapes.com/

Aventine

I'm guessing 2018 as no major announcements in the English Korean dailies yet.

bobbybrown

SPG already lost W and Walkerhill, and Chosun at Seoul and Busan soon. Articles say that 'cost' to stay in SPG is sky high and that drove them for the decision to leave.

All the historic, symbolic hotels are gone or leaving soon. Leftovers are either unrecognizable (Aloft, 4P, Glad), or in a reputation of being outdated (Palace, this Ritz-Carlton), or in an unpopular part of the town (D cube). Luckily Marriott has a few legacy hotels with them that everyone recognizes (Plaza, JW Gangnam).

KosherKimchee

Westin Chosun Seoul will be sorely missed. Probably have more nights there than any other SPG property. Location cant be beat and everyone in Seoul knows where it is. And I bet most taxi drivers have no idea where the JW Marriott Dongdaemun is. Certainly none know/knew where the Four Seasons is after being open for a year.

I knew dark days were ahead when my favorite soon tofu place in Myongdong closed last year.

Aventine

I think it's just the chaebols taking all the SPG lessons learned and going it on their own now. I wouldn't stay at them under Shinsegae management.

I'll miss the Westin Chosun too. best SPG location in Seoul hands down.

nldogbert

Re: RC @ Gangnam - if they are going to renovate it and switch it to a LM, they will have lots of work to do. The hotel was indeed very tired, the only reason I stayed there was because of the great staff and location close to the highway (for me to get to work).
I wonder if the current staff will all be retrained as they were trained to the standard of RC and switching to a LM is quite a turnaround - old vs modern (at least in my opinion).

Will be curious to see what they do to the hotel - both interior and exterior (as both were really outdated).

Cheers!

Aventine

i was actually looking forward to the LC Parnas Seoul that got scrapped last year.

khabah

As Le Méridien is my favorite brand, I was absolutely thrilled when I found the news of the RC to LM conversion online [still surprised Marriott hasn't made an official announcement yet]. The owners are conducting a 96.2 million dollar renovation that includes stripping and gutting the current building and re-programming it to an art-centric property with 336 rooms and a massive art gallery/exhibition space. Their interiors will be done by David Collins Studio; absolutely great work but a little more 'mature' than your conventional Le Méridien. If you go onto Booking.com, you can actually find extensive renderings of what the property will look like - I think it's lovely, although that opening date of over 850000 Won is a bit hard to work with... but I'd stay regardless.

Whatever happened to this property? The building was constructed, but did the developers just scrap the hotel and leave the tower for office use all-around?

khabah

Aventine

I think the owners got cold feet being surrounded by Grand IC, IC, PH and Oakwood.

LM will need to go down in price. High 200- low 300s KRW would be about right. Even the Four Seasons Seoul base room isn't that high..

khabah

Wow, my fingers are screwy - the opening rate is just over 300K KRW; with charges and taxes, it's about 363K a night. Perhaps more inline with other high-end hotels in the city.

khabah