I will be going to Seoul via Incheon airport in Oct 2007 for business. I am looking for a decent hotel/motel which must be in Seoul city and within walking distance from the main city center with shopping and western food (KFC, McDonalds, Pizza Hut etc). Price range is USD 60 to 70 per night. Breakfast incl will be good. The hotel or Motel must be reachable by bus from Incheon airport.
I prefer international chain like Best Western, Holiday Inn, Ramada etc. But price is a big factor.
Please help me out !!! Seoul doesn't really have a city center. It's a megalopolis that is basically city center for miles in every direction. It is organized around train stations, with some being more built up and commercial than others, and some being more residential. The only things that really break this pattern are City Hall and Yongsan Garrison.
You should specify what part of Seoul your meetings are in, and what kind of shopping you're looking for. Regardless, with the subway, everything is in walking distance. I figure if you have no more than one transfer, and stay inside Seoul proper, the time you'll spend on the subway is negligible. That might be the best way to plan where you're going to stay, in fact, by using a subway map. Mark your business destinations, your shopping destinations and look for someplace in between to stay.
IMO, for shopping:
Dongdaemun Shijang if you'll be spending all day shopping, Namdaemun Shijang if you only have a few hours
Both are Korean-style markets, but Dongdaemun is a lot more repetitive. There's more stuff there, but it isn't nearly as efficient for browsing. Namdaemun is a bit more chaotic and not as organized by category, but it is much more compact. It also has the main Alpha store. If you're into art supplies, you'll find deals there unimaginable in the US.
COEX and Jamshil station for more western-style malls. (Jamshil is right by Lotte World theme park)
Myeongdong for clothes shopping and coffee shops and international food. Myeongdong is right near Namdaemun market, so you could do those on the same day.
Insadong (Anguk station) for traditional Korean stuff. Calligraphy implements, pottery, artwork, musical instruments, tourist knick-knacks, stuff like that.
Itaewon is the epicenter of foreigner activity in Seoul. It's right by Yongsan garrison, the mosque is there and so is much of the middle-eastern population, and many US military members live in apartments around that area. It's kind of a dump, though, and most of the touristy stuff you'll find in that area is stuff you could get slightly cheaper at Namdaemun or Dongdaemun. The only real shopping attraction there is the large concentration of custom tailors. You can get a tailored suit, for example, for 150-250 dollars. I got a VERY nice coat made in Songtan (another military area) for 100 bucks.
Anyhow, on to the hotel: Business hotels in Korea (and Japan) are a rip-off. Find a good love hotel. ("Motel" in Korea...actually, I think that's the only implication that word has in Korean) They tend to be clustered around universities and night life areas. (For obvious reasons) If you find a really nice one (you can usually tell by how they look on the outside, and the nicest ones always have parking under the building) it'll probably be no more than 60,000 won on a weekend. There are bargains to be found, but if you go for dumpier looking places you have maybe a 50/50 chance of it actually being a dump.
Anyhow, the advantage of love hotels is that the rooms are bigger and nicer than business hotels, and cost between 20 and 50 percent less per night. The disadvantage is you get nothing but a room which may or may not have an internet connection, and you probably can't reserve ahead of time, and a lot of the managers don't speak a word of English. OTOH, internet cafes are everywhere and cheap, and you don't NEED to reserve ahead of time.
That said, there are a couple of decent business hotels in Myeongdong for 70-80 per night (perhaps less online). Assuming your meetings are in central Seoul, that would be a good spot for you. Stuff is open late, there's lots of western AND Korean food and shopping right there, and it's pretty centrally located to a lot of other places.
Also, you're traveling abroad...your first time in Korea, I'd guess...don't just eat western food. What a waste! Well, your first step should be to find hotels that are in your price range, and then look and see which of those meet your other requirements.
You can do a city-wide quote at http://www.resideo.com/kr/seoul (or hotels.com, expedia, orbitz, etc. etc.) to see what's available.
Fraser Suites offers free breakfast buffet, but I suspect it'll be much higher than you're able to spend. The "Dormy in Seoul Serviced Residences" also offers free breakfast, and is a 10 minute walk away from a subway station.
Good luck! Ok,
The closest hotel to the city center,(Seoul city hall), is the Seoul Plaza Hotel. It is an older hotel but kept up well. It is also across the street from Seoul Station. You can find western fast food nearby. Up the street from here is the Hilton which is close to NamDaemun market.
If you are going to be doing business South of the Han River I would suggest one of the Intercontinetal Hotels. There is the Grand Intercontinental and The Koex Intercontinental hotel. The Koex being the cheaper of the two. There is an underground mall here which connects the two which has pizza hut, Bennigans, many more and also a multiplex cinema. |
