Grand Hyatt Is One Of The Best Seoul Hotels. My Video and review.

by Gary Bembridge

The Grand Hyatt is Seoul is considered to be one – if not the best – hotels in the city. It is perched on top of a hill and if you have a room that faces the city (which I recommend that you ask for), the view is great. Though with the high levels of smog and in the season I was there also the clouds from the heavy rains in the middle of the year, the view can be limited. Saying that the openness of the view is very restful and appealing.

The rooms facing this way also look down onto the quite spectacular and large swimming pool (or to be more accurate pools as there is a smaller paddling style pool for children).

The bedrooms in the hotel are fairly small but I liked them a lot. The renovated rooms (almost all have been done) are cleverly done with light wood and mirrors around the top of the walls to reflect light and make the room feel larger. The rooms are designed for the business rather than tourist visitor (the former clearly being the main clients of the hotel) with a great desk with good lighting. The internet access is costly (which was a surprise considering that Korea is supposed to be one – if not THE – most connected country in the world) and you log on with a cable first to get your user name and password which you can then use to log on anywhere in the hotel wirelessly. A good idea!

The bathroom is small and has a lot of mirrors, including on the sides of the bath/ shower and although it did not bother me, colleagues found looking at themselves from all side while showering was a bit disturbing.

The hotel is always busy with meetings and they have a very flexible huge ballroom that can be divided up but can hold about 1200 people and while we were there (for a week) they had a non-stop flow of events from weddings, concerts and big trade shows. The meeting organization team is very efficient and pro-active.

We had been put onto the club floor rooms which gave access to the club floor lounge on the 17th floor which had a really good continental breakfast, snacks and drinks in the evening and then coffee until 10pm.

There are a number of restaurants in the hotel. I went to the Japanese which was good but expensive. This is true of most of the food and drink and in fact most things in the hotel. It was an expensive place to stay. Even the buffet for lunch, which had a great selection ranging from sushi to roast joints, was expensive.

The fitness centre was good with a good range of equipment. It was free if on club floor but charged if not. It was open 24 hours for insomniac travellers! I did not go to the Spa but colleagues did and raved about it, though said it was expensive.

Overall I liked the hotel as the rooms were comfortable and the beds and pillows were especially good. I liked the “funkiness” of the bedrooms. But it is not great value overall, but really pleasant to stay at.