Review: Grand Hyatt Incheon Airport (ICN)

For the next hotel stay of my quick trip to Japan & Korea, I spent a night at the 1,024-room Grand Hyatt Incheon. I was arriving in the evening from Vancouver in Korean Air’s 787-10 business class, and was departing midday for Sapporo in Korean Air’s A321neo business class, so I didn’t have all that much time to enjoy the hotel.

This was my first stay at the Grand Hyatt Incheon in around a decade, and I was happy to return. Despite its size, there’s a lot to like about this hotel, including a modern design (at least in the West Tower), comfortable rooms, friendly service, and a really unusual (in a good way) club lounge concept.

The one downside to this hotel is that it’s not connected directly to the airport, so requires taking a shuttle. That’s not a huge deal, of course, but generally I greatly value the convenience of staying directly at an airport.

All-in-all, I’m a fan of this hotel and would gladly return, especially given the reasonable pricing.

Booking the Grand Hyatt Incheon

I paid cash for my stay at the Grand Hyatt Incheon, as the rate was 224,000 KRW (~156 USD) including all taxes and fees. I thought that was reasonable.

When it comes to redeeming World of Hyatt points, the Grand Hyatt Incheon is a Category 3 World of Hyatt property, meaning that a free night costs either 9,000, 12,000, or 15,000 points, depending on whether you’re staying during off-peak, standard, or peak dates.

I was staying over standard dates, so the stay would’ve cost 12,000 points per night. Since I value World of Hyatt points at 1.5 cents each, paying cash was the better value here.

Grand Hyatt Incheon location

The Grand Hyatt Incheon is located just south of Incheon International Airport (ICN). It’s less than a five-minute drive from Terminal 1, while it’s around a 15-minute drive from Terminal 2, as the terminals are quite far apart. I was arriving at and departing from Terminal 2, which is the less convenient terminal to be using when staying at this hotel.

The hotel offers a complimentary shuttle service to and from both terminals every 30 minutes. Based on the current schedule:

• The shuttle between the hotel and Terminal 1 runs every 30 minutes between 5:30AM and 10:00PM; it departs the hotel at :00 and :30, and departs gate 3C at Terminal 1 at :05 and :35
• The shuttle between the hotel and Terminal 2 runs every 30 minutes between 5:40AM and 10:10PM; it departs the hotel at :10 and :40, and departs from gate 4A at Terminal 2 at :10 and :40

No reservations are needed for the bus, as it’s available on a first come, first served basis. The good news is that the bus is huge, so running out of space shouldn’t be an issue.

Grand Hyatt Incheon East Tower vs. West Tower

The Grand Hyatt Incheon has two towers — the East Tower and West Tower. They’re immediately next to one another. While the two sides share a wellness area and there’s a bridge connecting them, they’re otherwise pretty independent. That’s to say that each tower has its own reception area for guests staying in that section.

The West Tower is considered more premium than the East Tower, so the lower rates are typically in the East Tower. For example, I booked a room in the East Tower, but as a Globalist member, was upgraded to a room in the West Tower, which is pretty standard. So when you look at your room assignment prior to check-in, see if you’re staying in the East Tower or West Tower, so you go to the correct building.

Grand Hyatt Incheon lobby & check-in

The Grand Hyatt Incheon West Tower has a super modern lobby, which borders on being sterile, and feeling a bit like the ground floor of an office building. The lobby has a ton of seating, and also a staircase leading down to the events spaces.

Reception is located just inside the lobby and straight ahead, with the concierge desk being to the left, and the front desk being to the right. My check-in process was efficient and friendly. I was informed that I had been upgraded to a Grand Deluxe Executive Suite West Tower as a Globalist member. This was a great upgrade, as this is considered a premium suite (Globalist members ordinarily get upgrades up to standard suites).

With keys in hand, I headed toward the elevators, and up to my room.

Grand Hyatt Incheon suite

The Grand Hyatt Incheon has 12 floors, and I was assigned a room on the 11th floor. Since the hotel is massive, you’ll potentially get quite a few steps in the hallways. That’s especially true if you’re assigned one of the corner suites, like I was.

I was in room W1131 (with the “W” indicating that the room is in the West Tower). The Grand Deluxe Executive Suite I was assigned was marketed as being 1,022 square feet (95 square meters), so that’s a huge space.

Upon entering the room, I found myself in the living room, featuring a dining table with four chairs, a living area with a couch and a chair, and even a kitchenette.

The kitchen area had a Nespresso machine, a tea kettle, and a variety of drinks and snacks for purchase in the minibar.

On account of my Globalist status, there was also a welcome gift of a bottle of red wine, plus a box of chocolates. This hotel sure is generous!

There was then a long and narrow hallway with all kinds of closet space, plus a half bathroom.

The bedroom was then off the living room, and featured a reasonably comfortable king size bed, a chair with an ottoman, and a TV in the corner.

The main bathroom was huge, with double sinks, and a shower “compound,” which even had a bathtub.

Toiletries were in reusable containers from Balmain Paris — that’s a better brand than you’d expect at an airport hotel!

There was also a second toilet here, complete with a bidet feature.

The room didn’t exactly have the most inspiring views — it faced the East Tower in one direction, and the parking lot in the other direction, with Terminal 1 in the distance.

What a great upgrade, and what a nice suite. Go figure for such a short stay I didn’t really have time to fully enjoy it, but it was still much appreciated!

Grand Hyatt Incheon Club Olympus

Club Olympus is the Grand Hyatt Incheon’s wellness area. It’s located on the second floor of the West Tower, though can be accessed by guests from both towers.

Club Olympus has a 24/7 gym, which isn’t huge, but does have an impressive array of equipment for both cardio and strength training. I always enjoy my 2AM workouts when traveling, and since this was an airport hotel, I wasn’t even alone at that time.

Club Olympus also has a lap pool, which is open daily from 6AM until 10PM. The pool is huge, and it’s my understanding that this is really popular with families on weekends. I’m not really a pool guy, but as far as indoor airport hotel pool facilities go, this is one of the nicer ones that I’ve seen.

Club Olympus also has a sauna area that’s open daily from 6AM until 10PM, located in the locker room area.

Grand Hyatt Incheon Grand Cafe (club lounge)

This is where the Grand Hyatt Incheon gets really innovative, and has something I’ve never really seen before. The Grand Hyatt Incheon has a Grand Club (club lounge) on the 12th floor. However, the hotel doesn’t actually use that space for most of the club offerings.

Instead, on the lobby level, you’ll find the Grand Cafe. Think of this as a massive restaurant that’s exclusively for those with club lounge access. It’s my understanding that the demand for club lounge access at the hotel greatly exceeds what the lounge upstairs could accommodate, and that’s why they’ve switched things around. So huge kudos to the hotel for that, rather than just shutting down the lounge to reduce costs.

During my stay, here’s what the club lounge hour situation was like:

• Breakfast was served in the Grand Cafe from 7AM until 10AM
• Afternoon tea was served in the Grand Club from 2PM until 4:30PM (I didn’t have the chance to check it out, since I wasn’t at the hotel over those hours)
• The evening happy hour was served in the Grand Cafe from 5:30PM until 7:30PM

The Grand Cafe is a huge space. When you’re in the lobby of the West Tower facing reception, just turn right and walk to the end of the hallway, and you’ll find the Grand Cafe there.

The Grand Cafe consist of dozens of dining tables.

The evening happy hour runs until 7:30PM, and I arrived at the Grand Cafe literally two minutes before it was taken down, so I was just able to snap a few pictures. I was impressed by the variety of food — it was almost more like a dinner buffet, than just typical club lounge appetizers.

It had everything from cold cuts and cheese, to a salad bar, to dim sum, to a live noodle station, to prawns, to chicken, and more.

There was also a huge dessert buffet, with everything from candy, to pastries, to fresh fruit, to snack mix.

Then there were self-serve drinks, including beer, wine, liquor, coffee, soft drinks, and more.

In the morning, there was also a breakfast buffet in the Grand Cafe, with pastries, bread, fresh fruit, yogurt, cereal, cold cuts, smoked salmon, several hot Western and Asian options, and an omelet station.

Honestly, this has to be one of the most impressive club lounge spreads I’ve seen at a “mainstream” hotel brand in a long time.

Grand Hyatt Incheon restaurants & bars

During my short stay at the Grand Hyatt Incheon, the Grand Cafe met all my needs for eating and drinking, so I didn’t have the chance to visit the other dining outlets. However, for those without club lounge access, there are other options:

• Restaurant 8 is the hotel’s all-day dining restaurant, with both a buffet and a la carte dining; it’s located in the East Tower
• Swell Lounge is the hotel’s all-day cafe, whether you want a coffee or a glass of wine; it’s located in the West Tower
• VY Bar & Karaoke is the hotel’s karaoke bar, with “VY” standing for “Vibrations of Youth” (lol?); it’s located in the East Tower

Bottom line

The Grand Hyatt Incheon is a great airport hotel, if you ask me. The hotel has excellent elite recognition, the West Tower is modern and has comfortable rooms, the gym and pool are nice, and the club lounge setup is one of the most impressive that I’ve seen in quite some time.

The only downside to this hotel is that it’s not connected directly to the terminal, but rather there’s a complimentary shuttle service. The hotel is really close to Terminal 1, while it’s a bit further from Terminal 2. The hotel is also a good value for what’s offered, as the pricing is reasonable. I’d absolutely recommend this hotel, and would gladly return.

What’s your take on the Grand Hyatt Incheon?