Review: Park Hyatt Seoul

I'm curious how/why you think Seoul is such an expensive city? I'm sure the spa at a Park Hyatt will be pricey anywhere but generally I've found Seoul to be relatively cheap (at least when compared to other Tokyo, Singapore or any European Capital).

We've had some phenomenal dinners at nice restaurants for less than $50 a head, bars running $3-4 a beer and i've found a taxi will get you pretty much anywhere for less than $10. It's not Bangkok or Hanoi but it beats NYC or Seattle.

Was in Seoul recently on the UA BOS-ICN in F deal and was tempted to stay here but stayed at the Westin Chosun instead. It doesn't live up to the service levels of this, and the room was cookie cutter and not as large, but we found the area more preferable to be a tourist in. Did not find the city at all expensive, I think that is partially not being in COEX area but also perhaps that was since we came from Tokyo. In particular by the end of the trip we were kicking ourselves for taking public transport on short trips as cabs were so inexpensive (usually $5ish) and we could easily pay on T-money.

In fact the location issue was a similar issue I had with the Park Hyatt Tokyo (on Chase signup bonus free nights). The hotel itself was near perfection, but its not an area I wanted to be in as a tourist. We also stayed at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo, using cash and points plus a Diamond Suite Award and found the location much preferable to the Park Hyatt, although the service clearly was not as personalized. DSA confirmed into Grand Executive Suite (not their base suite) and the room was great.

Alex, seoul is the 2nd most expensive city in the World.
Only things you would find cheap are local restaurants and drinks.

Thanks for the great review! We have a points and cash reservation for a week in June and are really looking forward to it. As others have noted the location isn't as tourist oriented, but it sounded so nice we decided to go for it.

Because I wanted a suite, I couldn't use my free night cert, which I'll use at the GH Incheon later in the trip. I just used the 50% extra points option.

Funny, I didn't mind the Asiana F decor, but this decor bugs me. Reminds me of my mom's furniture. Hopefully it will be more wonderful when I'm actually there.

I didn't realize Seoul was going be so expensive; how much would breakfast be (I'm just a GP Plat)?

Have you tried the bath tub? It looks pretty horrible to me. I love to get in, read a book for an hour or more and relax. But the tub in the picture seems too square, can't really see a comfortable position in it.

Far cry from Hyatt on the Bund, which I just came back from. Service crap and room small (I had their entry level room, so I guess it's fair). Views were phenomenal. Unfortunately Hong Kong Airline News is kinda slow with trip reporting so I can't publish the trip report until November.

@ JMR -- It's not the most comfortable bathtub in the world, but it was plenty large and I actually found it fairly comfortable.

Looking forward to staying here! Did you take the KAL bus or Seoulbus? I read that the Seoulbus is less expensive.

Had an amazing stay here, but the fact that I always had to take an elevator up to the 23 or 24 before heading back down became an inconvenience, other than that, agreed with your assessment.

The bathroom looks nice but the room furniture looks a little Ikea-ish in a 60's blond wood kind of way.
Compared to most of the Hilton and Hyatt Place I usually stay in, this is VERY nice

(you really should add an editing feature to the reply section).....

By the way, for those of us without Hyatt Diamond, how much would a breakfast cost?
I know at the Park Hyatt Vendome it was 69 euros; I ended up at a nice coffee shop close by

Have you gone to the Andaz Papagayo yet, Ben? I'd argue that's the best cat 4 property. 😉

@ David G -- Hoping to very, very soon!

@ Rami -- Breakfast would cost 45,000krw, so ~42USD.

@ panda -- I took the Seoulbus. Was perfectly nice.

@Rami - From the menu pic that Ben posted, looks like the breakfast buffet is 45,000 won, which is ~$45 USD.

I'll be staying there on the 3rd week of Nov and plan to take the bus as well. Do you happen to remember how much the bus fare from airport to the hotel.? Any train from the airport to the city central like the one in KL?

@Mike - who knew? I've always found ways to have a lot of fun for very little $$ in Seoul, but then again usually stay in a quiet 3* in MeyongDong when i'm in Seoul that runs ~$100 a night. Still freaking love that city.

Thanks for very detailed posting. I am a Seoul native, currently visiting my parents in Seoul. So I wanted to give my parents a nice hotel-stay as a present, and not surprisingly they chose Westin Chosun (SPG) over Park Hyatt Seoul (but they quite liked Park Hyatt Busan though thanks to ocean view). Personally I myself would have chosen Park Hyatt, but the elderly people like my parents def. prefer traditional reputation & elegance and sort of authentic Korean restaurants in a nearby area. And I agree with one of the above repliers that "a little Ikea-ish in a 60’s blond wood kind" is not very appealing to me either.

correct me if i'm wrong but the "vegetation on ice" are for wrapping your meat and rice, i.e., "ssam", no?

A bit off topic, but did you get stay credit for your comped gh incheon stay? Or recognized diamond?

@ Tiara -- I forgot how much it was exactly, I think maybe $20. There is also an express train, but it doesn't let off close to the hotel, so it's still a ways from there. I usually do the bus since it's just a lot more convenient.

@ pavel -- Nope, it was intended as a starter while I waited for the main course. It came with a peanut dipping sauce.

@ E -- Diamond as recognized but no stay credit.

Thanks for the review - I might check it out during my next trip. However, my absolute favourite hotel in Seoul is the Shilla. Go try it next time!! Stayed there for two weeks in March, loved every minute I could spend in my suite. And the Gym is fantastic. Right now, I am staying at the Park Hyatt Toronto for roughly two weeks - VERY disappointed, though location is nice (apparently, the rooms in the newer tower are better, but sadly, the hotel is completely booked and I can't change my room.

I like the PH in Seoul a lot too. I've also stayed at the PH in Busan, which recently opened a year or two ago. It's funny how this PH Seoul has the Aesop amenities while the PH Busan had the Le Babo Amenities when I stayed there April of this year. Any speculations as to why two PH in the same country have different amenities? If you ever stay in Korea long enough, you should take the KTX down to Busan and try out the PH Busan. The PH Busan is inconveniently located in a stale part of the city away from anything, but it does have a nice view of the gwangan bridge. Definitely check it out.

I do agree with you on the part the PH seoul is not located near any sight seeing, but it is located near gangnam(yeah from that gangnam style song) and apujeong where there are decent places to eat and go out.

Hi Ben, thanks for the review. So do you think PH Seoul is better than PH Tokyo? Also I think the vegetation on your lunch set was meant to be wrapped around the meat. But wow, what an amazing presentation!

@ katyalw -- Hmmm, she told me the veggies were for me to "enjoy while you wait."

Park Hyatt Seoul and Park Hyatt Tokyo are both spectacular. Tokyo might just have a slight edge for how iconic it is.

Good review but how did you not mention it's the Gangnam district...with your love for pop music I figured that'd be the first thing you'd note.

I think reason the front desk manager came down to your room when you had a problem is because he/she speaks english and the maintenance man likely doesn't. i had the same thing happen when the motor controlling my blinds ceased to function, ended up with three guys to fix it. A maintenance guy, another maintenance guy to hold the ladder, and a Front Desk manager to translate and apologize.

As for breakfast, it was my experience that you could order as much of the made to order stuff as you wanted as a Diamond, or maybe it was just me because I'm twice the size of the average Korean.

@Lucky, wow interesting, i stand corrected then. I thought that was a http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ssam.

Last time I stayed here, the concierge printed out leaflets of places I wanted to visit with maps, opening hours and directions. Once on a cold night, the doorman actually escorted me to a nice Korean BBQ establishment located past the alleyway to the back after getting the recommendation from the concierge. One of the best service I have encountered in a hotel!

@ Lucky -- definitely better than a typical category 4 hotel! 🙂

@ Brian -- for our stay in Tokyo we also picked GHT over PHT because of the location; had to postpone it until April 2015 though. Will try for GHT again unless I can somehow get better rates for PHT.

lucky,
i stayed at this place 2 days ago for 2 nights and all i can say is wow. i chose this place based on your recommendation and i wished i stayed all 5 nights here. other 3, i was at grand hyatt.
PH seoul definitely deserves the new category upgrade exceeding that of GH seoul.
for one thing, PH's deluxe king is more spacious than GH executive suite with its 15ft. ceiling.
the doormen were dashing to open the door and press the elevator button.
PH seoul takes my breath away!

@ steven k -- So happy to hear you enjoyed your stay!

@Mike: You say, "Alex, seoul is the 2nd most expensive city in the World. Only things you would find cheap are local restaurants and drinks."

Based on what? Seoul didn't even make the top 10 last year. [ http://www.bbc.com/news/business-31689124 ] and [ http://www.forbes.com/sites/deborahljacobs/2014/07/10/the-most-expensive-cities-in-the-world/ ]