HotelChatter - Seoul

Seoul Hotel's Smartphone Room Keys Do More Than Unlock Your Door

suzsteinert — 2013-01-14T10:00:58-05:00

<![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/116850/smartkeylg.jpg" class="top"> From Brussel's stylish <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2012/3/30/9505/83783/hotels/Guests_at_The_Hotel_in_Brussels_Will_Use_Their_SmartPhone_to_Open_The_Door">The Hotel </a>to a <a href="http://www.hotelinteractive.com/article.aspx?articleid=26628">Holiday Inn Express in Oklahoma</a>, hotels are jumping on the hot "smartphone as room key" bandwagon. We don't blame them--we're sick of those flimsy little pieces of plastic. Now, Seoul's <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel/local/5214">Hotel Skypark Central</a> is one-upping everyone. Along with revolutionary accoutrements for the business traveler like, um, free airport shuttle service, the otherwise rather unremarkable downtown hotel has recently offered a new perk: bestowing free loaner smartphones to its guests upon check-in. The devices do just about everything, aside from calling home (actual phone services aren't available; unless you use Skype, of course), such as unlocking and locking your door, ordering room service, turning on the lights,

Conrad Gets Some Seoul At Last

JasonD — 2012-11-12T12:53:54-05:00

Courtesy of South Korean pop star Psy’s video-gone-viral, Seoul has gotten quite a bit of attention the last few months. Today, Hilton’s luxury Conrad brand is getting in on the action by opening the doors to its latest hotel in the city (but no word yet on any Gangnam packages).

We were tempted by British Airways’ astoundingly brilliant offer on its new route to Incheon (the home of Seoul’s award-winning airport) to drop �777 ($1235) on a business class return and spend a weekend here ourselves, but with our rational side kicking in we’ll have to settle for a look at the hotel from afar for the moment.

Fantasy Friday: Ritz-Carlton Seoul's $80,000 Spa Package

jetflyboy — 2012-10-26T13:49:51-05:00

<![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/97904/ritzcarltonseoul1.jpg" class="top"> This is one glamorous Friday with two, count 'em 2, <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/fantasy friday">Fantasy Friday</a> posts. <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2012/10/21/141829/45">The first one was dreaming about rubbing elbows with the rich and famous at Huka Lodge in New Zealand</a>. Now this luxurious hotel package comes to you from Seoul, South Korea and is not for the penny-pincher. Super extravagance comes in the forms of an $80K spa treatment at the city's <a href='http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel/local/1380'>Ritz Carlton</a>. The hotel created a package specially designed for high-rolling Chinese tourists that chartered a flight to Seoul to be poked and prodded all to walk away looking and feeling younger. Part of a full tour package that allows for travelers to pick their poison, as it is,

Novotel Seoul Goes Gangnam Style

jetflyboy — 2012-10-17T14:00:25-05:00

<![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/97904/gangnamstyle.jpg" class="top"> Finally, a hotel has jumped on the bandwagon and will begin to offer hotel packages that revolve around the world's latest earworm better known as Gangnam Style. Just as we would expect, the package comes from the <a href='http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel/local/5153'>Novotel Seoul Ambassador</a>, smack in the middle of the district the song is named after. For those that may be living under a rock for the last 3 months, here's a little back story. The musical artist is named Psy (real name: Park Jae-sang) and he is a Korean rapper who produces K-Pop (Korean pop music). He posted a YouTube video for Gangnam Style and it has become the most viewed K-Pop video, not to mention the most 'liked,'

We'd Like To Swim A Few Laps And Scale the Climbing Wall At This Jumbo Fitness Center

ASchechter — 2012-04-12T09:03:30-05:00

<![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/61268/JW_Marriott_Seoul_Fitness_Center.jpg" class="top">Back in October, one of our contributors had a little love affair with the pools at <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/10/12/1596/4617/hotels/The+Hotel+Pools+of+Phuket%3A+Triple+Dips+at+the+JW+Marriott+Resort">JW Marriott</a> in Phuket, but we think we've found another <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/jw%20marriott%20hotels">JW Marriott</a> pool to set our sights on. And this one doesn't mess around with <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/10/12/1596/4617/hotels/The_Hotel_Pools_of_Phuket%3A_Triple_Dips_at_the_JW_Marriott_Resort">squirting elephant</a> sculptures and swim-up bars. We're talking about the fitness center at <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Jw+Marriott+Hotel+Seoul/ian/171138">JW Marriott Seoul</a>, which not only has a six-lane, 25-meter pool, but also a climbing wall, a scuba diving pool, and an indoor running trackoh, and it spans three floors of the hotel. The Marquis Thermal Spa and Fitness Club calls itself the largest hotel fitness center in Asia, and it offers pretty much every type of indoor fitness amenity