HotelChatter

So we picked up the phone and reached out to Stephen Brandman, Thompson's "Smooth Operator" (as the Boutique Design magazine for July/August 2008 called him.)

Here are some of the details we were able to squeeze out of him:

· The hotel, to be called Thompson Seoul, will have 100 rooms starting around $400 a night. Some rooms will have views of the Olympics Stadium.

· Thompson is taking the Thompson experience to the max with a 50,000-sq.ft. spa, a 7,500-sq.ft. gym, a three-floor driving range, a members' library and other function rooms. Use of the these amenities for non-hotel guests will require a hefty $100,000 initiation fee.

· The hotel is located about a block away from the city's Park Hyatt in Gangnam, the business and financial district.

· There will be several bars, lounges and restaurants, including an "outdoor experience" which will include a pool and a rooftop bar.

These are some mighty impressive plans for Thompson Seoul and it does sound pretty cool, you know if we were ever to go to Seoul one day. Brandman seemed especially proud that the hotel will be able to offer guests a full experience, where you "check-in but you don't really need to check-out" as everything that you could need is there on site.

But we had to ask Brandman, "Why Korea?" Aside from the fact, that a developer wanted the Thompson brand for his hotel Brandman said "Seoul is booming right now and it just kind of made sense." Of course, he said Thompson is still looking into more traditional markets like London and Paris but Asia is in important new market that they cannot ignore. So sit tight, folks. A Thompson Beijing might be coming soon.