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Tags: Cubicle Dreamin' / Korea Hotels / Island Getaways / → All Tags

Cubicle Dreamin': Beauty and Technology on Jeju Island

Where: 3039-3 Saekdal-dong, Seogwipo-shi, Jeju City, Jeju Island, Korea, 697-130

I've just been invited to a wedding in South Korea and although I won't get there unless my fairy godmother springs for a plane ticket, it doesn't hurt to dream. If I get there I'll head down to Jeju Island, a romantic spot off the south-west corner of the country. I hear it's sometimes overflowing with honeymoon couples but that seems to fit in well with a wedding trip anyway.

My hotel of choice (I've been tipped off by an insider) is The Shilla, Jeju, a resort on a 21-acre property on the cliff-top overlooking the Pacific. It only opened in 1990 and was South Korea's first 5-star resort. Sounds good so far, right?

My room of choice will be a Pacific Suite (I don't need the Presidential) which has views over the gardens and the ocean; it's also in the even newer part of the building complex. It's around US$330 a night--though that shoots up to $860 if I go for the superior suite.

There's one more thing that really tickles me about the Shilla, and it's a neat little piece of technology:

If a phone call is made when you are watching television, the volume is automatically controlled as you pick up the receiver. If you hang up the receiver, the volume is reset as it was.

Not sure I'll be using this feature too often, but it's great to know it's there.

[Photo: kellchan]

Tags: Korea Hotels / Seoul Hotel Reviews / Hotels Under $100 / Hotel Heaven / → All Tags

Behind the Anti-View: Metro Hotel Myungdong Redeems Itself

Where: 199-33, Eulji-ro 2-ga, Seoul, Korea, 100-845

Have you heard about Seoul's hotness? South Korea's hipper-than-thou capital is gaining street cred due to a recent opening of a 10 Corso Como, a Fashion Week growing quickly in international regard, and not to mention the popularity of Korean TV dramas around the world.

The development of Seoul as a sort of new Tokyo (albeit slightly more affordable) is creating a distinctive thirst among tourists and locals alike: for luxury and high design.

This is why, in a city where women wear high heels everywhere, the Metro Hotel Myungdong looks and feels so good. So it doesn't have the best views, but then what is a great view in a city planned without much regard to green spaces and well...city planning?

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