As I mentioned in my introductory post, I’ve wanted to stay at the Park Hyatt Seoul for years. The last time we came to Seoul we stayed at the Westin Chosun, as the Park Hyatt was quite pricey back at the time. As luck would have it, this time the Park Hyatt was offering suites that were cheaper than booking two standard rooms at another chain hotel. While the hotel website wouldn’t allow us to book a Park Suite for all four of us, upon emailing them they were happy to accommodate, and even said that a rollaway would be free of charge. Sold!
The Park Hyatt Seoul is located in the Gangnam district, which is the financial district of Seoul. While a lot of people work around here, the biggest issue is that none of the city’s busiest areas are around the hotel. Myeongdong, Dongdaemun, Jongno, etc. are where you want to be if you want crazy nightlife, good street food, and lots of cheap, local shopping (they’re famous for a reason), and the area, as the CBD, doesn’t have a lot of that. While the Samseong metro station is right next to the hotel’s entrance, it’s still a 12-14 stop ride away from most of Seoul’s biggest attractions. In terms of shopping malls, a quick walk through Samseong station will bring you to Seoul’s gigantic COEX mall, but it’s more of a high-class, imported-goods mall than a popping local joint. That’s something that’s at least noteworthy, in my opinion.
The hotel has a modern, glass exterior quite fitting with the adjacent office buildings.
Park Hyatt Seoul Exterior
While there’s a separate driveway, the pedestrian entrance was located by exit 1 of Samseong station by the side of the hotel.
Park Hyatt Seoul Entrance
There was a lift lobby with a small concierge. These lifts granted access to a few floors – the hotel’s restaurant Cornerstone on the second floor, the Park Club on the 23rd floor, and the lobby on the 24th floor.
Park Hyatt Seoul Lift Lobby
The lobby was quite classy, and I liked the pops of colour against the marble finishes. On one side was the reception desk, where we were quickly checked in. It’s interesting to note that the hotel had to take a Visa card as a deposit payment, despite us entering our AmEx card details into the booking system.
Park Hyatt Seoul Lobby
Past the lobby was a lobby bar, which was empty during the mornings, but consistently much fuller during the evenings. The check-in associate also pointed out that the lobby bar served as a Korean restaurant – I never actually got to eat there, but I’ve heard good things about it.
Park Hyatt Seoul Lobby Bar
Park Hyatt Seoul Lobby Bar
After the friendly hotel associate checked us in, she pointed out a few important areas and details – including the Park Club, the hotel’s two restaurants, and how to get to our room. She then escorted us to the lifts, but didn’t proceed to escort us to our room.
The hotel’s shape is somewhat linear, though it is pretty uniquely shaped:
Park Hyatt Seoul Floorplan
Our room was located on the 15th floor below the lobby, though we had to pass through the lobby to access a separate set of lifts to get to it. Lift access was key-card enabled, so you couldn’t even get into the lift if you didn’t have a key card on you. I thought that was practical, so you don’t have to scramble for your key card once you’re inside the lift.
The hallways were sleek, and I liked the wooden finishes.
Park Hyatt Seoul Hallways
Our Park Suite Twin was located around 10-15 meters from the lift lobby. It’s worth noting that none of the initial key cards they gave us worked, though the front desk was more than happy to get them replaced for us, and the new key cards worked perfectly throughout our stay.
Park Hyatt Seoul Park Suite Twin Entrance
Park Hyatt Seoul
Check-in: Friday, July 27, 2018
Room Type: Park Suite Twin
Room Number: 1505
Stay duration: 5 nights
Check-out: Wednesday, August 1, 2018
The door opened into the suite’s living room, which was a good size. It featured a two-person sofa facing a flatscreen TV, a coffee table, and a separate table with two chairs.
Park Hyatt Seoul Park Suite Twin Living Room
Park Hyatt Seoul Park Suite Twin Living Room
It’s worth noting that the given desk and chair is the closest that the room has to a desk, which I don’t like. I would much rather have had a real desk, especially in a suite, as the round table wasn’t sturdy, and I don’t like working from circular tables. Ultimately that’s my opinion, so I’d be curious to hear how you like working in hotel rooms.
Park Hyatt Seoul Park Suite Twin Living Room
The living room was separated from the bedroom by the headboard wall, with entrances on both sides (one had a door, whereas the other one didn’t). The bedroom itself was quite nice, featuring two very comfortable beds, an equally comfortable rollaway (in our case), a recliner, and a flatscreen TV.
Park Hyatt Seoul Park Suite Twin Bedroom
I thought the room was a nice size, and it seemed especially spacious when the curtains were drawn up with the electric controls. Some suites try to maximise the number of rooms by making each room as small and tight as humanly possible, though I thought space was well-utilised here.
Park Hyatt Seoul Park Suite Twin Bedroom
My complaint would be that the headboard wasn’t padded, and the “ceiling” might make propping yourself up and reading in bed slightly uncomfortable.
Park Hyatt Seoul Park Suite Twin Bedroom
The recliner by the window was probably one of my favourite pieces of furniture in any hotel ever. Not only did it go twice as far back as Cathay Pacific’s regional business class seat, but it was so well padded and the position was so comfortable. I loved the flexibility it had, since I could have it upright while working and recline it if I wanted to relax while the rest of my family was in the shower. How thoughtful.
Park Hyatt Seoul Park Suite Twin Bedroom Recliner
On the first night we asked if we could have an extra pillow and duvet, and the housekeeping team obliged. I slept on the recliner the first night (on subsequent nights my mother resorted to sleeping with Hailey), and on subsequent nights the housekeepers actually laid the bedding onto the recliner as follows.
Park Hyatt Seoul Park Suite Twin Recliner Turned Down
Since there was a flatscreen TV in the living room, we never used the flatscreen TV in the bedroom, though it’s always nice to have the option.
Park Hyatt Seoul Park Suite Twin Flatscreen TV
The bathroom was located behind the bedroom, and was very classy, in my opinion. My biggest complaint would be that there was no door between the bathroom and the rest of the room. The two rooms were separated by a single cupboard with doors on both sides, so if you were naked and decided to open the cupboard at the same time a roommate decided to, you might get into some awkward situations.
The vanity area featured a sink and a separate surface for vanity (complete with a stool).
Park Hyatt Seoul Park Suite Twin Bathroom
The enclosed bathroom had a Japanese-style toilet.
Park Hyatt Seoul Park Suite Twin Enclosed Toilet
The bathtub and shower were the highlight of the room, and while separate, they were enclosed in the same area.
It’s worth noting that while there are huge floor-to-ceiling windows by the living room, the bedroom, and the shower/tub area, there’s also a glass wall between the shower/tub area and the bedroom. I find that to be so extra and borderline unpractical given the amount of natural light that’s going through into the bathroom anyway, though at least there’s a curtain that partitions it.
Park Hyatt Seoul Park Suite Twin Bathroom Tub and Shower
The bathtub had its own separate TV, though I always wonder how easy it is to relax inside a square tub with such defined corners.
Park Hyatt Seoul Park Suite Twin Bathroom Tub
The shower was great, and water pressure was good but not amazing. I was impressed that there was a separate water outlet for cleaning your feet. Unfortunately, that took away from the “stream” of water that came out from one of the other two showerheads, so you couldn’t blast both the faucet and the rainforest showerhead at full power. All the best for the environment, I suppose, so I’m not complaining.
Park Hyatt Seoul Park Suite Twin Bathroom Shower
The bathroom featured Aesop toiletries, which I like. I don’t find them to be the best, and I wish the containers could’ve been bigger, though I do appreciate the hotel’s thoughtfulness in investing in high-quality toiletries.
Park Hyatt Seoul Park Suite Twin Bathroom Toiletries
All rooms faced beautiful Gangnam, where you could see COEX in the distance. While not an “iconic” view by any means, as someone who loves the city, I really liked the view that we had, and it was great for getting some timelapse footage as well.
Park Hyatt Seoul Park Suite Twin View by Day
Park Hyatt Seoul Park Suite Twin View by Day
Seoul does get quite bright at night, due to the huge LED advertising billboards on the sides of buildings. Fortunately there were blackout curtains in the room.
Park Hyatt Seoul Park Suite Twin View by Night
There were also many amenities and free stuff in the room. By the living room on the cupboard was a coffee machine, as well as some ice. There was also free water that was replenished throughout our stay.
Park Hyatt Seoul Park Suite Twin Coffee Machine
In one of the cupboard’s compartments was a minibar.
Park Hyatt Seoul Park Suite Twin Minibar
Also on the cupboard were three jars of complimentary local candy. To act as a tripod for an Instagram timelapse I took one of the jars and put them by the window, and forgot to put them back when I was done. Go figure they were Korean coffee chocolates that, under a “greenhouse effect” inside the jar, had all quickly melted under the heat of the summer sun.
Park Hyatt Seoul Park Suite Twin Free Candy
There was also a bottle of complimentary wine on the coffee table.
Park Hyatt Seoul Park Suite Twin Complimentary Wine
Overall, I thought the room was pretty well-appointed, and space was well-utilised. It wasn’t one of the biggest suites I’ve ever stayed in, but it was also priced accordingly, since it was priced at less than two rooms at most mid-tier hotels.
However, I did spot signs that showed that the room was starting to age. While the wooden finishes were sleek, personally I wouldn’t use glossy walnut wood and dotted marble patterns to design a hotel room anymore. More importantly, though, while the blackout curtains were very effective, they also showed a lot of wear and tear.
In terms of the hotel’s other amenities, we weren’t entitled to breakfast, though decided to drop by to check out the selection on the last morning. Breakfast at the hotel is served at Cornerstone, the hotel’s restaurant on the second floor (this requires a ride up the “room-side” elevators up to the 24th floor, and the “ground” elevators back to the 2nd floor).
I thought the restaurant was quite nice and airy.
Park Hyatt Seoul Cornerstone Restaurant
The food spread was also quite high-quality, though I didn’t find it to be extremely impressive. The “continental” spread featured a plethora of carbs and pastries, as well as cold cuts.
Park Hyatt Seoul Cornerstone Restaurant Breakfast Spread – Pastries and Cold Cuts
There was also a separate fridge area with fresh fruit, fresh fruit juice, packaged yoghurt, and a few high-quality bottles of packaged fruit juice.
Park Hyatt Seoul Cornerstone Restaurant Breakfast Spread – Yoghurt, Fruit and Fruit Juice
There was also a separate salad and superfoods spread.
Park Hyatt Seoul Cornerstone Restaurant Breakfast Spread – Salad and Granola
However, there were only a few hot items to choose from. Ultimately I’d rather a couple of good hot items over a large selection of soggy hot items that have been sitting out for ages, though the variety was limited to rice, stew, and soup, with a selection of condiments.
Park Hyatt Seoul Cornerstone Restaurant Breakfast Spread – Hot Food
Park Hyatt Seoul Cornerstone Restaurant Breakfast Spread Hot Food Menu
As buffet guests we could also choose from a selection of small dishes, including eggs, a few Western breakfast items involving batters, and a specialty Korean item.
Park Hyatt Seoul Cornerstone Restaurant Breakfast Menu
I chose the Belgian waffles, which came with bacon and maple syrup. They were good.
Park Hyatt Seoul Cornerstone Restaurant Breakfast – Belgian Waffles with Bacon and Maple Syrup
My mother had a blueberry pancake. I thought it was fine, though my mother complained that it tasted like it came straight out of a box. Indeed it had some sort of a rather floury, mealy texture, but I still enjoyed it, and the flavours were good.
Park Hyatt Seoul Cornerstone Restaurant Breakfast – Blueberry Pancake with Whipped Cream and Vanilla Sauce
Meanwhile my dad had the kimchi fried rice, which I also had a bite of. The egg on top was executed perfectly, though the fried rice was typical – nothing too flavourful or out-of-this-world.
Park Hyatt Seoul Cornerstone Restaurant Breakfast – Kimchi Fried Rice
I also had a latte, which was good.
Park Hyatt Seoul Cornerstone Restaurant Breakfast Latte
I thought the selection was solid, though not spectacular. While I do like a menu-centric hot food selection, I found the selection to be limited, and the food quality not spectacular. Meanwhile the cold food selection was also decent but not fabulous.
The hotel also features a Park Club, which features their spa, their business center, their gym, and their swimming pool. The entrance is located on the 23rd floor, though the gym and the swimming pool are one floor up (the same floor as the lobby, but you can’t access either through the lobby).
Getting into the Park Club was always painless, and they even allowed in a few local friends that wanted to work out with me.
Park Hyatt Seoul Park Club Entrance
Right past the entrance was a seating area. One night at around 10:30 PM I asked the friendly associate working the Park Club entrance if there was a common area that I could do a Skype call in, and this is where she directed me to.
Park Hyatt Seoul Park Club Work Area
I moved into the business center after a while, though, since it was empty and cleaners were cleaning the Park Club. The business center featured a work area with four “pods”, one of which was for BYO device users. Inside was a separate meeting room that I never used.
Park Hyatt Seoul Park Club Business Center
Past that was Citrus, which is the hotel’s rejuvenation bar, where you can have a drink after a workout, a swim, or a massage treatment. Unfortunately the drinks didn’t seem to be free, and a quick screen of the menu showed that drinks were around 6000-7000 KRW (HK$40-48) for a small glass.
Park Hyatt Seoul Park Club Bar Area
The treatment rooms looked nice, though the prices were quite high, so no one in my family had a treatment. I did get a sneak peek into one of the rooms, though, since the doors were kept open.
Park Hyatt Seoul Park Club Massage Treatment Rooms
The gym was also located in the Park Club, and unlike the rest of the club, it’s open 24/7. As per the instructions of the associate who showed us around on the first night, I went up to the front desk and asked them to open the door to the gym for me whenever I visited after 10:30 PM, and they gladly obliged every time.
The gym wasn’t a large space, though I thought it was very, very well equipped. It featured many cardio machines and resistance machines, though I was most impressed by the squat rack, the large number of weights, and the Smith machine. So many luxury hotels choose not to invest in good gym equipment, and having a legitimate barbell and cable machine made such a huge difference during my stay, in my opinion.
Park Hyatt Seoul Park Club Gym
Park Hyatt Seoul Park Club Gym
Park Hyatt Seoul Park Club Gym
There’s even yoga equipment, who I’m sure non-weight/endurance trainers will appreciate. On that note there’s also a fitness trainer in the gym during working hours, though he mostly acted as a patrol, cleaning up after people and reminding people that they had to “clean up after use, please”.
Park Hyatt Seoul Park Club Gym
There’s also a pool, which was stunning, though mostly populated during the hours it was open.
Park Hyatt Seoul Park Club Pool
Overall I found service to be friendly across the board. The associates were always friendly, engaging, and willing to help. Housekeeping was particularly impressive – I guess they quickly caught on to the fact that four people were staying in our room, because they left six bottles of water in the room every day, gave us a few extra sets of toiletries, etc.. Since we never told them, it showed how well-trained housekeeping is at the Park Hyatt Seoul. Besides that, the rooms were immaculate every time we returned to them, and housekeepers would bow and greet us whenever we were in the room when they came around to clean them.
Beyond that, I found the Park Club associates to be friendly as well, as well as the waiters at Cornerstone. So I have no complaints about service at this hotel at all. Even when we were leaving, the bellmen were sure to thank us for staying with them, despite the driveway being slightly held up.
On the second last day I asked the front desk if there were any standard rooms that I could photograph, so I could add those pictures to this review. They forwarded my request to the marketing team, and the marketing team tried to reach out to me saying that the hotel was fully booked for the night. However, they couldn’t reach me due to issues with my SIM card, and by the time I got back to the hotel the front desk had no idea that I’d made such a request in the first place. Ultimately, despite the minor hiccup, I appreciate that the hotel made an effort in looking into the situation.
Bottom Line: Park Hyatt Seoul
The Park Hyatt Seoul is a gorgeous hotel that is starting to show its age. I found my room to be very well-appointed, though I’ve heard that the standard and deluxe rooms are even more gorgeously laid out for their respective calibers. It’s clear that the hotel has been well-run for ages, and I can’t fault the hotel’s service standards.
In a few years I feel like it will be due time for this hotel to undergo a refresh to prevent it from falling into the same footsteps as the now-ancient Park Hyatt Tokyo. However, I very much enjoyed my stay at the hotel, and under the same rate wouldn’t hesitate to return in the future. For the interest of variety, though, next time I might opt to stay closer to Myeongdong or Dongdaemun, such as at the Aloft Seoul Myeongdong, which seems like a nice hotel.
Read more from this trip:
What’s your favourite Park Hyatt in the world?
The room looks nice and spacious with great view toward the city. not sure what is my favourite Park Hyatt hotel since currently now we stay at budget hotels and whatever hotels on discount.
The standard rooms of the PH Seoul are pretty nice, too
http://www.bumsbude.eu/2016/07/05/bewertung-park-hyatt-seoul-deluxe-view/