Seoul has a booming hotel scene, mainly dominated by big Korean and international brands, such as Lotte, Marriott and Hyatt. But that doesn’t mean the hotels are without variety or character. Take a closer look and you’ll find family-friendly five-stars with swimming pools and ice-skating rinks, slick stays with spectacular rooftop bars, urban sanctuaries with holistic spas and leafy park views. And in a city where English isn’t as widely spoken as it is in, say, Hong Kong or Singapore, it can be reassuring to check into somewhere where you can communicate. The South Korean capital is a gigantic city, made up of 25 gu, or districts, with the majority of hotels clustered around Jongno-gu (close to historic sites Gyeongbokgung Palace and Changdeokgung), Dongdaemun (fashion central), university enclave Hongdae, hip and happening Itaewon and ritzy, glitzy Gangnam. Make getting around easier by choosing a hotel close to the comprehensive subway system.
Main photo: Ryse (hotels.com)
1. Park Hyatt Seoul
Best for star power
Ringed by Gangnam’s skyscrapers, the COEX mega-mall and giant LED screens projecting images of kitschy advertisements and K-pop music videos, the Park Hyatt Seoul channels some serious Blade Runner vibes. Hypnotic views are framed through floor-to-ceiling windows in the sleek rooms, some of the largest in the city, with floating beds, granite bathrooms and high-tech toilets. Service is silk smooth and the guest list includes CEOs and major celebrities — Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johansson and Squid Game star Gong Yoo — who arrive via the rooftop helipad.
Spa Y
Pool Y
Price £££
2. Four Seasons Seoul
Best for culture
A gleaming tower of brushed bronze, smoked glass and blonde woods in Jongno-gu, the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul is a short stroll from some of Seoul’s most important historical sites, including the 14th century Gyeongbokgung Palace, Jongmyo Royal Shrine and Bukchon Hanok Village. As you would expect from the brand, the service facilities are tip-top — three floors of gyms, pools and Korean saunas, as well as a comprehensive spa with herbal loofah scrubs and turn-back-time facials. A bountiful breakfast is served in the Market Kitchen, where glass floor panels showcase ancient ruins discovered during the hotel build.
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Spa Y
Pool Y
Price £££
3. RYSE Hotel
Best for creative types
A five-minute walk from Hongkik subway station in Seoul’s most happening neighbourhood Hongdae, this hip four-star hotel — part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection — has a shop selling limited edition shoes and clothes; a library stocked with vintage vinyl, niche magazines and fascinating books; and a bar with mixologists making their own gin and soku. The smokey-hued rooms are equally trendy, with big puffy beds, retro boomboxes, Korean board games, subway-tiled bathrooms and free beers and face masks.
Spa N
Pool N
Price £
4. The Shilla Seoul
Best for Korean cool
Set on the slopes of Namsam Park, The Shilla is named after one of Korea’s greatest imperial dynasties and imparts suitably luxurious levels of style and service. Rooms are capacious contemporary Korean spaces blending rich hardwoods with champagne and oyster tones; the best come with mountain views and access to the executive lounge. The bars and restaurants are popular with the in-crowd, who flit between the three Michelin-star meals at Korean restaurant La Yeon and whisky and jazz at the cosy Library Bar. Other upmarket accoutrements include an outdoor swimming pool lined with cabanas and a gorgeous Guerlain Spa.
Spa Y
Pool Y
Price £££
5. Signiel Seoul
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Best for city views
Set between the 76th and 101st floors of the tweezer-shaped Lotte World Tower — the fifth-tallest skyscraper in the world — the Signiel Seoul hotel literally stands head and shoulders above the competition. Succession-worthy services include helicopter and Rolls-Royce transfers, an Evian spa, a restaurant helmed by celebrity chef Yannick Alleno and the largest champagne cellar in the country. The 235 rooms come with cherry blossom murals, marble bathrooms and the services of a butler.
Spa Y
Pool Y
Price £££
6. Fairmont Ambassador Seoul
Best for cherry blossom
Connected to the swanky Park1 shopping and entertainment complex in the leafy Yeongdeungpo-gu neighbourhood, this new luxury hotel has gorgeous views of Yeouido Han River Park. The area is transformed into a vision of pink during the April Spring Flower Festival with over 1,500 king cherry blossom trees. Equally pretty is the hotel’s rooftop terrace restaurant bar, M29 & Mariposa, which serves modern European cuisine and champagne cocktails. Elsewhere, there are spacious rooms, an indoor swimming pool and an ESPA spa.
Spa Y
Pool Y
Price ££
7. L7 Myeongdong by LOTTE
Best for rooftop drinks
Scandinavian style meets Korean sensibilities at this stylish yet affordable hotel in the Myeongdong shopping district — an area famed for its K-beauty products and make-up brands. Aimed at female travellers and the LGBTQ+ market, playfully minimalist interiors blend polished concretes with flashes of canary yellow and stripy corridors. The Namsam mountain view rooftop is the place to be, either sipping cocktails at the alfresco bar or soaking your tootsies at the Long Day Foot Spa.
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Spa N
Pool N
Price £
8. Josun Palace
Best for glamour
Pass through the glass door of this glittering Gangnam tower into an art deco-inspired world of sleek, linear forms, geometric chandeliers and velvet tub chairs. Gatsby-esque rooms, all with dazzling city views, are tastefully done out in white marble with half-moon headboards, brass trimmings and in-room cocktails — or you could head to the 24th floor for highballs and live jazz at the 1914 Lounge. Recharge at the wellness centre, which has an indoor swimming pool, onsen, saunas and day beds by the big windows.
Spa N
Pool Y
Price £££
9. Mondrian Seoul Itaewon
Best for hipsters
Once a popular haunt for American soldiers in search of some R&R, Seoul’s Itaewon neighbourhood is now one of the coolest quarters in the city, packed with fashionable restaurants and jumping bars. Adding to the uptown funk is the Mondrian, which blends a bold design — soaring ceilings, video installations, colour-pop furniture — with trendy restaurants, rooftop parties and fitness facilities including two swimming pools, a high-tech gym, a golf simulator, a Pilates room, saunas and onsen. Standard rooms are compact but cleverly put together with concealed wardrobes and open-plan bathrooms.
Spa N
Pool Y
Price ££
10. Banyan Tree Club and Spa Seoul
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Best for urban wellness
Banyan Tree is known across Asia for its wonderful spas and wellness retreats. Here, they’ve found a surprisingly green yet central location, facing the 500m peak of Mount Namhan, a ten-minute hop from downtown Seoul. Zen calm rooms are designed for lingering in, with huge platform beds, pillow menus and big onsen-style soaking pools. Elsewhere, there are indoor and outdoor swimming pools — the latter is flipped into an ice-skating rink in winter — and a spa that will keep you occupied for hours, with sesame scented massages and rain mist therapies.
Spa Y
Pool Y
Price £££
11. Grand Hyatt Seoul
Best for families
The Grand Hyatt Seoul is a great all-rounder that’s especially fun for families. It’s within strolling distance of Itaewon and Myeongdong, and has spacious rooms with bright lights, big city views and sofa beds that can be rolled out for little ones. A bountiful breakfast buffet is served at the Terrace — traditional Korean and international dishes, including pancakes. All of the dining options let children under four eat for free; children under 12 get a 50 per cent discount. An ice-skating rink sets up in the gardens over winter.
Spa Y
Pool Y
Price ££
12. JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square Seoul
Best for shopping
The only luxury hotel located in Dongdaemun, an area known for its lively malls, indoor markets, independent designers and the lovely Chunggyeecheon Stream. Shop until you drop and then cocoon yourself in a world of contemporary luxury flitting from LEED-certified indoor pool to the L’Occitane spa to the rooftop terrace of the Griffin Bar — prettiest in the evening lit in the glow of fairy lights — before flopping contented in your calming, clean-lined room.
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Spa Y
Pool Y
Price £££
13. The Westin Josun Seoul
Best for luxury without the price tag
Situated in the centre of the thrumming Korean capital, The Westin Josun Seoul is a business hotel that has great deals at the weekend when the salarymen head home. Rooms are larger than average, comfortable rather than cool, with aptly titled Heavenly Beds and bathtubs. You can do your own hot and cold therapy, dipping between the swimming pool, saunas and whirlpools, or visit the V Spa. There are six restaurants to choose from, as well as a reasonably-priced deli where you can sit in or grab and go.
Spa Y
Pool Y
Price ££
14. Andaz Seoul Gangnam
Best for fashionistas
Located in Gangnam, a short stroll from the affluent Apgujeong, Dosan Park and Cheongdam fashion districts, this forward-thinking five-star hotel is a design darling. It’s a big hotel — 241 rooms — that feels boutique, thanks to imaginative interiors inspired by traditional Korean patchwork weaving. Rooms are bright and sunny (pay a bit extra for one with a balcony) and feel-good facilities include a spa, an indoor swimming pool, three hot tubs and a herbal bath.
Spa Y
Pool Y
Price £££
15. Voco Seoul Gangnam
Intercontinental Hotels chose Seoul’s trendy Gangnam as the place to launch its first Voco hotel, a brand which will focus on fashionable adult-only accommodation. A stone’s throw from enough neon-lit malls and nightclubs to last you a lifetime, the 151 rooms are calming spaces to return to, in homey yellows and navy blues, with big beds clad in recycled materials and pump bottles of fancy plant-based toiletries from Antipodes in the bathrooms. Visit Amarillo, the hotel’s international restaurant, or cook for yourself in the the guest communal kitchens. Elsewhere, there’s a self-laundry room and a 24-hour gym.
Spa N
Pool N
Price ££
16. Henn na Hotel Seoul Myeongdong
There are quirky South Korean boutique hotels and then there’s the Henn na, where the lobby has been designed to look like a space ship and life-size animatronic dinosaurs burst out of the walls. The first hotel in the world to be staffed by robots, you’ll be checked in by two multilingual astronaut-inspired android. You can even order room service from voice-activated tablets and have it delivered by an R2D2-like droid, which is able to knock on your door. The 100 rooms are simply designed in white and blonde wood and there’s a small café serving Korean and continental breakfast. Nearby shopping hotspots include Namdaemun Market, Gwangjang Market and Bangsan Market.
Spa N
Pool N
Price ££
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