Imperial Palace Boutique Hotel – Seoul, South Korea

Posted on Apr 24, 2014 in Accommodation

Positives: Location is great. Service was helpful. Price was very reasonable.

Negatives:
The first room we were given was at the front of the building and with the late afternoon sun streaming in, it was very warm.

We called reception to advise that our air conditioning wasn’t working but they informed us there was no air conditioning at this time of year, only heating. No individual control, the entire hotel has the same temperature. Apparently they change it over at the end of the relevant season and as it had turned warm earlier than expected this year, they were caught out and the ‘switch over’ takes a couple of days. When we commented that our booking stated that the hotel has air conditioning (Wotif), they agreed and simply apologised. We asked to move rooms to one that did not receive full sun and they were accommodating however the only room they had smelled heavily of cigarette smoke – even though it was a non-smoking room. We didn’t have a choice so moved anyway. After 3 days, the smoke subsided a little.

Noisy! Not sure if they have a lot of late arrivals or its just party people (although they didn’t look like party animals!) but there were people in the hallway at all hours. It wasn’t just a quick enter the room and slam the door, it was a constant yelling up and down the hallway for an hour or two. Between 2am and 5am, it wasn’t pleasant.

Bathroom light and bedroom/hall light is sensor driven so when one gets up during the night, the whole room is alight! Also slightly off-putting is the fact that the entire bathroom wall is glass – ok for two but not so great for friends or family.

We wouldn’t stay here again but I can understand why it suits some.

Stayed April 2014.