Lux Staycation: Grand Hyatt Seoul

Hello, everyone! Recently there was a three-day weekend here in Korea, and I took advantage of the extra day to finally stay at the Grand Hyatt in Seoul! Teaching high school can be tough, and as much as I love my school and my students, it was nice to get away from the bustle (and from tiny apartment #2).

I took the subway and the village bus to get to the hotel. Unless you’re coming from the airport, it’s not an easy hotel to access; it’s on the south side of Nam mountain, meaning…it’s on a mountain, so you’re either going to take a bus or a taxi. If you’re coming from the airport then there is a limousine bus that drops you off right on the hotel’s doorstep.

 

 

The lobby is, for lack of a better word, grand. It is HUGE, much bigger than I was, for whatever reason, expecting, complete with a spacious lobby lounge/bar and a small duty-free shop. In the evenings, there is usually a band that plays for the guests.

 

 

Even though I was in a Club King room, no one greeted me (too busy) and thus no one told me that I was to check-in on the 17th floor club level…so I just moseyed my way to regular check-in where everything went quite smoothly (I did make sure to check out at the club level, though, just for the experience of it).

 

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My Club King room very nicely decorated with a great view of Namsan Tower. It definitely appeared bigger than my club room at Jeju’s Hyatt Regency, but compared to the Four Seasons and the Conrad, it was still smaller and ever-so-slightly underwhelming. The bed was great, though, so I still enjoyed myself immensely.

 

 

Luckily for me, the club lounge was literally 15 steps from my door. There are actually two club lounges in this hotel, on the 15th and 17th floors, but at the time the 15th floor lounge was closed. Therefore, every breakfast and happy hour event was jam packed with people. The food was good and the drinks were flowing, but I’m all about the Brie: if there’s Brie, then I’m happy.

 

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I did have an opportunity to use the Club Olympus facilities on this staycation: I did actually use the gym…one time (oop). I also used the sauna which, while not as spacious as the one at The Shilla, was still big, bright and clean.

 

 

I used the indoor pool, but the outdoor pool was still available for use (despite the rapidly cooling temperatures). The indoor pool is smaller than the outdoor, but it more than serves its purpose. One interesting thing was that there was direct pool-to-dressing room/sauna access (exit only): therefore, you entered from the Club Olympus lobby, but exited from the pool. Instagrammers, keep your phones in an airtight grip!

 

 

Overall, a very pleasant stay. Would I stay here again? Hmm…I don’t know. For me, there are other more easily accessible hotels, but there are hourly shuttle buses that will take you to and pick you up from both Itaewon (foreigner district) and Myeongdong (shopping district).

Verdict: If you’re a bus kind of person and/or you’re here doing business with diplomats or nearby (read: Itaewon and Gangnam) companies, this might be the place for you. Check it out!

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Grand Hyatt Seoul

322 Sewol-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Korea

https://seoul.grand.hyatt.com

+82 2 797 1234

 

Note: This was not a comped stay; I stayed here on my own dime and wrote this blog post for both my own pleasure and the pleasure of my readers.