Seoul hotels Gangnam Style!

Our list for Seoul is noticeably light, but that’s not because we didn’t scour the city for hotels to recommend. We did. The city is well known in hotel circles to have only a few strong options, and basically nothing at the “boutique” level to recommend. This is why you’ll find mostly big international brands on The List for Seoul.

We’ll start with the city’s most recent addition, and actually our favorite—the new 170-room JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square Seoul situated in the heart of the city’s main wholesale and night market shopping district. Rooms at what we think is the nicest JW Marriott in the company’s portfolio start at 44sqm and are priced well compared to hotels with a similar offering (The Park Hyatt, Conrad, etc.).

Seoul has two very strong locally branded luxury offerings, the Shila and the Plaza, both of which are long established hotels in the city and have enviable central locations. Standard rooms here are however a bit smaller than other properties on The List, but perhaps the location overrides room size.

Our top picks for Seoul are the globally respected Park Hyatt, in the business side of Gangnam, and the Conrad Yeouido, a 434-room property with average rooms at about 48sqm (compared to 44sqm at the Park Hyatt). Yeouido is generally seen as a business and finance area—and so is a great (and natural) option for business travellers—but we think leisure travelers will also appreciate the location (and the relative 5-star level value).

The List's Honorable Mentions

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