LOTTE HOTEL SEOUL — Attraction in Seoul

Great location but the hotel needs lots of improvements to the rooms, staff, management , protocols etc to qualify as a 5 star. There is no way this hotel is a 5 star hotel. It might have been at one time, but I doubt it. I suspect the Lotte name got it that rating or it was able to keep the rating because of its name.||There were things i noticed, as i explain below, that shows a total lack of respect for the guest and to take suggestions and problems and fix them. No 5 star hotel should have any problems that require guests to complain or make suggestions...let alone ignore the guests concerns .||That is not to say i would not stay again, or recommend it, but its not of the level i expected and, as I said, some things reflect a lack of concern for the guest. ||The location cannot be beat. You are literally over the Seomyeon and Baum subway station and underground shopping mall (the mall goes on for miles). You are also next to the night market, but we never went to the night market as we found another area at the far end of Seomyeon with lots of young people …and bars, nightclubs, restaurants, gatcha parlors, photo shops, bowling alleys etc. ( I do not know the specific name for the area, but it was at subway exit numbers 6, or 2 or 4, of line 1 station 219 Seomyeon, not the exits for line 2 station 220 Baum, as they are all connected. My reference point was Levels Pizza to find the area)||The we had a Deluxe Double Room. The superior and deluxe are the same size rooms, so not sure that the extra price got me. ||But the room seemed to me to be a basic Holiday Inn type room in terms of size (it was a bit bigger but not by much), furniture, amenities etc. Definitively not a 5 star hotel.||The room was in need of refurbishing. The bed was fine and comfy, but you could tell the furniture was in need of replacement. There was a nice desk, and they MacGyvered it to add plug outlets to help modernize the desk (the desk still had an old phone jack connection) . The safe was an antique… the ones from 30 plus years ago which are very small and have a knob to turn to lock or unlock after you put in your code. I could barely fit my small notebook computer by turning it diagonally, but no way anyone could fit a laptop. Let alone a typical size these days. Every other hotel we stayed at on our trip had a modern, big, safe. How can a 5 star hotel have such ancient amenities. ||One thing they need to explain to guests, or put a little sign, is how to turn on and off the lights. There were no switches. I could not figure it out. I googled it (yes people had to post this ...again, the hotel must know the issue but ignores it) and it turned out that the phone next to the bed has the electronic switches. The screen turns off when not in use, so it just looked like a phone…until I touched it.||But worst of all were the lights in the entry hall and closet…which you could not turn on or off. They were on motion sensors. So every time you walked by…like 3am to go to the bathroom…they would turn on and stay on until a few minutes after the motion stopped. i am not talking dim night lights. But very bright hall lights. I don’t know about you, but in the middle of the night when you want to go to the bathroom, bright lights turning on, waking you up, and your spouse who is still in bed as wel, is horrendous. (I can see a small night light type light near the floor but this….ugh)||I asked reception if there was a switch or anything to do to turn off those lights ….and their response was... i kid you not.... just take the bulb out. So they know this is a problem with their guests, yet have taken no steps to fix it. ||This is emblematic of the problem with the hotel. No concern about the guest or to take steps to make things better.||It occurred to me that one light that I assumed was burned out was likely unscrewed by the last guest! Either way, they never checked the room after the last guest.||Instead of taking the bulbs out, I put a piece of tape (I always have masking tape to tape up my bottles for travel) over the sensor …which is on the rim of the light just next to the bulb. That worked perfectly and was easy to put on and off.||Another lighting issue was the low light in the bedroom (the entry hall of course had great bright light!). There were no ceiling lights in the bedroom…just the ones in the entry hall!. You got some light from the night stands, and a bit from the desk lamp if you turned it on. There was also a standing light in the corner but it was not very bright (i could not tell any difference when it was on). But taken together it was very hard to see if you were not right next to one of the lights. ||The bathroom was also not lit well. Very dim. The one room you need to have bright lights. The bathroom itself had a decent amount of counter space and area. There was a tub/shower combo …keeping with the old rooms that need modernization. Every hotel we stayed at on this trip, and not all were 5 stars, had walk in showers with a separate bath.||As I said, the rooms are dated and need a total refurbishing and reconfiguration.||While we had no time for the pool or gym, it seemed that use of these were subject to additional usage fees. Never seen that before. Many resorts charge a resort fee, but a non-resort hotel in the middle of town charging use fees? ||Particularly irksome was check-in. Regardless of whether they had your room ready or not, they would not check or check you in until check-in time (3pm). We got there around noon. And we knew check in was not till 3 so we went and got lunch and walked abound . But most hotel, particularly higher end, will get you into your room as quickly as possible, without having to wait till the official check in time , if you room is ready. They did start checking us in around 2pm. But with a 5 star hotel you don’t expect to sit around waiting for your room if its available. And since they make everyone wait, you might be waiting to check in once they open it up (they even warn you that 3pm-5pm can be have long waits).||All that said, the staff in the lobby were professional and tried, but given other 5 star hotels we stayed at on this trip, even the staff seemed to be at a lower level. They seemed more concerned about company policy and protocols then taking care of the guest (like the answer about the lights on sensor. Instead of telling me I could just take out the bulb, which meant standing on a chair..and I am a senior, not that I could not do it… maybe the right answer would be …let me have someone go up there right away to take care of the problem ). ||The website photos were fairly accurate depictions although they seemed to make the room look bigger than it was. ||Wifi...

Luckily I have found this time many other hotels nearby that are livelier, more restaurants, more options of wines.

Sadly spent 4 nights here. Service are mostly careless. Late arrival almost midnight without luggage service. Only one staff at check-in and busy with one guest having long inquiries. Superior Room was super old with old fashion design. Only shower in slippery bathtub. Luckily, I just slept 6 hours and had a shower then changed the room to Club Deluxe Room, which I booked for the rest 3 nights.

Club Deluxe room is larger but still old fashion. There are a pair of Bose speakers on the ceiling but no way to use it and it doesn’t link to TV.

Very unusual of step up and down to enter bathroom plus uneven floor for water way. Shower room cannot be closed properly and half of the bathroom is flooded after showers.

Service at club both breakfast and dinner with service of entitled guests checked, showed a table, take soil plates. No assistance, no other service. Cooking persons are unfriendly, just perform the duty. No surprise that breakfast is same or similar everyday but evening dishes are the same every the other day. I strongly recommend to stay not more than 2 nights. We got so bored that we came down to drink in the lobby but it’s even worse - there is a Piano in the middle of the lobby but no performance. In the lobby bar there is a stage with piano and other equipment but no performance. Basic Wine by glass starts at 30,000 KRW and the selections are poor. Not even rose by glass at this age. I changed to a bar on 35 floor of Executive Building with hope if something including products, services, and environment are better without care of extra expenses but it doesn’t operate. It totally closes but still shows on the board of Food & Beverage outlets.

9.10a.m at the bakery, I asked a staff at the bakery whether it is possible to order some bakery and coffee to eat and drink at the lobby. She said, Yes and once I chose the bakery and started to order, she said you have to wait till 9.30am when the lobby seating area is opened.

No seats at all in the big lobby.

Busy with clouded people

Nothing to I can feel impressed

For sustainability management the hotel doesn’t provide amenities but buy from mini bar stock, claiming that to reduce waste. However, the bin to separate waste and recycle garbage is not available. Toiletries are set at bathtub and help yourself when you want to use the shower. Other hotels provided at both areas from my very frequent travel experience.

Staffs using guests’ elevator are careless. None of them seem to ignore guests in the elevator. Some even continue talking lound and fast on the phone in the lift with many guests inside- really uncivilized service manner.

Once asking for concierge to book a taxi to the airport, the female staff said, go outside to the main entrance and book there.

This is bad service 4 star rather than 5 star.

Compliments to the big business of the company and brand image management.

No sneeze guard or cover at buffet line, I had breakfast in the club on 10Nov2023 a few guests coughed and sneezed over salad and fruits.

Even I had booked a taxi to Inchoeon airport 7:45am. At the end I need to catch a taxi myself because receptionist told I booked a taxi at 17:45. Bad communication from confirmation with guest in written at the time of booking or wrong communication in system record among reception team or what so ever, the reception told me to go to main entrance and someone would help me get a taxi but in reality I had to catch taxi myself at rush hour without help from any staff. No luggage service at all from check out to taxi queue.

I will never step in not only the hotel but also shopping malls under this brand....

Stayed at the Executive Tower for 4 nights. The checkin was quick and the special checkin area for the executive tower was very nice at level 15. Check-out was a bit different - very slow and staff disappeared after awhile? Not too sure what was going on.

The rooms were spacious, nice view. The bathroom was very spacious with a nice bathtub and spacious area for shower. Room service is incredibly quick and concierge very helpful.

The issue I have is with the room itself. 1) There was no place to put your luggage (ie. no luggage stand) and we had 2 large suitcases with us and had nowhere to put it except on the floor. Very odd for a 5 star hotel. 2) The amenties dont include toothpaste, razor - they said for environmental reasons and that if you want them you would have to pay for it - this is a cheap excuse for a 5 star hotel asking your guests to pay for razor, shaving cream, toothpaste etc. Yet you were able to provide unlimited bottles of Evian plastic bottled water to the rooms. 3) Bath drying towels were increidbly small - more for children vs adults. 4) Mimicking japanese style toilets with many buttons eg. automatic seat lifter, various sprays etc.. all very good and wonderfful except not button for flushing - this one you have to use hand (I know it is a silly thing to complain about but just wondering why this feature was left out for such an advance toilet?)

The in room dining - i think the prices were a bit too high for the food they offer. They should revise this - the prices for in-room dining are higher here than any other 5 star hotel.

Breakfast: We had two options of dining at La Siene (the main hotel breakfast restaurant) or La Salon (for the executive tower guests). We opted to try the la siene - however the breakfast buffet was a bit disappointing - although the area is very large, given the number of rooms it is not able to accomodate the large number of guests. The breakfast spread was good however the quality of food just wasn't there. There was nothing unique or special about the breakfast buffet - pretty standard and nothing stood out. Charging at a whopping 60-70,000 Won per person I would have expected more.

La Salon is a smaller dining area - however quality was higher although food choice was less. I would recommend this instead of the La Siene. More personal and quiet as well.

Transportation & Location: It is not easy to get a taxi at the hotel lobby. You have to ask the conceirge to call taxi for you, unless its early morning - lots of taxis outside the hotel.

The location of the hotel although is directly at the subway station (1min walk) - however it is the green line unforunately and that line doesn't connect to the major attractions for tourists - thus needing to always change lines to the light blue line small issue but does increase the travel time significantly Myeodong street is nearby just cross the road which is nice and full of people.

Lotte department store - don't bother coming here - there is not much going on unless you plan to come to Seoul to buy luxury brands - dior, chanel, lv etc...

Overall I just couldn't give this hotel 5 stars given the price and how they want to position themselves as a 5 star luxury hotel. It is the small things that were a bit annoying and added up and thus giving 4 stars. Perhaps 4.5 stars would be more appropriate.

The staff here are incredibly nice, friendly and helpful - something that south koreans in general may not be known for in my...