Grab The Ocean Songdo — Hotel in Busan

First, the location: We had never been to Busan before and picked Songdo because we wanted to be on the beach and it seemed like a cool neighborhood. That was the best decision, because Songdo is a magical corner of the city. It's on the southern edge of the city, so a bit distant from the city center, which makes it feel like your own special area. It's a great neighborhood to relax and spend time in. The beach is nice, although it was a bit early in the season when we went. Highly recommend the cable car and hiking around the trails at the top! The Songdo Cloud Trails are also well worth a visit, both during the day and at night when they are lit up. In general, wandering down the boardwalk along the beach will give you a plethora of food options (lots of fresh seafood restaurants and coffee shops).||Grab the Ocean is literally right in the middle of the neighborhood, literally across the street from the sand. You could not have a better location in Songdo, and it's attached to a convenience store and a wonderful coffee shop called Blue Shaak. The hotel itself is decent. It's not too fancy, but had a number of worthwhile features. There's a rooftop with a killer view and a bar (closed when we were there). The hotel breakfast is really pretty good and inexpensive (and again with the killer view of the bay). We had the do not disturb sign on our door the whole stay, but the cleaning staff continued to leave us a bag of toiletries and fresh towels every day. For all that, this hotel is a shocking bargain. Maybe it's more expensive during the summer season when the beach is full, but in April it was warm enough most days to enjoy everything, the beach was nearly empty, and this hotel is just about the best bargain you...

I’ve stayed at this hotel multiple times over the past few years, and unfortunately, the issues remain unchanged — or have gotten worse. • Elevator Chaos: The situation with the elevators is simply unacceptable. During peak hours, especially in the morning around breakfast time, it takes 15–20 minutes just to catch an elevator either up or down. This is a daily frustration that really impacts the overall experience. • Breakfast – Stuck in the Past: The breakfast offering has been exactly the same for the past three years, and not in a good way. The food is bland and extremely limited — sausages with corn, only pork as a meat option, and very little variety overall. If you want a fried egg, good luck — the cook is often missing. • Air Conditioning Issues: The room air conditioning has a poor design — it cannot be adjusted to change the direction of airflow, which means it blows directly onto your head while you sleep. It’s uncomfortable and disruptive.

This hotel has potential, but it urgently needs upgrades in both service and facilities. Until improvements are made, I can’t recommend staying here.

*Wifi is...

This is a very nice hotel across a beautiful, walkable beach. The lobby is the 9th floor. Staff are courteous and professional.

We enjoyed a spacious room with wrap around deck and a gorgeous view of the coast. The rooms are insulated well enough, though, there was one night with a very loud party. The bathroom we had was both awesome and weird. It was a huge room with a very large soaking tube in a corner. The toilet, in almost all hotels in Asia, have multi-functional bidet. The soaking tub is nice but the using the shower causes a huge mess because of the configuration. No hooks, shelf’s or bars to put/hang clothes, or wet towels or anything. Only places for wet towels is by the sink, on the tub or on the floor. Very challenging if you are trying to not be wasteful.

Electrical outlets are round pins. If coming from Europe, all good. If coming from North America, bring an adapter. The hotel will also lend adapters, but it didn’t work well.

Location is great for strolling, with many wonderful places to eat. And a short distance to public transportation. Taxis are also not...