SIGNIEL BUSAN — Hotel in Busan

The Signiel was one of the best hotels I’ve ever stayed at. While the hotel is beautiful and the beach is nearby the staff are what really make this hotel shine. From check in, you’re greeted and queued if there is a wait. From there, you’re personally taken to your room and shown all the features of it. The rooms themselves are very modern, sleek and quiet. The complementary tea service and snacks are just some of the small things that really make this hotel stand out. The staff have no problems talking in English, so don’t worry about calling the front desk if you ever need anything. We stayed three nights with them overall and had no issues. As mentioned the hotel is very quiet, and I never heard another customer the entirety of our stay. The second night I called and asked about the tea service since I couldn’t remember if that was every night or just the first night and while they said it was just the first night they would be happy to send up some more tea again.

I’ve seen and stayed at hotels that claimed to be five stars, this however, feels like the first true five star hotel I’ve ever stayed at. They’ll take care of anything and everything. I would have zero hesitation going back and after staying here and I’m definitely interested in exploring the other Lotte operated hotels.

Quickly back on topic, getting here is a little tricky if you are visiting Busan. We came in via the KTX into Busan station. It would take about an hour via public transportation to get to this hotel. To simplify things we just took a taxi which was around US$20. The area in which the hotel is located is right on the beach and situated above a mall. There are plenty of restaurants, and shopping to keep you busy if the weather isn’t so great.

I’m truly having a hard time finding anything that I could complain about. We switched rooms after the first night since I booked a different room to see what the other rooms were like. On the first night, we requested two different types of pillows. (There were many more to choose from by the way.) as well as an HDMI adapter for iPhones, so we could screen cast on our TV. When we were due to change rooms, we were simply told to keep everything in our room and they would take care of the rest. I assumed they would just move our luggage and then we would have to ask for everything again, but to our surprise, they had brand new pillows of the same type we requested from the night before and the HDMI cord already plugged into the TV.

The level of service really is unparalleled. I’m very glad I chose to stay here. If you choose this hotel, you definitely won’t be disappointed. They usually run deals for better rates so keep an eye...

It's a Scam - Not Luxury at All

Having paid SGD1852.90 for 3D2N, this hotel deserves a review. Let me emphasize here, it's their Best Available Rate and not OTAs.

We decided to choose Signiel Busan for our honeymoon, a special occasion. We wanted to be pampered and we are willing to pay extra. So we had high expectations are high and wanted something special!

We were greeted at the driveway and directed to the reception seamlessly. We were advised to be seated while registration was in progress. We were ushered to level 8 for refreshments while waiting for our room to be ready. The lounge at level 8 was pleasant and has fantastic views.

The room we were assigned was on the 18th floor and overseeing the sea. It was ok. I guess Le Meridien Seoul had given us fond and fabulous impressions as compared to Signiel Busan.

The vibe and impression of this hotel are it caters more to the locals rather international travellers like us. The way they do things here also seem more conventional and orthodox.

Let's be honest here, Korean hospitality is quite reserved and do not extend a warmth welcome compared to Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.I thought, by staying at Signiel Busan, a luxury hotel and #1 hotel in Busan, the perspective could be different. Sadly I dumped my money for nothing.

We seeked Concierge's assistance to purchase the tram tickets. What shocked us both my wife and I is the Concierge staff advised us to purchase online. A lady wearing black and holding Les Cledors - Golden Key just walked past rather than check on these two new staff. Disappointed.

I was limping since I arrived. Minor injuries sustained when I was in Seoul. From the day we checked in till I check out, none of them showed any concern or empathy. Oh I forgot, they were being reserved and not warm.

We were hoping graciously that a late check out at 2pm could be accommodated, in consideration that our flight will be at 6pm. Since it's our honeymoon stay, a once in a life time occasion. Again, what shocked me was that it will come with an additional cost. I was very disappointed by how we have been treated. I guess if we had stayed at an Ajuma Hotel, perhaps the aunties would be kind enough to help us with a late checkout. Where is the definition of luxury? We got second call from the operator saying they are able to extend complimentary late check out until 2pm. It's too late. The damage is done. Why would I need to be scream or shout before you can accommodate!?

3 words to describe - Rigid, conventional...

My husband and I had chosen Signiel Busan for our honeymoon stay in Busan as it was rated #1 on Trip Advisor. As we entered the lobby when we arrived, we were greeted politely by the staff but noticed that language was a barrier as the hotel seem to cater more to domestic tourists.

The honeymoon amenities of a cake and macarons were alright. We had come from Le Meridian when we were at Seoul and we were offered early check in (as early as 12pm) and complimentary breakfast on the day we check out.

What we had found appalling was the attitude shown when we had asked the concierge (Miss Joy Kim and Miss Clara Kim) to help with the booking of the tickets for the Heaundae Blue Line Beach Train. The concierge staff had some difficulty understanding what we meant and even questioned us on why we couldn’t just book it using our phones. We had to justify to the staff of a luxury hotel why we couldn’t book the tickets ourselves??!! We weren’t even questioned when we had asked Le Meridian Myeongdong’s concierge for help to book the train tickets to Busan!

When we asked the front desk staff for their kind assistance for a late check out at 2pm (because our flight is scheduled at 6pm, and we are honeymooners), we were told that check out can be extended to 12pm and there will be a late check out charge of ₩145,000 if we want to check out at 2pm. My husband was livid because a 2-hour extension for late check out is not unreasonable, and we had expected more from a “luxury hotel” like Signiel. Shortly after, we received another call from the front desk to inform us that the 2pm late check out request has been granted with no extra charge. We have decided not to take up the offer because it seem to have been granted because my husband had expressed anger to the front desk staff. The rigidity is ridiculous (like how guests have to wear swimming caps in the pool??!)!

We have had issues with the mirroring service for the TV at Signiel even after VPN had been activated. We were told that VPN and the sports channel app are not supported in South Korea, but we had no issues with this when we were in Seoul.

The hotel staff lack hospitality, would need much improvement in their language skills as Busan welcomes more international guests/ tourists, and upgrading would be needed for their TV systems.

We would be back to Busan but we would unlikely to return as...