대동호텔 — Hotel in Jeju

Stayed here 6 nights during Chuseok. Check in wasn't great as I'd emailed the hotel in advance to inform them that I was arriving at 8 am and wanted to know if reception was around so I could leave my luggage with the hotel. They never replied and I arrived at stated time to find the reception empty. There was a notice in Korean with a phone number but I had a data plan and couldn't make calls. There was a bell to ring but I rang it many times and no one came. Finally when I almost wanted to leave my luggage behind the reception desk and leave, a male staff appeared and assisted me. He could speak and understand English and could assist me with qns.

The staff are a mixed bag. The middle aged man and woman (female manager) is friendly and can speak English but some staff can't understand English at all or have a bad attitude (below).

My room #303 was clean and large. The ceiling light doesn't work so the room is pretty dim with 2 table lamps and 1 floor lamp. The bed was comfortable, although you can feel the spring coils. The aircon worked well some nights and wasn't cold on other nights despite staying the same temperature (22 degrees). They didn't restock toilet paper whenever it was running low- I had to go to reception to ask for it. Things were OK until my 3rd night. When i got back to my room, i found the table lamp stopped working when it was OK all along. I approached the staff on duty for help- an old man who spoke English and the whole time he came to check and later replace the faulty lamp, he was rude, rough and unwilling to help. When it finally got replaced and I thanked him, he glared angrily at me and slammed the door. I realised later that night that the TV, which worked fine all along, also couldn't be turned on. Turns out there may be a blown power socket as a power socket near the TV suddenly stopped working as well. This went on for 2 nights before the TV and said socket suddenly worked again but I didnt tell the staff as the only staff I met was the same rude old man. There's construction nearby so it gets noisy from 8am. There was a large family next door who was noisy for hours at night. My room had a shared balcony with other rooms- this gets noisy when other guests use it and there's little privacy as the curtains are semi transparent. The location is great as it's near Dongmun market, eateries, convenience stores and bus stops but its entrance seems to be a gathering place for older unemployed men to hang out/smoke. On my 2nd last day, I was in my room charging my phone in the afternoon when suddenly I heard a sizzling sound, a burning smell and saw smoke coming out of the electrical socket that was charging my phone. I managed to unplug my adaptor and charger from the socket but my phone stopped functioning. I panicked as I was due to leave the next day and needed my phone. Worse, it was a national holiday. I approached a male staff on duty. While nice, he barely understand English and when he finally understood what I was saying, he told me via a translation app that he was sorry but he could not help me as it was a holiday and shops were closed. It was shocking that he never thought to call the manager for help in such a scenario. I asked him to contact an English speaking staff and he called the female manager who came by quickly. She found a phone shop that was open nearby and and took me there. Thankfully my phone could be revived but I was made to pay for a new Korean charger, which was incompatible with my home country's power plug but I had no choice. On returning with the manager back to my room, the manager inspected my burnt charger and insisted my charger caused it. My charger was new and I'd used it in my home country and 2 SE Asian countries before coming to Korea and it worked well without any issues. Based on the multiple appliances breaking down in my room, it is highly likely the old wiring of the hotel was incompatible and not updated for modern charging devices. I was refunded $ for the new charger later but cannot recommend this...

Booked a room with a double bed and was surprised that the room was very spacious, with a divider between the bathroom/closet area with the sleeping area. The room was very clean and well maintained despite showing some wear and tear signs of an old building. However, I was put in a third floor room where there was a huge balcony that connected through all the rooms on the side with no divider. The weather would have been perfect to open the slider door to let cool air in but being alone, I felt uncomfortable and unsafe leaving the slider door open with no lock on the screen door. The lady at the front desk who was probably the manger or owner was very accommodating and provided me with the air conditioner control, which they would only normally operate during summer. The bathroom tub also had no shower curtain so half the bathroom gets soaked when taking a shower. Other than that it was a great hotel and really enjoyed my stay, strategically located in the middle of Jeju City, right behind exit 1 of the underground mall and a few steps away from Black Pork Street. There is plenty of shopping and restaurants in the area, so even if the hotel didn't provide breakfast, choices were plentiful. Also a few steps away from the hotel is a bus stop where you can take the city loop tour, which I regret not having time for though the underground mall connects to most of the important areas...

We were looking for something close to the airport and markets and this was a good choice. It is an older hotel but is well maintained, clean and nice staff. Dongmun market is across the road and an entrance to the underground mall is about 25m. Rooms are really warm and comfortable, pillows for us were a bit flat but no issue as were given 2 extra. There are numerous eateries close by, Starbucks up the road, one night we had dinner at Top Bupyeong which is straight down towards the sea Korean bbq and staff that were patient with Westerners showing us how to prepare properly. We also caught the Jeju City Tour bus from the bus stop outside, and used the day pass to have a look around the area. We enjoyed our stay in Jeju and our stay at this hotel. Photos from market...