Andaz Seoul Gangnam, by Hyatt — Hotel in Seoul

The Andaz is trendy, modern, artsy. We enjoyed some aspects of our 3 night stay, but unfortunately, there were flaws in service levels. More about that later.||On the positive side, there was good Globalist recognition by staff and a welcome amenity waiting in my room. I used a suite upgrade award and requested a King Suite on a high floor with nice view. A suite exactly as I had requested was waiting for us, and it was great.||Some reviewers mentioned issues with quality of fixtures, and with finishes showing age. I did not observe this issue in our suite. It was nicer than I had anticipated, super clean, and I appreciated the air filter. The bed and pillows were comfortable.||Breakfast buffet offered many options, including gluten free bread/muffins, which were much appreciated. It was high on quantity and options, but quality was somewhat average. If you like lots of choices and variety, this is the buffet for you.||The issues I had with service had to do with communication issues with some staff members, and lack of ability of staff to provide the level of service I would expect in a property of this class.||While some staff members spoke fluent English and provided exceptional service, Other staff members were not as fluent, and this impacted their ability to provide good service. With these staff members, it took very long to get answers to questions, and the answers sometimes turned out to be incorrect, possibly due to language barrier.||The biggest issue I had was with a concierge who assured me, when I call from my room, that he could book KTX train tickets for me. Since it is very difficult for a foreigner to book directly on Korail.com, and very expensive to book on RailNinja.com, I appreciated the offer for assistance.||We were asked to arrive in person at the desk to book. However, when my daughter went to book the tickets, the same concierge informed her that his supervisor would not allow it, stating, "that is not a service we provide." I ended up having to book via RailNinja and paying $94 more than the concierge had quoted for 2 first class tickets.||This became even more of an issue to me when we checked in at the Grand Hyatt Seoul a week later, and their concierge graciously and easily booked KTX tickets for us. This highlights the inability of Andaz to service guests well.||Another issue had to do with my pre-order for in-room breakfast delivery, confirmed with a staff member the evening before. When breakfast failed to arrive past the requested time of 7:15, I called guest services... and apparently they had not even started preparing my breakfast. They cited "miscommunication" as the reason. Needless to say, I was late for an appointment because of the lateness of my delivery.||Also, I did not like is the fact that the temperature of the shower water did not seem to get warmer than lukewarm. This was not pleasant, given the rather cold weather.||While our stay was comfortable and not terrible, I place high priority on service levels. Therefore, I cannot recommend this property, nor will I likely stay here again, unless I specifically need to be in...

Staffs were too kind, but they were not helpful in overall. Just kind. They could not provide any useful information before I asked when they introduce their hotel at check-in time. And they did not react my request timely also - for example, when I ask to check my room aircondition system if it worked well, they answered me they will provide a blanket. And they recorded my compaint wrong and asked me hot water issue was ok at check-out. When I ordered plain rice, but they did not bring it till I asked again after long waiting. At breakfast, there was no ladles at congee section and I asked them. Someone answered they would bring it, but no one did till a cook moved. No staffs knew Hyatt Prive program, even it is globally effective for all Park Haytt and Andaz since last year. So the staff did not know I have $100 voucher at both check-in and check-out. It seemed that no one's in charge. I mean, they pleasantly asked me if I needed anything, so I answered, and they answered yes, they would. But after that nothing happened! Asking was only they were doing and no following actions till I asked again and again. No professionals.

Room. I stayed at a delux room. But airconditioning system did not work well, which I turned off, it still cold-winded. So I turned it to heater but the room temperature was not changed well and the wind was still cold. They said that the aircondition and vantillation systems are controlled by central. So no one helped to solve my room temperature issue. And the layout of room is not comfortable. I think they did consider apperance rather than guests' moving line.

Meal Breakfast was great and lunch at Jogakbo was also good. But co sidering the price, it should be.

Identity They use their own scent for identity which will help to remember them. Great idea! Like scent, they prepared many funny details - hotel mannuals, Korean arts in room and corridor and so on.

Others Parking fee is 10,000 KRW per car per night though it is self parking. Sauna is not free unless your rate specially includes it. And it is not free even if you are an Explorist tier of World of Hyatt. There are no seperate seating places for hotel guest unlike other Andaz hotels. Minibar is free, but beers are not. And there is no Andaz labeled beer. It is also unlike other Andaz hotels. But beer is cheap, considering prices of other foods.

Overally, because of the unprofessional staffs and room layout, I would not revisit the place. I have experiences to stay other Andaz hotels, this place did not meet my expectation as Andaz brand. I recommend Grand Hyatt's club access room or Park Hyatt Seoul. The rate range is similar - Andaz Seoul's rate is a bit over-priced considering...

Granted the service staff are friendly and helpful with general queries, but that’s unfortunately where the positives end for this Andaz.

Note that there is currently a heatwave going on in Seoul so coming back to a room that is cool and relaxing is a simple expectation.

The first room that I was assigned had air conditioner issues that kept the room at a warm 25.5-degrees all day and night - even the welcome cake that the staff had kindly left in the room was stale due to the warm temperature of the room. Though their engineers had checked the aircon, the room stayed warm and I woke up in the wee hours of the morning drenched in perspiration.

Following a change of room the next morning (I was moved just four doors away from my original room) I was now designated to a much much smaller room, but thankfully the aircon worked slightly better….it was able to cool the room to 23-degrees. Not great considering the aircon was set to 20-degrees, but I was too tired to pack and unpack again. Still, it would have been cooler if I had cranked open the window at night, but that’s not the point.

My “new” room also seemed barely cleaned. The towels had a musty smell, corners of tables were coated in white dust, and there was even plastic sheets left on the bedside table - further proof that the room was barely cleaned and checked before being reassigned to me. The bathroom shower temperatures were also set to scalding with a faulty shower head.

On my 4th morning, I woke up to a large puddle of water under the aircon vent that had pooled overnight soaked through my nylon suitcase that was on the ground!!! So now, I have a suitcase that is soaked in water and no one from the hotel knows what happened to cause the puddle of water or how to solve it. I’ve just been told to alert them if another puddle forms. This is ridiculous!

Having stayed in multiple Hyatt products, this is not what I expected when I booked a stay at the Andaz Gangnam to celebrate my birthday. In fact, the room(s) at the Andaz Gangnam have been the the most troubling parts of my trip, and I still have one more night here to go!

In terms of service recovery, there has been NONE - not a sound, not an apology, not an offer to do anything from hotel staff. I’d been planning to stay here with friends in a few months, but I’m definitely rethinking that plan now.

A very...