Josun Palace, a Luxury Collection, Seoul Gangnam — Hotel in Seoul

I stayed here for six nights on a recent business trip. Normally I would have stayed at a nearby Hyatt—the Andaz is about a mile to the north and the Park Hyatt about a mile to the east—but I had meetings in the connected office building (more on that later) and so stayed at the Josun Palace.||Let's start with the highs.||In general, the service is excellent. The team working at the valet entrance / lower reception area are always there to open doors and greet you. I'd say that maybe half the time, they'd run ahead of me to trigger automatic doors (so I wouldn't have to break stride), ring the elevator for me, and bow as the doors closed. In my room, I came back one day to find that my tangled cables attached to my personal charging station had all been straightened out, wound up, and secured—something I've never had a housekeeper do. Everyone I encountered was extremely polite at all times.||My room on the 31st was extremely quiet, and the views of Seoul out the large windows were lovely. The toilet was a modern washlet style and very convenient. The shower was excellent—hot hot water, cold cold water, and pressure to spare. The hair dryer was the best I've ever used and I wished I could have bought one to bring home with me. I didn't love the pillows, and would have appreciated a pillow menu, but the mattress itself was outstanding, one of the best I've slept on in a hotel recently.||Now to the lows.||I arrived jet-lagged and suffering from allergies, just wanting to get to my room as quickly as possible. At check-in, however, the hotel presents you with a tablet, and on that tablet are three pages—three—of rules you are supposed to read and click button after button (after button) to acknowledge you agree to. What? Who does that, especially at a luxury hotel? I gave up and just started clicking; even now, I have no idea what I agreed to. (I almost forgot that the room service system mentioned below also requires you to agree to multiple rules when you order using it. The hotel loves rules.)||There's also a tablet system for ordering room service, but it took me 10 minutes of poking around to figure out how to bring up English menus so I could actually order something. At the high-end hotels at which I've stayed in the past—mostly Hyatt—my language preference was noted at check-in and the room was configured in English when I arrived.||Probably my biggest complaint was the air conditioning. I like to sleep between 20–22 C (68–72 F) and when I arrived, the room was set to and at 24.5 C. Early in my stay, I asked the front desk about it, and they said they would have it looked at. That night, the room cooled down to 23.5 C—not what I wanted, but I figured it was the best I was going to get and didn't push my luck. Again, not what I expect of a luxury hotel—at all.||Finally, there's the issue of the layout of the hotel. For reasons I don't understand, even as a registered guest with a keycard, you have to take two elevator rides to get from your room down to the valet entrance / lower reception. Then you have to go outside before you can go back inside again, either to the same building or to the adjacent office building. In practice, what this means is that if you have a meeting in that office building, it's either four elevator rides or three plus an escalator ride to get to your destination. And while the two buildings are connected above ground by a mini-mall, no, you can't take that to get directly from the hotel to offices. It's the most confusing layout I've ever seen for a mixed-use hotel/office development like that and I constantly felt like my time was being wasted all week.||Would I stay here again? No. Were I a Marriott elite, that might make it worthwhile, but even if I had meetings in the same building, I'd stay at a nearby luxury hotel (like the Park Hyatt) and take taxis...

I stayed here for six nights on a recent business trip. Normally I would have stayed at a nearby Hyatt—the Andaz is about a mile to the north and the Park Hyatt about a mile to the east—but I had meetings in the connected office building (more on that later) and so stayed at the Josun Palace.||Let's start with the highs.||In general, the service is excellent. The team working at the valet entrance / lower reception area are always there to open doors and greet you. I'd say that maybe half the time, they'd run ahead of me to trigger automatic doors (so I wouldn't have to break stride), ring the elevator for me, and bow as the doors closed. In my room, I came back one day to find that my tangled cables attached to my personal charging station had all been straightened out, wound up, and secured—something I've never had a housekeeper do. Everyone I encountered was extremely polite at all times.||My room on the 31st was extremely quiet, and the views of Seoul out the large windows were lovely. The toilet was a modern washlet style and very convenient. The shower was excellent—hot hot water, cold cold water, and pressure to spare. The hair dryer was the best I've ever used and I wished I could have bought one to bring home with me. I didn't love the pillows, and would have appreciated a pillow menu, but the mattress itself was outstanding, one of the best I've slept on in a hotel recently.||Now to the lows.||I arrived jet-lagged and suffering from allergies, just wanting to get to my room as quickly as possible. At check-in, however, the hotel presents you with a tablet, and on that tablet are three pages—three—of rules you are supposed to read and click button after button (after button) to acknowledge you agree to. What? Who does that, especially at a luxury hotel? I gave up and just started clicking; even now, I have no idea what I agreed to. (I almost forgot that the room service system mentioned below also requires you to agree to multiple rules when you order using it. The hotel loves rules.)||There's also a tablet system for ordering room service, but it took me 10 minutes of poking around to figure out how to bring up English menus so I could actually order something. At the high-end hotels at which I've stayed in the past—mostly Hyatt—my language preference was noted at check-in and the room was configured in English when I arrived.||Probably my biggest complaint was the air conditioning. I like to sleep between 20–22 C (68–72 F) and when I arrived, the room was set to and at 24.5 C. Early in my stay, I asked the front desk about it, and they said they would have it looked at. That night, the room cooled down to 23.5 C—not what I wanted, but I figured it was the best I was going to get and didn't push my luck. Again, not what I expect of a luxury hotel—at all.||Finally, there's the issue of the layout of the hotel. For reasons I don't understand, even as a registered guest with a keycard, you have to take two elevator rides to get from your room down to the valet entrance / lower reception. Then you have to go outside before you can go back inside again, either to the same building or to the adjacent office building. In practice, what this means is that if you have a meeting in that office building, it's either four elevator rides or three plus an escalator ride to get to your destination. And while the two buildings are connected above ground by a mini-mall, no, you can't take that to get directly from the hotel to offices. It's the most confusing layout I've ever seen for a mixed-use hotel/office development like that and I constantly felt like my time was being wasted all week.||Would I stay here again? No. Were I a Marriott elite, that might make it worthwhile, but even if I had meetings in the same building, I'd stay at a nearby luxury hotel (like the Park Hyatt) and take taxis...

TL;DR|While the physical hotel is visually impressive and the views are stunning, the service and guest experience fell far short of what I would expect from a luxury property—especially at this price point. Disappointing staff behavior, strange design decisions, and several operational flaws left me wishing I had just returned to the Four Seasons instead.||✨ The Good|- Public spaces designed well and the room views are good.||- The 1914 Lounge & Bar is particularly lovely—great views, a nice ambiance, and well-executed drinks. The one major highlight.||🤨 The Strange|- Check-in is on the 25th floor, which is fine and becoming common these days. But what’s odd is that the ‘Club Lounge’ equivalent is in the same space as the check-in area. The layout scattered tables and couches made the purpose of the space very confusing.||- The guest demographic seemed to be mostly young local couples—perhaps the hotel is skewing more toward an Instagrammable date-night destination than a traditional luxury stay.||- At check-in, you’re asked to ‘agree to a list of rules’ via a tablet, which felt more clinical than welcoming. Not exactly the tone you want to start a stay with.||🚫 The Bad (and the most disappointing part)|I don’t say this lightly, but the staff behavior was among the most unsettling I’ve encountered at a hotel marketed as luxury.||- Multiple staff members—from the concierge to the gym and even in-room service—looked me up and down while speaking to me. I’m not sure what clientele they’re used to, but I found this incredibly inappropriate and unprofessional.||- At times, they didn’t even acknowledge us as we passed by. I actually had to say hello first—which, again, is not what you expect at this level.||- When I entered the building, one of the front desk staff didn’t even know where to send me to check in. She had to ask another employee just to tell me to go up to the 25th floor.||- The door staff were more engaged in chatting with each other than greeting guests. They briefly paused to open the door, said a quick hello, then went right back to their personal conversation. It felt very disengaged, and honestly, baffling.||- Food odors kept seeping into our room through the fan—not once, but multiple times.||- Our bedding had tiny holes in several spots. That might sound minor, but at this level, it’s not just unacceptable—it’s a sign of neglect.||Similarly, there were far too many "oops" moments that made the stay feel disorganized. These aren’t dealbreakers on their own, but all together, they paint a picture of a property that’s not operating at a polished level:||- At check-in, I was told I’d receive ₩100,000 credit per day to use throughout the hotel. Later, I got a call informing me it could only be used for in-room dining.||- About thirty minutes after that, I received another call from a different staff member saying they had forgotten to get my signature at check-in.||- We were promised a complimentary ice cream with our in-room dining meal. I honestly didn’t need it, and it didn’t come. That would have been fine—except twenty minutes later, they called again to say they forgot the ice cream and would be sending it up. ||All of this made me question whether this really is a property that belongs in the same category as other true luxury brands.||Just five days earlier, I had stayed at the Four Seasons Seoul—and let me tell you, the difference was night and day. At a similar price point, the Four Seasons delivered consistent warmth and welcome, seamless service, and genuine hospitality. Josun Palace simply doesn’t compare.||Would I return? Not likely. If you’re looking for a polished, true luxury experience in Seoul, I strongly suggest you...