Novotel Ambassador Seoul Dongdaemun Hotels & Residences — Hotel in Seoul

First of all, I had a high expectation of this hotel because this is ranked a 5 star hotel and I’ve stayed in many Novotels hotels all over Asia. This hotel disappoint me greatly from the moment I checked in . When I came to the room, there were no toothbrushes and I called them in the lobby and asked them to get me a toothbrush and they told me I need to come to the lobby and donate money to get a toothbrush. I had just finished a shower and didn’t wanna walk to the lobby so I asked them to put this donation money to my room bill and send someone upstairs. The lady at the front desk didn’t want to send anyone until I got annoyed and then she said she will send someone. Few hours later nobody came so I had to call them again and then finally someone bring it to me. (I had just arrived at this hotel after a long trip and I just finished my shower and I wanted to brush my teeth)

There is a food menu inside the room and it shows that food is available for room service 24 seven. I called them around midnight to order some food as I had been busy all night and I just got back to the room. They told me there was no food and no room service. - the menu inside the room clearly said it was food available 24 seven. This is really disappointing and I could not even get a sandwich or anything from room service.! This is a 5 star hotel and they don’t provide anything! - not even some basic fast food or anything !

I had to spend a lot of time in a new country to order food for delivery that took me hours! Complete waste of my time

There is a rooftop bar in the hotel, they close the bar 10 pm! What kind of nonsense opening hours is this? - Who is even managing this hotel? They should hire a new management.! Nobody close a rooftop bar at 10 pm in the middle of the summer ! - It was a great weather outside and I was ready to go and have a drink and they were closing at 10 pm! Ridiculous! - on a Saturday night! Who closes a rooftop bar at 10pm on Saturday night???

There is a pool in the hotel and guest cannot even use it unless they book a slot.

It’s not possible to manage this differently so hotel guest can use the pool.? This is not a cheap hotel and why do I need to book a time to go to the pool? This doesn’t make sense and I have a feeling that the management of this hotel is not competent.

Like other guests here say.. the air conditioning doesn’t work!!! They put a limit at 25 degrees or something and it’s IMPOSSIBLE to get it cold. They sent a technician but it didn’t change. I left it on 20 degrees all day and I never went over 24 degrees! ( definitely because they are trying to save money and they put a limit so it doesn’t go over 24°) Ridiculous service!

I decided to check out early and moved over to another hotel because I was not happy with this services. I hope they improve and they need to think about this is a five star hotel and they need to have some basic services ! Even if they are saving money! (Looks like they are too focused on saving money instead of serving their guests at highest standard)

I am not happy about this, and I will never come to...

I am writing about the poor quality of the staff members of the Novotel Ambassador Seoul Dongdaemun Hotel. My visit did not turn out well. I arrived at exactly 24 July 2019 11:37 pm to beat the rush (as I am a deliveryman and want to give a warm food) I went to the front desk where I saw two hotel members. If you bring some stuff or food to the Hotel Room clients, I know some hotels do not let go to the room and give the food to customers by hand. As far as I know that some "Hotels" do not agree even a best popular one agree that I have seen and stayed and ordered a portion of food in Oakwood Coex which I got my food by hand. Some clients in the hotel I know ill, hospitalized or just do not wanna go down for picking up food, that is why they order. As a delivery man, I have come to the Novotel Dongdaemun many times although not stayed (after this issue I never want to stay of course)I have never experienced such a bad experience with hotel receptionist before. I knew that they do not let me go upstairs. I didn't want to lose my time I went directly to the front desk where two hotel members stayed. I spoke to them in Korean can they call the room number which is **. One "man" (on the picture below) said you have to call them and wait outside. I replied them that I don't have their mobile phone number ( as tourists face problems with phone numbers while they move with countries) but asked can he call to the room number and say to come down for me I would appreciate and wait outside. However, they even said any word just ignored me and started to talk to each other. Then I tried to request where the lobby is then a *man said it is 20th floor. I went to the elevators nearby and saw the 20th floor is very another thing (outdoor garden or so) but the 1st floor is the lobby where I was staying. Then I came back to that *man and said this is a lobby can you call my client to pick my food. But still ignoring me and not looking on me. It is 11:43 I know Korean and waiting for them to talk as do not want to cut off their 'hot' conversation. The food almost cold, they have talked to each other about 'me' like what I have understood is. *man (Some conversation) *little man (is listening) *man saying -do not call them if they come again if they ask you to call to the room number never do that. *little man saying ok I understand They talked about 6mins which I have just waited and listened to some weird words about me as well. Then I am shocked like what is going on here. It is 11:50 the man just going somewhere by using freight elevators. I followed him to ask his name but he roughly said me some Korean word (that must be a bad word). Then at least I tried to take his photo because I am not that person who just let this kind of situations go. After I got his photo. I came back to the *little man and explained how do I give this food to that client who ordered from the room *** can you call him? Again he also rejected me and said no we don't...

Disappointing Stay – What a Dump!

I had high expectations for Novotel Seoul given its 5-star rating, but my experience was far from what one would expect from a hotel in this category. Upon arrival, there was no assistance offered with our luggage—something I’d consider standard at a hotel of this level. We booked a double-bed Residence room that is around 500 sq ft with washer and kitchen. When we entered the room, we were immediately disappointed. It was dusty, poorly cleaned, and shockingly, we found dead flies on the window curtains but we decided not to complain. At midnight, just as we were about to go to bed, we found a bug on our bed so I immediately called the front desk asking for room change. They sent someone up to take photos of the bug and we were able to change room with 20 minutes but of course we had to deal with the hassle of packing our stuff up to move. Instead of an upgrade, they gave us the exact same room category but on a different floor. We checked the new room, still dusty lined wooden floors but at least no bug found on the bed and it was already 1 am and we just wanted to go to sleep. Only compensation we got was a fruit of plate sent to our room the next day and some drinks - wow, seriously, this is all you can offer? We booked a 6 nights stay and guess what, on 5th night, we discovered another crawly creature on our bed, again just when we were about to go to sleep. Since we only had one more night left, we didn't bother to call front desk at 1am in the morning to request room change. Instead, I went to front desk the next morning request a deep cleaning of the room and showed him the video of a bug on the floor. All the guy did was offer a room change but since it was our last night, I didn't want to bother with the hassle of packing up our belongings again. He said he'll put in request for housecleaning to clean the room. The room looked like it was cleaned but still had dust on the wooden floor, at least no bug. Again, Novotel offered no compensation at all for 2 times of having bugs in our room(s)! Not sure why others rave such high reviews of the place, maybe. there is a difference between the residence and the hotel? We were on the 'residence' side of the hotel and the towels provided felt more like thin rags than what you'd expect in a supposed luxury hotel, resembling something you'd find in a budget motel. The location was also a concern. The area around the hotel felt run down, and directly behind the building are some sketchy alleys that did not feel safe, especially at night. Overall, this was a deeply disappointing stay. I would not recommend Novotel Seoul to anyone expecting a true 5-star experience. There are many other hotels in Seoul where your money would be better spent and your comfort and concerns...