Park Hyatt Seoul — Hotel in Seoul

Prior to our stay, we received very thorough communication from the team about our rooms after our My Hyatt concierge Katina requested info about our booked suite accommodating our family of 4. AMELIA (HYORI) JEON 전효리 informed us that our booked suite would not accommodate and to book an additional room. IRIS (SAENEUL) PARK 박새늘 was able to clarify what type of rooms needed to be booked in order to have a connecting room for our family. MOLLY (JOOYEON) JEONG 정주연 and DANA (SEUNG HYEON) BAE 배승현 from the Guest Services Center helped to secure and confirm the bookings for us quickly.||||Next we moved onto reservations and questions about things to do. CINDY (MIRAN) KIM 김 미란 from the Concierge team was helpful with skin clinic info and also to follow up with us about dietary restrictions regarding some of our reservations. We appreciate the care that was extended here as well to make sure there were no allergies and that our preferences were noted.||||SIENA (MIJOO) KIM 김미주 also from the concierge team helped to make the stay very memorable and special and and even about shared advice about questions that were unrelated to our stay. We really appreciate this extra care shown for our stay beyond the hotel. The staff were able to give us advice about landing and trains on the way to Park Hyatt Busan since we were going through Seoul and they would be most familiar. We took their advice and arrived without issue. Siena also helped to make and change numerous reservations on our behalf.||||YEOJIN (YEOJIN) LEE 이여진 on the concierge team helped to make and cancel several reservations for tea as our plans continued to change. ELLY (YOON A) KIM 김윤아 and BLAIRE (JAEE) CHOI 최재이 from the Guest Services team kept in touch about arrival times and we felt well taken care of. ||||On arrival we were greeted by the Guest Experience Team AERI (AERI) LEE 이 애리 and were so happy with our room. Our family thinks that it might have been the most accommodation that we have had in all our travels around the world. It is our current favorite and has surpassed our previous favorite experiences at Park Hyatt Vendome, Tokyo, Zurich, Vienna and Milan. ||||We did have one housekeeping mishap where the rooms were cleaned when we put up the Do not Disturb sign on the outer door. It seems that the sign fell off and the rooms were cleaned. Typically this might be fine but because we did not expect it, we had all our valuables sitting out and were not prepared to have anyone enter our rooms. We did not have the do not disturb alert on the individual rooms thinking the sign on the main door would be sufficient. There was an apology note and gift sent for us for this issue and we appreciated it as we felt it was not intentional and the team looked into what had happened. ||||I cannot express enough how comfortable the room and our stay was. We loved the breakfast offering and each day were stuffed and ate more than planned since there were so many delicious offerings. The fruit was wonder quality and the menu items were fantastic. ||||During the stay, Lily from the front desk helped my wife to make a call to a salon in Busan where we had an issue. This was immensely helpful due to the language barrier to get our point across as and helped us to initiate email contact with them. We are very grateful.||||Our family enjoyed the gym and felt like we had a private pool since it was never crowded and always open when we wanted to swim. ||||We only regret that we were not able to try the afternoon tea on this trip and hope to return...

I held off on reviewing this property, as my family and I were traveling, and I wanted to give it justice. This is an excellent hotel with some of the best staff I've ever encountered. ||Special shout out to Managers Jayden Kim, Erin Kim, and Emma Kim. As well as team members Isabella and Joy.||This was not our first stay, so I can assure you, service at this hotel has always been incredible. This was however, our first time encountering a minor issue. The team was immediately on top of it, and kept communication with us throughout. Never once did we feel neglected. The service recovery was simply outstanding. ||We were traveling with two very young kids, and during the ordeal, team member Joy went out of her way to keep our children entertained, never once showing any inkling of being annoyed. The morning after, Isabella from the guest experience team found us at breakfast and apologized for whatever inconvenience we had, and offered us a very generous gift. Both team members we encountered multiple times during our stay, and they were both so very warm and friendly the entire time.||For the next few days, team members we had not encountered brought up our issue at passing and offered their apologies as well as checking to make sure we were enjoying our stay. Managers left personalized hand written notes in our rooms assuring us that they were available anytime if we had any other issues come up. The level of compassion we felt was incredible. ||During the stay, I had the pleasure of seeing GM Marco Tiraferri at the valet lobby. He was busy with another guest, so I unfortunately did not have the chance to introduce myself. While there, the employees did not seem intimated nor nervous. I'll assume, judging from this, and from our service recovery, that Mr. Tiraferri has instilled a level of autonomy and openness within this company. The service was both warm and exceptional, something you don't encounter when the corporate culture is strictly by the book.||Dining. We only had the pleasure of dining at Cornerstone for our breakfasts, and The Lounge for deserts. Both were outstanding. The breakfast buffet was noticeably better than last year. Items were rotated every three days verses the standard two you see at most other hotels. Quality over quantity seems the theme here. Don't get me wrong, there were more than enough items to keep you from getting bored during a weeklong stay. The made to order items I tried were all outstanding, and the buffet had some very high quality items you don't normally find in other hotels of this caliber. My wife especially enjoyed the salmon every morning. The Lounge was lovely, we enjoyed Bingsu (shaved iced) some drinks, and one entry. All were excellent and plated very nicely; service at both, lovely.||This property is now our favorite in the city. We put it ahead of Four Seaons, Shilla, and Signiel. For those on the fence of the location, don't let it deter you. It's worth it. For Hyatt loyalist, this is by far the best...

I just spent three days at the Park Hyatt Seoul, and I debated whether it was even worth my time to leave a review. But I’m doing this to prevent others from going through the same disappointment. I’ve stayed at Park Hyatt locations in New York, Paris, and Busan, so while my expectations for the brand are moderate, Park Hyatt Seoul was by far the worst experience. I’ll list the issues in order as they come to mind.

Firstly, if you’re planning to use the subway (though I wonder how many Park Hyatt guests actually do), it’s conveniently located right outside. However, if you’re arriving by taxi or car, the entrance is oddly situated. Sometimes taxis need to reverse out, which is awkward and uncomfortable from the get-go.

The lobby is on the 24th floor—understandable. But there should at least be an elevator from the rooms to the ground level without needing to stop at the lobby. My room was on the 12th floor, meaning I had to go up to the 24th floor to transfer to another elevator, then go back down to the 12th. To reach the ground floor, I’d need to return to the 24th floor, then down to the 1st floor. Just to enter or leave, I wasted so much time.

As for the staff, while the lobby employees seemed overstaffed, none were particularly efficient. Perhaps one was a trainee, but overall, they were ineffective and simply inconvenient. Park Hyatt is supposed to be one of Hyatt’s top-tier brands, but don’t expect premium service. Two years ago, I stayed at (Namsan) Grand Hyatt in Seoul, which offered a better experience for a lower rate than Park Hyatt.

The biggest issue was the room. As soon as we checked in, a garbage or sewage smell was apparent. I wondered if it was just me, but my husband also noticed it. When I mentioned it to a staff member (while requesting a remote control replacement), he said he didn’t smell anything but left an air freshener, which I sprayed everywhere. Still, the smell lingered, reminiscent of cigarettes—it was extremely unpleasant. Then, after two showers, the bathroom drain got clogged, causing water to pool up. I had to stand in soapy water, waiting for it to drain.

The building is visibly old, and the room was, frankly, motel-level. As a Hyatt member, the only benefit was late checkout—nothing else. In premium hotels, I’d expect the staff to bring up food deliveries, but I had to go to the 24th-floor lobby interacting with other guests while in my pajamas, then down to the ground floor to pick up the food and to the lobby again. The food was left on the floor next to the elevator—infuriating.

Overall, the experience was poor. The surrounding area only has a department store to see. If you’re hesitating between this and another hotel at a similar price, don’t waste your time here. I used points for the stay, but it was a waste—I would’ve been much happier at another luxury hotel. Next time, I’d choose Andaz or Grand...