Solaria Nishitetsu Hotel Seoul Myeongdong — Hotel in Seoul

29th August – 2nd September 2023 Seoul, KoreaSolaria Nietsu Hotel SeoulSome random thoughts / comments regarding our stay as they spring up:- The real hotel looks miles different from what is seen on their website—photoshop indeed has done wonders- It is true that Solaria is in the heart of Myeondong, therefore location wise it is super convenient if shopping is all one wants during the entire visit- Hotel entrance is small, dark and not inviting, made worse when we arrived on a rainy day with the construction work that forbade our taxi to drive up to the front door on street level, instead we had to trudge our way hauling the suitcases in the rain through the mud and puddles 5 mins away. All that added much to the messy and unhygienic greeting- Had to take the small, cramped lift to the lobby which looks very tacky and does not look or smell clean at all. The whole premises simply do not give a clean feeling. Common areas are mostly carpeted apart from the white marble flooring. Yet carpets throughout are very dirty with loose particles and stains clearly visible- Check-in was not smooth as lady staff queried our booking despite my printout of booking confirmation, rectifying that we had only booked for one night instead of the four nights all booked and paid for, everything clearly written. Then a more senior staff was summoned and with a bit of in-depth searching, eventually confirmed our 4-night-booking. Yet, given the bland reception, the tacky hotel décor and the dirty hotel fittings I had hoped that I had really booked for only one night- Room is very small, and again, does not look, feel and smell clean. Carpet is stained- Carpet in lift is also stained and littered with loose particles ; carpet along the corridor is also stained and dull- Hotel reviews are weirdly all complimentary that leads us to doubt if they are paid for such raving reviews- Our small room smells musty and the towels are not white nor are they fluffy---dull grey and flat- The BEST thing about this room is the design of the bathtub cum shower, and great that it does not leak. The powerful water pressure from shower allows a nice relaxing shower, esp. when there is no need to wipe the water leaked out as so commonly found in hotels with bad shower door- Windows in the room are very dirty and stained—the entire premises are stale and filthy- Intended to stay for the entire booking no matter how bad, but soon the uneasy feelings failed to convince ourselves, so we quickly looked up another hotel so as to swap over asap even though we had already paid for this hotel- This is a clear sign how bad this hotel is, that we would rather forfeit this booking and waste this money ( over HK$10000 ) and we told ourselves we just HAD TO move to another hotel, one night in Solaria was just too many- To recap—this hotel smells stale, carpets everywhere are stained, housekeeping below par; towels are flat and greyish; tacky lobby; bland hospitality. The ONLY two good things are their location and their strong powerful shower and a proper bathroom cum shower cubicle that does not leak- Could not wait and quickly checked out one night earlier but the unbelievable thing was – their staff NEVER bothered to ask / find out why we checked out late after midnight and a day earlier. Apparently, if something so unusual happened, that should be the BEST time for them to find out the reasons for such an abnormal / rare action esp. when they knew everything was paid for, that the guests were willing to waste the money and move out. Yet they never bothered to grasp the ideal chance to dig out the core of the reason, and the truth is, both staff one male one female just looked at us in the blandest expression for one second when we asked to check out, and that was it- Solaria Nietsu have our word that we would not return and would tell our friends not to waste money on such a...

29th August – 2nd September 2023 Seoul, KoreaSolaria Nishitetsu Hotel SeoulSome random thoughts / comments regarding our stay as they spring up:- The real hotel looks miles different from what is seen on their website—photoshop indeed has done wonders- It is true that Solaria is in the heart of Myeondong, therefore location wise it is super convenient if shopping is all one wants during the entire visit- Hotel entrance is small, dark and not inviting, made worse when we arrived on a rainy day with the construction work that forbade our taxi to drive up to the front door on street level, instead we had to trudge our way hauling the suitcases in the rain through the mud and puddles 5 mins away. All that added much to the messy and unhygienic greeting- Had to take the small, cramped lift to the lobby which looks very tacky and does not look or smell clean at all. The whole premises simply do not give a clean feeling. Common areas are mostly carpeted apart from the white marble flooring. Yet carpets throughout are very dirty with loose particles and stains clearly visible- Check-in was not smooth as lady staff queried our booking despite my printout of booking confirmation, rectifying that we had only booked for one night instead of the four nights all booked and paid for, everything clearly written. Then a more senior staff was summoned and with a bit of in-depth searching, eventually confirmed our 4-night-booking. Yet, given the bland reception, the tacky hotel décor and the dirty hotel fittings I had hoped that I had really booked for only one night- Room is very small, and again, does not look, feel and smell clean. Carpet is stained- Carpet in lift is also stained and littered with loose particles ; carpet along the corridor is also stained and dull- Hotel reviews are weirdly all complimentary that leads us to doubt if they are paid for such raving reviews- Our small room smells musty and the towels are not white nor are they fluffy---dull grey and flat- The BEST thing about this room is the design of the bathtub cum shower, and great that it does not leak. The powerful water pressure from shower allows a nice relaxing shower, esp. when there is no need to wipe the water leaked out as so commonly found in hotels with bad shower door- Windows in the room are very dirty and stained—the entire premises are stale and filthy- Intended to stay for the entire booking no matter how bad, but soon the uneasy feelings failed to convince ourselves, so we quickly looked up another hotel so as to swap over asap even though we had already paid for this hotel- This is a clear sign how bad this hotel is, that we would rather forfeit this booking and waste this money ( over HK$10000 ) and we told ourselves we just HAD TO move to another hotel, one night in Solaria was just too many- To recap—this hotel smells stale, carpets everywhere are stained, housekeeping below par; towels are flat and greyish; tacky lobby; bland hospitality. The ONLY two good things are their location and their strong powerful shower and a proper bathroom cum shower cubicle that does not leak- Could not wait and quickly checked out one night earlier but the unbelievable thing was – their staff NEVER bothered to ask / find out why we checked out late after midnight and a day earlier. Apparently, if something so unusual happened, that should be the BEST time for them to find out the reasons for such an abnormal / rare action esp. when they knew everything was paid for, that the guests were willing to waste the money and move out. Yet they never bothered to grasp the ideal chance to dig out the core of the reason, and the truth is, both staff one male one female just looked at us in the blandest expression for one second when we asked to check out, and that was it- Solaria Nishitetsu have our word that we would not return and would tell our friends not to waste money on such a...

We enjoyed the central location in myeongdong, at the doorstep opposite Michelin restaurant, kyoja myeongdong main restaurant, Isaac Toast & Coffee Myeongdong Cathedral a must try restaurant. Olive young store and myeongdong night market and HBAF stores is but less than a few minutes away too. Myeongdong station is 3 streets away right in heart of Myeongdong. At first we too was a bit concerned taxi can't come near enough in 1000-2300 hrs due pedestrian friendly street. However our taxi was still able to drop us of i think 3 side streets away, still manageable distance. On day we leaving we had a jumbo cab come up hotel entrance at 7+am, no problem. We went eating / shopping and came back to poop and left shopping bags, before we went out again, so convenient. That was unlike when we walk until our legs nearly gave way and aching, lotte hotel 15 mins away

Another point worrying might be noise, but however throughout stay at 8th floor i did not even hear a single sound from pedestrian traffic / shops below. Construction noise nope too, should have finished. The pillows in hotel is one hard, one soft but it is just right combination if you put hard pillow below and sleep on soft one. You can also request for extra pillow too which we did too to make it extra comfortable.

The view from lobby on 22nd floor was superb, foreign exchange atm at lobby and toothpaste/toothbrush machine too convenient. The room was well kept, although they mention alternate day cleaning, we still ask for it daily and got our rooms cleaned (just need to remember press for housecleaning at your desk, before you leave for your excursion in morning). Else towel will be exchanged daily. One disappointing thing there is no international plug, had to use adapter we brought from Singapore and charge limited items at once at night.

There is also separate bathtub, and toilet so 2 persons can do their separate business at same time, without smelling poop smell.. hee. There is a safe too in drawer, so can keep extra cash

The hotel staff was friendly, speak English and answer our queries, and help to book our jumbo cab back to Incheon airport. Overall, great hotel in central location in Myeongdong, quiet and clean and comfortable. Will definitely be back for future...