Sotetsu Hotels The Splaisir Seoul Myeongdong — Hotel in Seoul

WORST HOTEL IN SEOUL. AVOID AT ALL COSTS PLEASE.

TERRIBLE SERVICE from all levels of staff in this hotel. Please avoid!! TLDR: Any special requests WILL NOT be heeded to, housekeeping staff EATS IN YOUR ROOM, reception is RUDE and breakfast staff IMPATIENTLY CHASES YOU OUT.

Stayed here for 6 nights from Oct-Nov 23. Received shockingly terrible service all round from the reception, housekeeping and restaurant staff. It’s so appalling, I have to break it down below:

HOUSEKEEPING STAFF EATS IN YOUR ROOM AND LEAVES FOOD TRACES! One day we were shocked to come back to find a ~2cm fragment of CHOCOLATE that looked like Ferrero Rocher on the TV shelf! The housekeeping staff actually eats chocolate while cleaning your room and dares to leave traces of their unsanitary behavior behind. This is so disgusting I have no words. If they can eat in your room, imagine what else they could do. Another day we came back to see our BEDS were UNMADE! How do they even miss out the largest and most prominent task in the room?! Whilst the other places were cleaned and items refilled?! I was so shocked! AND on another separate night our hand wash and shower gels had run out yet they failed to check and DID NOT REFILL THE AMENITIES. 2 nights before this it was the tissues. ABSOLUTELY LAZY and all round unacceptable.

Reception is rude and does NOT care about your preselected REQUESTS and LIED about room availability I paid a premium to book the LINE friends room for 6 nights, confirmed MONTHS in advance in Mar 2023. I put in my special requests that I wanted the pink Cony room, not the blue Brown themed one. Upon check in they said the pink Cony rooms were fully booked for ALL the nights I stayed there and that it was random assignment. I pleaded for them to let me stay in the pink Cony room for at least one night when someone checks out but they insisted it was all fully booked for the entire week. Firstly I already let you know my preference 7 months ago and secondly the pink rooms were definitely not all fully booked for all 6 nights (I SAW EMPTY ROOMS during housekeeping in the morning), they just didn’t want the inconvenience of letting me change rooms. I enquired about the airport bus timings and the staff stared at me and just rudely gestured to the schedule placed off the right of the counter. Is it so difficult to be polite about it?

RESTAURANT STAFF RUDELY ASKS YOU TO LEAVE THE BREAKFAST BUFFET REPEATEDLY. When you ENTER the breakfast buffet they will remind you it ends at 10am. At 930am they will REMIND YOU AGAIN it ends at 10am. At 945am and 955am THEY WILL REMIND YOU AGAIN! We later found out it’s because it’s THEIR TURN to eat at the buffet at 10am, and they want the ENTIRE restaurant to themselves with NO OTHER GUESTS. Although the last entrance is 930am, they start putting the sign up at 925am in the hopes of turning more guests away! In all the 20+ hotels I’ve stayed in Korea and hundreds other worldwide, no staff working in the breakfast restaurant chases guests out like this. At the very most they start packing up and you can’t take any food beyond the set timing/ 10am, but you can continue sitting and finish your food as long as it’s not past an unreasonable time like 1015am for instance.

There were many other instances not listed here. Location is also not ideal as it’s almost 10 mins walk to the subway, with many quiet lanes at night, and you have to walk up a SLOPE to get to the hotel.

Saw many other reviews saying this was the worst hotel they’ve stayed in Korea and it’s all true! PLEASE AVOID THIS HOTEL...

I’m currently staying at the hotel for my quarantine and the service has been terrible. Although I’m half-Korean, I do not speak Korean but I do understand the language. My boyfriend, who I’m quarantining with, speaks Korean but not so fluently. It’s clear that there’s better treatment and favoritism towards fluent Korean speakers. We’ve asked for multiple things that a typical hotel should have but they simply told us that they don’t have them. Like what kind of hotel does not have ice, a nail clipper, and a microwave? I would like to clarify what I said regarding the “favoritism” the hotel has. My boyfriend had injured his toe to the point where he’s limping and having trouble walking. We asked them for an ice pack and even told them ice alone would suffice. Sadly, they told us that they “don’t have”. I had my mother, who’s a native Korean, contact them and they kept insisting that they don’t have ice. After my mother kept arguing, they finally decided that they have ice all of a sudden and that they’ll bring it up to our room.

I have a few more complaints that I would like to share. The room I stayed in, which is on the 17th floor, was the dustiest room I ever stayed in. It seemed like they didn’t do enough cleaning for a facility place for quarantine. Another thing is that the food is always so cold… which is why I had asked for a microwave. Even when we get the food before they make the announcement that the food is ready, the food is always so cold. If you’re someone who drinks a lot of water, beware that the hotel dictates the amount of water bottles you get in a day. Also, the hotel has poor service in terms of providing you what you requested. The first time we requested for something was during noon and we were told that we would receive it the following day. We were a bit surprised to hear that but we let that slide since what we requested wasn’t needed immediately. However, when we requested for more water we were told that we would have to wait the next day. Another thing, if you’re expecting this hotel to have a balcony… there’s none. The window is covered by sliding doors, which are completely stuck. So we could only open the window door up to 2 inches. Not to mention that the blinds were very very dusty.

Before anyone thinks I completely hate this hotel, I would like to say that I do not. The front desk and other hotel workers are trying their best, but they should at least be more polite and accommodating to guests. It’s not like anyone who’s quarantining at the hotel had a choice to stay here. Like to pay about 1,600 USD for such treatment for two weeks is ridiculous. Hope this hotel improves, especially in the room’s...

Very friendly and service minded staff who speak fluent English. Whenever we had some issues, they would help us immediately. The communication before our stay was so fast and great; they helped us to select the best possible room for our family. The location was also really great, just 750 meters from the Myeongdong night market with shops and restaurants open until midnight or longer. Lots of busses leave straight to Seoul Station right behind the hotel (190 m) and the metro stop, City Hall, is just a few minutes walk away (630 m). Many other great important points like extremely good sound proofed walls! We did not hear our neighbours at all, and this is the single most important thing to us when travelling. If we don't get proper sleep, the rest of the vacation doesn't matter! I honestly don't understand how they managed that because the hotel seemed busy but somehow no noise. Perhaps they spread out their guests on all floors and every second room to make a sound proof buffer? The beds are great and wide (we had twin single beds of at least 100 cm each). They have a good breakfast buffet with both western and Asian items (including greek yoghurt), and plenty of items to choose from, including instant noodles machines which were surprisingly popular, and a cook who made eggs for you. The buffet was well managed with rarely empty bowls and plates. Also the little things were awesome, like the official theme Line Friends collab, and a very strong ventilation in the shower which means you don't steam up the bathroom during a shower, and heat in the toilet seat and soft flush with a push of a button that doesn't wake up everyone nearby. They also have free water bottles and free skin care products every single day! This is honestly such a great place, I cannot believe our luck that we found it, and we will stay with them again next time for sure!! I am actually not sure if I should leave this review because I don't want it to be too popular so we cannot stay here next time ;) Book directly from their website, it's a lot cheaper than through 3rd parties. The only "negative" thing I want to mention is that there is only one narrow (35 cm) small mirror in the bathroom with very poor light in only one side (!), so if two ladies live together and both apply makeup, this will be a challenge. Also, note that the bathroom has glass walls all around and are a little see-through, so perhaps not the most optimal for a romantic stay But these are minor details and cannot cancel all the positive sides about this hotel! We loved the location, the staff, the quiet (!!) and our room (executive twin) - 10...