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Conrad Seoul Review
My parents and I had a quick overnight in Seoul, and we decided to stay at the Conrad Seoul. For our short stay, I thought the hotel served us very well. The breakfast and room were both great, which is pretty much all that mattered on our short stay. But, I think the service, amenities, and location were also great. Let’s get into this Conrad Seoul review.
Booking
I booked our stay for 70,000 Hilton Honors points. Yes, that is definitely pricey. But, my mom and I both have a lot of points in our account, so I thought it makes sense. Furthermore, I didn’t have a lot of Hyatt points at the time, and this was the only hotel between Hilton and Hyatt that had a (relatively close location to Incheon Airport while still being in Seoul.
The second reason we booked this hotel was because it had 2 queens. Outside of the US, this is something that I very rarely see, and this meant that we also didn’t have to get a bigger room.
If you are interested in booking this hotel with cash, I’d be happy to help you book a room through Hilton Impresario or Virtuoso. The benefits of Virtuoso are:
- Upgrade on arrival, subject to availability
- Daily Breakfast for up to two guests per bedroom
- $100 USD equivalent Food & Beverage credit
- Early Check-In / Late Check-Out, subject to availability
- Complimentary Wi-Fi
- The Third Night Free until 12/31/23
But, the benefits of Hilton Impresario are:
- Upgrade on arrival, subject to availability
- Early Check-In / Late Check-Out, subject to availability
- Daily Breakfast for 2
- A $100 property credit
- Complimentary Wi-Fi
- Double Hilton Honors Points
Overall, I definitely think there are benefits to both. If you are staying for more than 3 nights, then I’d go with Virtuoso. But otherwise, I would do Hilton Impresario. I can help with booking either one, so feel free to email me at [email protected].
Conrad Seoul Review – Location
The Conrad Seoul is located in the center of Seoul. The hotel is above the IFC Mall, and it is also connected to the Yeouido subway station. Furthermore, the hotel is located right on the Han River, and right next door to the Hyundai Department Store. That said, it is mostly office buildings in the office buildings in the nearby vicinity. But, for us, it was the closest Hilton to Incheon Airport, and it worked well for a quick overnight.
Check-In
We showed up at around 11:30PM, as our flight got into Incheon at about 9:40, and by the time we got off the plane, cleared immigration, and took the train to the hotel, it meant we got in very late. Overall, it is about a 0.3 mile walk to the Conrad Seoul from Yeouido Station.
To get to the hotel from Incheon Airport, take the Airport Rail Express to Gimpo Airport, then transfer to Line 9. Once you get to Yeouido Station, make sure to take Exit 3. It’s a bit of a walk before you enter the IFC Mall entrance. When you get there, take the escalator to Level 1, and follow signs for the Conrad.
The front desk agent was very friendly, and although I asked for an upgrade, she said that they weren’t available. While I find Asian hotels to be more generous for free upgrades, the Conrad Seoul isn’t. This is especially true on the weekends, when many locals do staycations in Korea. So if you want to book a suite, I’d highly recommend booking one from the start.
Room
Our room, 2006, was very nice, and was one of the most well designed standard rooms that I’ve stayed in.
When you enter, there is a closet on the right, as well as the bathroom right next to it.
The bathroom has a shower on the left, and a bathtub further down. One of the light switches is for the bathroom window. This switch allows you, to with a click of a button, fog up the window so no one can see in. Pretty cool if you ask me! The shower also had phenomenal water pressure, and had wall mounted toiletries from Byredo.
On the right is a water closet. This has the toilet, which also has a bidet.
The sink is straight ahead, and had toothbrushes and a vanity kit in case you forgot one. There was also a small TV inside the mirror.
Further down is the main room. On the right is 2 queen beds, and on the left is the television as well as a wall. The wall has some food and drinks for purchase, as well as a coffee maker. This is an excellent use of space in my opinion, and it is also something a lot better than a blank wall.
There was also a desk at the end of the room, and after that, there is excellent views of parts of Seoul as well as the Han River. On the desk, there was also a coloring book and some crayons. I think they left it for me. I really appreciate the thought behind that, but I think I am a bit too old for that. 😉
Interestingly, WiFi costs $10 if you are not a Hilton Honors member, and $16 for premium internet.
Conrad Seoul Review – Executive Lounge
The Conrad Seoul executive lounge is located on the 37th floor. We only visited the lounge during breakfast, but the hours for the lounge are as follows:
- Breakfast: 7AM to 10:30AM
- Weekday Pastries: 11AM to 12PM
- Weekdays High Tea: 2:30PM to 4PM
- Evening Cocktails: 5PM to 7PM
Overall, I thought the spread was pretty good. Club Lounges won’t have as good spreads as a breakfast buffet would, but this one was definitely above average. Furthermore, the lounge had amazing views of Seoul. I would also note that despite me booking the hotel for 3 guests, only 2 people could get in. But, I think that is due to the Hilton Honors Executive Lounge policy. Had we booked a club room from the start, we would have all gotten access.
Amenities
I thought the amenities at the Conrad Seoul were phenomenal, especially for a city hotel. The amenities are all located on level 8. There was a large indoor pool, a gym, as well as a gender segregated sauna room. The gym was also one of the largest I’ve seen. There was also a golf simulator located on the same floor as the gym. As a Diamond member, I could have gotten 60 minutes of simulator time.
Service
We only interacted with a couple hotel employees, but I found the customer service to be great. Everyone was very friendly, and the front desk agent was also very friendly when we checked in. Furthermore, I noticed that the staff spoke perfect English. The staff sounded like they were American.
What We Did in Seoul
Since we were only in Korea for 17 hours and got in at almost midnight, we didn’t have a lot of time to explore. No matter what, I am glad we got to explore the little amount that we did. We walked around the IFC mall, and then walked over to the Yeouido park. That eventually “hits” the Han River. Along with Hamburg, Germany, I have never been to such a clean city.
So although I didn’t get to spend much time in Seoul, I loved the city, and I can’t wait to return.
Conrad Seoul – Final Thoughts
Overall, despite not having a lot of time in Korea, I really enjoyed it. I can’t wait to return. Furthermore, I thought we had an excellent stay at the Conrad Seoul, and I can’t wait to return in the future. If we had more time, I would prefer a hotel in Gangnam or Myeongdong, but it worked out as it was quite close to the airport despite being in Seoul proper. That said, this is also an excellent hotel if you are in Seoul for business. Overall, I highly recommend this hotel.
I stayed there for about a week, in March 2023. The hotel is really outstanding. I didn’t get to experience the swimming pool, the driving range etc. but the room and the breakfast were excellent. The room was very large and comfortable, by contrast with other hotels I stayed in in Seoul, closer to the city center, where I could barely open the suitcase, given the small footprint.
The weekends are super busy, a lot of locals come to pamper themselves.
In the shopping mall in the basement of the building you’ll find ATMs that accept foreign cards and pretty decent food court restaurants. The other shopping mall (Hyundai) was really excellent for shopping – really cool clothes for the missus and for the kiddo.
From the hotel to other parts of the city you can take the bus and/or the subway. Both are excellent, punctual and everything is signed in both Korean and English. Just keep in mind that this hotel is somewhat far from other tourist attractions, like Seoul Tower, for example, so you’ll need to allocate about half an hour to get there. The Incheon airport was about an hour away by taxi.
I wouldn’t hesitate to stay there again.
Jim, I totally agree. I really hope to stay there again, as it had some amazing amenities and it was also super easy to get around. I’m sad I didn’t make it to the Hyundai store though.
I stayed at the Conrad Seoul in 2014, during a very busy local holiday. It was one the worst hotel experiences I’ve had. The bed sheets were totally ragged, with large holes and tears on them, and when asked to replace them, they brought equally destroyed sheets twice. They said they just didn’t have any other sheets. What kind of luxury hotel runs out of sheets? The service at the breakfast buffet was appalling. It was very busy and the used plates just piled on everywhere. The hotel overall seemed completely unprepared for high occupancy. I’m glad to hear things may have turned around at this property.
As much a I love Korea, hotel standards are sadly lower than those of other Asian countries like Japan, Singapore or Thailand. I’ve only ever had terrible-to-mediocre hotel stays in Korea.
Wow, that’s very interesting to hear. We were there on a Thursday night, and I didn’t find the hotel to be too busy. As you said, hopefully they cleaned up their act, no pun intended. 😉
Thanks for commenting!