The Shilla Seoul

A spectacular experience in Korean efficiency and splendor. Felt like a royal.

My husband and I stayed here for 3 nights (3/15-3/18). We booked an executive grand delux room with lounge access. Overall, our stay was great. The room was clean and spacious. The bed was comfortable. The bathroom amenities were great. The bidet was fantastic. The shower was spacious and had amazing water pressure. The view from our room was spectacular. The service at this hotel was top notch. We stored some of our luggages at the hotel for a few days before our actual check-in, and they kept them safe for us. We arrived around 2pm on the check-in day, and they swiftly checked us in. All the staff were professional. Housekeeping and laundry services were amazing. I do have to give extra shoutout to the incredible valet service!!! A gentleman helped us every morning to get a service car or cab. He greeted us with a bright smile and utmost sincerity everyday. He made us feel genuinely welcome and really special during our stay. This made a huge positive impact on our overall experience at this hotel, and frankly, the valet service alone made me put less weight on the shortcomings in other areas when considering staying here again in the future, as well as giving the overall rating 5/5 stars. While I give 5/5 stars for our overall stay, I do want to give an honest feedback because there’s always room for improvement. The executive lounge is an area that could use some improvement. There was something missing in a space that could be really special. While beautiful, the space is not that practical for dining, but just lounging around, as the word “lounge” may suggest. Most of the seats made you crouch over with bad posture and were not comfortable to sit up for actually dining (i.e., it was more like sitting on soft, low couches/chairs with a coffee table). The lounge, in my opinion, attempts to cater more to domestic guests wanting what they think is an upscale “western”experience. However, I found the vibe to be a little pretentious and not authentic. While the desserts here are apparently rated highly, they didn’t meet my expectations and really fell short. They served the strawberry shortcake in the lounge that is also sold in their pastry boutique. It was okay but not anything special. The bottom layer of the cake was actually dry on multiple pieces I tried on different days. The middle layers were mostly cream, and this may give people the illusion that the whole thing is moist when it isn’t. All the desserts were really generic, and a few things were not great. The food options were plenty during happy hour, but they weren’t cohesive and seemed a bit random at times. There were almost no Korean dishes (and no chopsticks anywhere), which I found to be strange, since it’s a hotel in Korea. I also found a dirty knife with crusty residue, which is quite frankly unacceptable. Most of the food was good, but the same day that we found the dirty knife, we also found a meatball that was still raw in the middle. On another night, however, the meatballs were thankfully cooked all the way through. The linen plate mat seemed impractical and was sliding constantly. It didn’t help the plates stay stationary. They were never ironed out properly and always seemed crooked. While we appreciate prompt service, there’s a fine line between being prompt and too quick, and it doesn’t always exude luxury- e.g., the plates were often cleared way too quickly and sometimes as soon as we put down our last bite (but still chewing). I think this could be slowed down some. Lastly, I would recommend booking this hotel during the week. We checked in on a Sunday, and it was so crowded (again, it doesn’t feel very luxurious or exclusive when you see a long line wrapped around the lobby for the dinner buffet or constantly have to fight your way through a large crowd of people in any area of the hotel). It was way too loud and chaotic. During the week was much more quiet and peaceful.

Great hotel in Seoul. Attentive staff and amazing experience

I stayed in this hotel last week and frankly it was shocked how old the hotel is which clearly was not reflected in the price. This will be the last stay for sure