I recently stayed at the W Seoul for 7 nights on a work-related trip to Korea, and received an excellent rate when directly booking with Starwood Properties by phone. I have stayed in some stunning modern hotels around the world, and the Seoul W equals any of them. (In some ways, it reminded me a little of the Cyberport Hotel in Hong Kong.) Exceptional service from the concierge, business centre, front desk manager, restaurant staff et al. The corner "Wonderful" room was a glass box overlooking the Han River, an oasis after working all day in central Seoul. For pampered bliss, choose the W!

I was in Seoul for a holiday around Christmas and had stayed in the Westin before deciding to stay in the W hotel for 3 nights. In the end, I was thoroughly disappointed by this much hyped hotel. On checking in, the lobby was fun and hip, I booked the “Cool Corner” and was wowed by the decoration and the view. After the initial gratification, things went downhill. The “amazing” AV system with 50 inch TV was fun for the initial minute. It then became annoying when all the controls did not quite work the way they were supposed to. Try imagine going to a friends house who is a hi-fi fanatic and left 6 remote controls for you to figure out by yourself. I am a gadget freak myself but the badly setup remote sensors made it very hard to properly control the TV, hi-fi and curtains!! Other than this, the room was big and fun, the bathroom was big and comfortable. Overall, I enjoyed the 2 nights stay in the Cool Corner room.

We were moved to the “Fabulous Room” on the third night. What a nightmare!! The room was narrow and long. The bed was right by the door. There were nowhere to put our luggage but there was a huge Jacuzzi!! The room looked more like motel six with the badly painted wall abd unreasonably dim lightings (probably to cover the flaws!). The main draw was the Jacuzzi but it took more than an hour to fill. This is ok if you have a good room to relax in. In this room, there is a choice of waiting on the bed by the door, the bench like seat by the wall or a very low single seat right in the middle of the room… staring at the badly painted wall or the small box TV!

The service at the W hotel is another big let down. I have stayed in some of the finest hotels in the world. All through this stay, I got the distinct feeling that behind the forced smiles from the hotel staff, they really did not care. My point was proven at check out! I discovered a charge from their 3rd floor juice bar that I did not use (a US$20 charge). The front desk clerk insisted that I might have forgotten about going there!! (his manager watching from behind). After arguing with me for 10 minutes, he and his manager asked me to wait. I waited for about 15 minutes only to find out that they brought the waitress from the 3rd floor to identify me which make me feel like a criminal in a police station. Needless to say, she verified my story and the clerk and his manager did not even try to apologize.

Overall feeling? For travelers who are accustomed to good service, don’t bother going there. If you want to check out the hotel, go there for a drink. I will not go back again and I recommend going there for a drink and not stay or dine there.

Just finished an over night stay at the W Seoul Walkerhill and must say I am very impressed. But, it almost started off very badly. I arrived at 2pm to check in and have some items placed in my room for my return later that evening. Unfortunately, my room was not ready yet and would not be ready for another hour. I left my bags with the front desk and said I would return later that evening. I received a phone call after I departed saying that another aspect of my reservation was not properly made and I would have more difficulties. The front desk put me on the phone with the manager and that is when the "whatever, whenever" attitude kicked in. The manager apologized sincerely and said that when I returned later that evening, I would be surprised. And boy was I ever; They gave me a free room upgrade (from fabulous to mega room), complimentary wine, chocolates, and a teddy bear, and additional candles and balloons to my original order (i ordered 6 candles and 10 balloons and got 15 candles and 30 balloons!). From that point the service was 5-star and the motto held true, whatever, whenever. Our room was setup perfectly, with the jacuzzi water already filled and at perfect temperature. The color scheme of the room mixed in with the wine, chocolates, room decorations, jacuzzi and breathtaking view made the evening one of the best romantic experiences I have ever had. Would stay at this hotel again and definitely recommend it to anyone seeking a romantic modern getaway from the craziness of downtown Seoul. 5 stars!

From the moment we arrived till we left we said often Wow..
The check in went quick and they even took a picture of us..later we understood how good that works because we had a little discussion about a trip to the DMZ.
That afternoon Mr. Park the manager came to us when we were in the restautant and asked if all went well and yes it went perfectly! So that is why they make a picture!
The hotel design is so nice if you like your room trendy..I am still speechless from the great yacuzzi in which we spent some time..
If you have a question or you want something then push the Wish button on the phone and all will be done to help you..the newspaper in the morning is delievered in a cover with Words on it..in the paperbasket in the room is written Waste. Roomservice breakfast can be enjoyed in bed with a special tray with a placemat saying Welcom on Friday and in the evening the turn down service puts down a mat saying sWeet dreams...
The dj playing in the lobby makes the place lively and bubbly!
W hotel We Will be back :-)