Good points:
The stay was extremely good with quality rooms, extremely good lobby, amazing view.

Bad ones:
Very very high price, remotely located - they have a bus service to take you outside that area. (It is that remotely located)

I stayed 4D/3N stay in the Studio Suite of the W Seoul. This marks my inaugural stay at the W Seoul, although having stayed at the W hotels in Singapore/Hong Kong/Taipei, I was keen to continue my W sojourn.

The quirky design of the W Seoul which fits in well with the W brand in general. But I do agree that Woo bar at night is rather irritating with its loud thumping music reminiscent of a night club.

The studio suite is NOT a technically a suite as it did not have separate living/sleeping areas. Even the Mega Suite suffers from the same drawback.

However, the Studio suite comes with an interesting circular W bed with 400 thread count bed linen. There is also a huge LCD TV. Toiletries belong to the Bliss range.

The gym is state-of-the-art and very spacious - one of the best I have seen in a hotel! The swimming pool is functional but nothing to shout home about.

The breakfast spread at Kitchen was great with both international and local cuisine. I especially liked the cold cuts and dessert section.

The hotel is located on WalkerHill and is a tad isolated. However, there are convenient shuttle-buses to Gwangnam and Gangbyeon subway stations as well as to Itaewon and Myeungdong shopping districts.

There are significant problems with the hotel:
- certain areas of the hotel are too dimly lit (e.g. the elevators)
- the toilet seats were also not heated
- the WC and shower stall lights were too dim
- use of the wet spa (water zone) was NOT complimentary
- no pre-dinner drinks/canapes service due to a lack of a physical executive lounge; however, certain hotels withOUT such lounges still offer their guests such a service (e.g. wine & cheese at St Regis Singapore, a 3000yen minibar credit at St Regis Osaka)
- the proper suites only start from the Fabulous and Marvellous suite categories (this practice contrasts with your NEWER sister W properties as they do upgrade Platinum guests to Fabulous and even Marvellous suites)

However, service at the W Seoul was better than expected. The Welcome manager was instrumental in helping with my reservation and the W Insider was a treasure trove of knowledge.

On the whole, I think the W Seoul shows promise and would like to re-visit when they have polished their act, especially in the areas of deficiency as highlighted above.

Lobby : Large lobby idealif you would like to call in someone for a short meeting. In the nights lobby turns into a bar. Though the music here is very loud and more for young crowd. You can walk over sheraton next door for a quieter evening at bar. The 13th floor bar there is much better if u want a conversation going.

Rooms : Are done in a modern decor and is a novelty. The bath tub is outside the covered area and may not be useful if u are sharing room and need privacy.

Bed : Beds are comfortable and clean.

Entertainment : Rooms do have large screen TVs with VCR if u are planning to watch your own casettes/CD s. The channels available are limited for english language. Choice of movies and entertainment is almost none.

Toilet/Bath : choice of tiles with crevices makes the cleaning for staff a difficult task and the result is less than desired cleanliness. With dirt visible on the glass panels and tiles.

Food : Choice of restaurant is available and offer breakfast with reasonably good choices.

Service : is efficient.

Remarks : Choosing lower floors may result in high noise level in the nights from the music in Bar area. Ask for river facing room the view is awesome in the night.

Complementary bus service to city is a big help if u have a n evening off and want to see city sights.

Had a business trip to Seoul and my usual Intercontinentals were fully booked. so I opted for the W even though it is quite a drive from the centre of town, made worse by terrible Seoul traffic.

I was upgraded to a nicer room (not a suite) and it was lovely, if a bit dated. I had a feeling that the designers were trying a bit too hard, the bathroom felt Stalinesque and the taps for the sink were below and to the right of the sink. I mean who does that? It makes no sense. Pillows were far too soft, I felt like I was sinking into them and they provided no support whatsoever.

My room had a balcony and amazing views of the river and Seoul. Really nice.

The lifts were pitch black (no lights) with some kind of arty installation on the ceiling. The bar in the lobby had very loud strange music and extraordinary prices, $15USD for a cheap local beer.

Everything was expensive. Though I enjoyed the chicken sandwich I ordered from room service.

I couldn't use the gym or pool as they closed at 9pm and open only at 6am. Fine if you are on holiday, not fine if you are on business, have to work late, or get up early.

Breakfast was average, and cost 44,000 Won. Which is BONKERS for a cup of tea, 2 eggs and some bacon.

Basically, if I have to choose something other than my Intercontinentals in Seoul again, I am going to try the Sheraton, which is right next door to the W.

If you want a cool W Hotel, go to San Francisco.