I am a bit embarrassed to say this..but the rooms at the Park Hyatt Seoul are now the bar I'll use to judge all other standard rooms by. As previous posts say, they are modern and minimalist chic, but still with heart. The rooms are possibly not much larger than most standard rooms but with their well-planned layout, seem much larger. I guess the floor to ceiling windows spanning the guest room and bathroom, along with the glass wall (its not awkward..) between part of the bathroom and guestroom, also really open up the space. The "closet" has sliding access doors from both the bedroom and the bathroom vanity area, so is very convenient and functional. The actual shower/tub room is large and beautiful and, as from the bedroom, is set off from the bathroom vanity area by a glass wall. I had never seen a true rain shower before...the shower fixture was IN the ceiling and was probably a foot across...wow, nice. The shower fixtures were a bit odd to figure out at first though, 3 controls..not hot/cold/shower like we're used to..it was water on hot cold/hand-held shower/rain shower...had to figure that out... and shot water around the room in the process.

I don't think anyone's mentioned the switches or power curtains - really neat, although the switches were a bit confusing, didn't always work as I wanted them to. Instead of simple light switches, there are panels of labeled push buttons for various lights around the room, including master buttons to turn off all lights. There is also one thoughtful, not-too-bright, motion light in the ceiling between the bedroom and bathroom so there is no fumbling for a switch if you have to use the bathroom during the night.

The power curtains were very cool. There are up/down buttons for a total of 4 curtains, with both the bedroom and bathroom each having a privacy curtain and a blackout curtain, which individually raise or lower at the touch of the button.

The public areas were also fabulous - often understated, classy, modern, but with their own wow features, such as the 24th floor lobby that was very very simple, but then the view provides the wow. Same with the work out areas...on the high floor, the views from the treadmill...wow. The hallways are like nothing you've ever seen. Floor to ceiling woodwork, with glass box museum-type display cases spaced every few doors, holding various Korean-themed objects ~- simple, but not... Simply beautiful.

Location was a bit away from the Seoul city center, but as written in the current issue of Conde Nast, the Park Hyatt is in the Beverly Hills of Seoul..lots of shopping, wide streets..new money. The entrance via car (back side of hotel) was a bit odd, down a small side alley, but you probably won't be the one driving anyhow. There is a subway stop directly in front of the hotel.

I've rambled about the rooms and space, and will wind this down now, but the service and staff also deserve high praise - very attentive and personalized. Everyone spoke perfect English and was very friendly. I enjoyed breakfasts and a great dinner at the restaurant, and also cocktails in their bar (with Jazz pianist). All very nice. Had room service breakfast one morning, and while not cheap, was quick and nicely done.

Kudos to the Park Hyatt Seoul!

I stayed in the Park Hyatt for 10 days in May this year, for business reasons. And I must say it was one of the best hotel experiences I had.

The arrival by car is the least to say a bit awkward, it goes through some back alley and then you arrive at the lobby, it looks all a bit small to me, but I assume they did not have any other option, after my stay I found the ground level ‘lobby’ bit second-rate for such a great hotel. On the ground floor there is basically nothing other then the bellboy and some elevators. But I was very warm welcomed and guided to a particular elevator (and definitely not another one!!), to go up to the reception/lobby. (More about the elevators later)

The hotel reception is on the top floor of the hotel, strange but not an issue once you stay there. Actually I found it convenient, you could just walk into the ground floor elevator (again, one particular one only) and go to the rooms directly, feels more like an apartment then a hotel (and that is a good feeling).

The check-in was swift & easy and I was directed to a particular elevator to go to my room. The shape of the building& hallway make that basically every room on the same floor is different in shape & size. The room floor hallways are very nice; you don’t even notice that there are so many rooms on one floor.

The room itself it brilliant, nice size and beautiful interior. The windows are top down from glass, even in the bathroom. From the bedroom there is another glass wall that let’s you look into the bathroom, very nice this open concept, brings in a lot of light to the room. The bed area is very good but the bathroom area is awesome, I made some pictures from the bathroom for if I ever build my own house, this is the kind of bathroom that you want. There is a very big bathtub, definitely big enough for two, although take your time to fill it up as it takes a while (so I experienced). There is also a shower, which is hanging from the ceiling, it makes the whole bathroom area the shower area (great concept!), there is also a separate hand shower attached to the wall for your convenience. I also thought I would never us it, but the shampoo, soap & conditioner provided is very good, best quality I have ever seen in a hotel. There is a separate area with toilet room and a sink for your normal grooming. The room also has the best ever relax chair I have seen in a hotel, plus there is a normal round table with chairs to do some work. The flat screen TV finishes of the great room. There are only to many buttons in the room, on a few occasion I woke up in the night and searched for the light button, but accidentally pushed the electric-window-sheets button giving you a totally other experience.

Internet access is very expensive from my point of view, as is in most hotels. But the connectivity is very good. The connection point for the internet is very strange located requiring a bit longer cable then you would normally use (don’t forget to take one), and it beats me why this kind of hotel does not have a wireless internet system installed for in-room access. Make sure you have the right power plugs for Korea with you.

And then the elevator system, this is if you look at it the only really flaw in the whole hotel, let me try to explain: there are 5 elevators, from which 3 are available at the entrance level. The most left two do not serve the rooms; the only serve the other floors (restaurant, ballroom and reception). At the ground floor, only the most right elevator (technically the middle of the 5 available) can bring you to the rooms directly. If you are at the room level floor, there are 3 elevators available (the most right 3 from the 5), from which only the most left one (technically the middle of the 5 available) can take you to any place (ground floor, reception, other floors) and the other two (the most right two) can only bring you either to another room-floor (which basically you normally don’t want) or to the reception area (which is on the top of the hotel). If you are still with me then I assume you can see the problem: the most common traffic is from the ground floor to the room level, for which only 1 elevator is available, this elevator has therefore also a long waiting time!! From my point of view, all the other elevators are basically useless. This is also why the personnel at the hotel are frantically trying to guide everybody on the right elevators, which I think should not be needed. Further more the floor selection system in the elevator works with a contact-less card system, and I did not see any user who did not have a problem with it. For me any user-system that needs explanation, especially in elevator, is not a good system. Ok. Enough said, for me the only flaw in the hotel, but one that you could live by.

The location of the hotel is very good, that is if you need to be in that area of course. It’s across from the COEX building under which is a huge shopping mall including various places to eat for all kinds of flavors. The hotel is also located in front of the metro entrance, so very convenient if you want to travel by public transport. Taxis are easily available at the front side, but make sure you have some note with you when you want to go back, as taxi drivers are not very familiar with the location. (They have handy cards in the room with the address on it)

The main restaurant is expensive, and the quality does not make my taste buds happy, I skipped it for the duration of the stay. The same restaurant is also the place for breakfast, I used it and it is good, but the service could improve. It seems that once there are a few people for breakfast all of sudden they panic and can’t handle the crowd, which results in a delay of delivering drinks & food. The in-room food I ordered was very nice and delivered within the set time. The (jazz) bar in the basement has a nice setting for a drink, but you must be willing to the pay price for that.

I did not use the Spa, Gym & Pool area on the top floor (!), but I had a look and the pool is really nice and the gym seems to be good equipped. Some of my colleagues used it and had very good comments about the gym & the pool, so I take their word for granted.

Other items that are worth mentioning is that one day when I did some laundry I got a message that the stitching on my trouser was a bit loose (which was correct) and if they could fix that. (The laundry prices itself are steep though). I also never noticed any cleaning people on the room levels, it was basically always empty, and it gives again this ‘apartment’ feeling instead of the hotel feeling.

All in all a very good hotel, the people are friendly and speak good English and, outside of the restaurant, the service is very good. The rooms are magnificent and I would definitely stay there again.

I just returned from a 4 day stay at the Park Hyatt in Seoul and it is everything you would want from a Park Hyatt. The staff is extremely accomodating and never stop smiling.Virtually everyone speaks English.
The rooms are good sized with floor to ceiling windows and are very modern with wood floors and walk in showers (note I said walk-in and not stall showers). The "shower room" had a ceiling shower head as well as the usual hand held variety ,along with a huge tub. The lobby is on the 24th floor with a beautiful view of the city. There is a terrific gym on the 23rd floor with the same view. Don't pass up the opportunity for a massage.
The only "problem" is that the elevators are destination specific so it is a bit confusing. On the other hand there is always a smiling staff member to help you get on the right one.
I have previously stayed at the Shilla and the only real advantage of being there is that you might actually think you are in Korea because more of the staff does not speak English.

Stayed for three nights in July over a weekend. Booked a package which included breakfast. Hotel is located across the street from the COEX, so there is ample shopping and restaurants. The entrance is awkward to get to by car. The hotel is very modern. If you like a modern design hotel, you will love the Park Hyatt. If you expect a classical hotel, you may hate the hotel. The tub and the shower area was spectacular. I am afraid of heights but I stayed on the 22nd floor (which is the highest for the rooms) and got used to the height. The room was quite large for Korea(I think it was a standard room, but the hotel is shaped funny and I think all the rooms are a little different in size). Internet access in the room was very pricey, but if you just want to check email, they will lend you a notebook in the lobby. Restaurant prices are very expensive. I stayed at a fair number of hotels in Seoul, and I would have to rank this as my favorite. The level of English spoken is probably the best in Seoul.