➹ wanted : perfect accommodations part I

Whenever we discuss travel, fellow enthusiasts would often agree that finding the perfect accommodations is not of top priority. How many hours would we really spend on the room anyway? We didn't exactly book the trip to order room service ... We just need a cheap, clean and decent place to stay some nights.

Ah, but (1) cheap (2) clean and (3) decent proved to be insufficient in so many ways. How often did we end up on places where:
1. there was no space to stow luggage!
2. the bathroom is too cramped for sharing!
3. the bathroom gets wet all over after shower!
4. the place is too far to walk to and from the subway/bus stop T_T
5. there are no nearby establishments for breakfast and/or late dinner T_T
6. there is no cheap and convenient transport to/from airport/bus station T_T

And because of company-sponsored business trips (where we were given the taste for some high end hotels) our standards definitely went up some notches higher. And so the quest to find that absolute amazing place to house our giddy spirits on vacation became so much more complicated.

And then we came to Seoul. Honestly, this was the most challenging of all my accommodations research. The sad thing is, I still have not identified THE perfect place to stay in! So here are my challenges so far...


(pic credits: me ^_^)

On my first trip, we stayed at Renaissance Seoul and claimed my free nights from accumulating points on Marriott. It was great of course! This was a Marriott Rewards category 4 hotel and I got to stay 3 nights for free. We paid around $200 for an additional night which was a total splurge on our parts but heck yeah, that was a vacation anyway ^_^. So the room was nice, the breakfast buffet was good (맛있어!), and the service was impeccable. It was really very near the Yeoksam subway stop but not near enough for us. It was late October at that time and the Fall winds were too much for us as we *trek* our way to and from the subway stop. It transformed what could be a 5-minute brisk walk into a 10-15 minute torture. Looking back, even if the winds were tamed a bit, the distance from the station would still not make it reasonable for us to pop in and out of the hotel throughout the day. And given how expensive the place is, we would definitely want to be maximizing the room for quick rests, touch ups, and what nots. So here's the verdict:

1. [-] Too expensive for normal (no use of Marriott points) vacations.
2. [-] Too far from Yeoksam stop to permit quick layovers to re-touch, re-charge, change outfits and unload shopping bags!
3. [-] Too far from the main tourist attractions. If I can recall it correctly, it took us way too long to get from Dongdaemun back to the hotel so that we were almost too late for the airport shuttle bus on our last day.
4. [-] No free internet in the room. There's a business center though ... but still ...
5. [+] Family Mart and Starbucks right beside it for some quick snacks, water, and late night cravings
6. [+] Noraebang and some other restaurants on the street behind it!
7. [+] Airport limousine bus stops right in front of it!!!

(pic credits: http://www.seoulbusinesshotel.com/room/room.html)

On my second trip to Seoul, we were not too lucky to get free hotels anymore. So I did my research and settled on a pretty good deal at Yim's Guesthouse right smack in the middle of Seoul. It costs ~$40 per night and it's right across the Changdeokgung Palace! There were also some neat reviews about the place so I was more than convinced that we found a gem booking this. However ... (and so it starts)

1. [-] If you carry an actual luggage (and not a backpack or a duffel-trolley), then you're in for a treat. From the airport limousine stop, we had to walk some 7-10 minutes to get to the place. Not too bad, really ... except that at one point, there was no pedestrian lane to get across the road. There was a subway underground pass instead. And see, the trouble with a huge luggage is that it's a horrible experience lifting it up a flight of stairs ... and then tugging it along some 7-minute worth of sidewalks and traffic signs to boot. So yeah, sadly~ I was exhausted beyond words when we finally got to the door. My right arm also felt like it was about to fall off. The wiser thing to do would have been to take a taxi from the bus stop although we are not confident that the taxi drivers would agree to this due to the *short* distance. To take a taxi from the airport would be crazy since it sums up to ~$50 when the bus only cost ~$20 for the 2 of us.
2. [-] The place was old. There is no nicer way to say it. It just had that unpleasant feel that goes with rooms that had its time. It was totally clean but it was still old.
3. [-] The room was clean (I need to reiterate this). We were on the 4th floor so we used the elevator going up and down. It was weird that they hang towels to dry on the staircase ...
4. [-] Check in is of course not til after lunch. So we left our luggage there and planned to head out sight seeing the morning we arrived. But because I was so haggard from dragging my luggage, I wanted to freshen up a bit and asked to use the toilet. Eeek ... It was more of a messy storage/laundry room without a decent light.
5. [-] The locks on the doors were tricky. There were no keycards. We were given actual keys which we need to leave by the front desk when we go out. Told ya, it was old.
6. [-] You are given 2 hand towels per guest. No body towel.
7. [-] The TV reminded me of my parents' house when I was in gradeschool. It was a total boob tube. Did I mention it was old?
8. [-] It was a good walk away from either Jongno 3-ga or Angguk stations. Still not near enough for a quick trip back to the room to unload shopping bags.
9. [-] No breakfast place nearby too ...
10. [+] It was right in front of Changdeokgung! And was very near Insadong. I reckon we could probably walk to Cheonggyecheon if we ever go past the subway curfew but we didn't attempt that.
11. [+] Indeed very cheap.

And so the quest remains open ... The challenge is to find a nice enough place for a good-sized budget which is a maximum of 5-minutes away from subway stops and is conveniently accessible from airport limousine bus stops. 아짜!!!