Where to stay in Seoul

[Anonymous]

I will be traveling to Seoul next month and decided to bring my 3 children. Would like to stay in a central location where we can easily walk to restaurants.

Can you recommend what area to stay?

Specific hotel recommendations would be appreciated. Marriott Bonvoy hotels even better since we have status.

[Anonymous]

Shilla

[Anonymous]

Westin

[Anonymous]

Orakai Insadong
Fraser Place Namdemun

[Anonymous]

Shilla is not walkable, lol! Bring KF94 masks, it’s going to be yellow dust time…

Grand Hyatt, you can get around easily walking.
The newer Mondrian is amazing and walkable but I’m not sure how easy it is to get a reservation.
With kids, the Yongsan Novotel suites might be a good idea plus you have washing machine access.
Coex Intercontinental very good and attached to a lovely mall with restaurants which is great when weather and air Q is bad, especially with kids.
JWMarriott near Seorae Village (decent cafes etc.) is good, less hectic than JW Marriott Dongdaemun.

Subway is so easy to navigate and bus system too, just get KakaoBus app

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Shilla is not walkable, lol! Bring KF94 masks, it’s going to be yellow dust time…

Grand Hyatt, you can get around easily walking.
The newer Mondrian is amazing and walkable but I’m not sure how easy it is to get a reservation.
With kids, the Yongsan Novotel suites might be a good idea plus you have washing machine access.
Coex Intercontinental very good and attached to a lovely mall with restaurants which is great when weather and air Q is bad, especially with kids.
JWMarriott near Seorae Village (decent cafes etc.) is good, less hectic than JW Marriott Dongdaemun.

Subway is so easy to navigate and bus system too, just get KakaoBus app

How easy is navigating in a different language/alphabet?

[Anonymous]

Very! Kakapo bus app is easily understood since it’s numeric. Just know your bus # and route outlined on map.

All the subway stops are in Hangul and English.

If your kids are on the younger side, I think Coex or JWMarriott (seorae-Gangnam) would be better…Itaewin is very alcohol-party-party centric

[Anonymous]

*itaewon

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Very! Kakapo bus app is easily understood since it’s numeric. Just know your bus # and route outlined on map.

All the subway stops are in Hangul and English.

If your kids are on the younger side, I think Coex or JWMarriott (seorae-Gangnam) would be better…Itaewin is very alcohol-party-party centric

Isn’t coex far ? 45 min from the major attractions

[Anonymous]

Definitely stay north of the river.

[Anonymous]

Not via subway

War Memorial
National museum of Korea
Gwanghwamun

Etc

Four Seasons is right there near Gwanghwamun

[Anonymous]

We’ve been four times with our kids and like staying in or near Insadong best. Lots of restaurants, quieter during the night, near subway, near palaces.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We’ve been four times with our kids and like staying in or near Insadong best. Lots of restaurants, quieter during the night, near subway, near palaces.

OP here. Is Insadong better than Lotte World area? I am trying to decide if I should split stay or just stay in one hotel. Insadong area looks fantastic. The last time I went to Korea, we stayed by dongdaemoon. We could stay at JW Marriott Dongdaemoon. There is also a Marriott hotel in Insadong and Myeongong. I remember really liking the Myeongdong area but don’t know if it is good to stay around there. There is also the Signal Hotel, which is close to Lotte World that I know we want go to. Don’t think it seems like a central location.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’ve been four times with our kids and like staying in or near Insadong best. Lots of restaurants, quieter during the night, near subway, near palaces.

OP here. Is Insadong better than Lotte World area? I am trying to decide if I should split stay or just stay in one hotel. Insadong area looks fantastic. The last time I went to Korea, we stayed by dongdaemoon. We could stay at JW Marriott Dongdaemoon. There is also a Marriott hotel in Insadong and Myeongong. I remember really liking the Myeongdong area but don’t know if it is good to stay around there. There is also the Signal Hotel, which is close to Lotte World that I know we want go to. Don’t think it seems like a central location.

Gangnam is out of the way for most touristy things.