24 Hours at the Four Seasons Seoul
Best for:
City Trips, Luxury, Business and Spa Getaways
Points:
8.5 out of 10
The perfect song:
Traces of Time - FlicFlac
What we love:
- Amazingly vast spa with one big indoor pool and plenty of warm jacuzzis
- Great location for sightseeing and perfect for Seoul's first timers
- Wonderful design and lots of expensive furnishings
- Special toiletries range by Lorenzo Villoresi
- Amazing beds and extremely convenient Four Seasons App to fulfil all wishes before and during the stay
- Extremely good breakfast buffet and even more beautiful setting at the Italian restaurant
After having stayed at the Conrad Seoul in the new business district, I thought it is time to move on and explore the city center a bit. Actually, I did not know that the Four Seasons is the best-located hotel in Seoul when it comes to sightseeing and culture. Just next to the governmental buildings, on the main square and only 10 minutes by foot to the Gyeongbokgung Palace, this location has to be the best any hotel in Seoul can have. Although we arrived at 11 am already, the room was ready and we were checked in. I found the check-in to be fast and friendly however after an accompany to the elevator the lady was gone. It seems like a Korean thing not to accompany guests to their room, so this was not an issue for us. The lobby was just impressively beautiful but the waiting area on each floor in front of the elevators was the absolute highlight with lots of little details and expensive finishings. I was impressed of the white walls in the hallways, they gave a truly light feeling and enframed the views in an amazing way.
Once we arrived at the room, we were impressed by how bright it was. Lots of daylight filled the super vast and spacious room, which was designed in wonderful color tones and had a very light scheme. Beside a huge entree, there was a wardrobe with luggage rack, another storage space with the coffee machine and the minibar in it, two comfy armchairs, a writing desk with all the implements needed for a business stay and two heavenly queen beds with the signature Four Seasons pillow which I always considered to purchase for my bed. No need to say that the beds were outrageous (mentioned this in the review of the Four Seasons Casa Medina already extensively). I found it a nice idea to offer a rack of magazines next to the armchairs which were perfect places in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows that made the entire views look like part of the room decoration. Even if the curtains are closed, you will be blown away by the room: the television is just wow - the size was truly impressive. The screen was so big that you could literally watch from the shower if there would not have been an en-mirror tv.
Once I moved on to the bathroom, I was impressed by the open layout and the spacious double vanities, the tub with a window into the bedroom as well as the spacious walk-in shower. In general, the comfort of the bathroom was very good and the toiletries were a special blend for the hotel by Lorenzo Villoresi - they indeed rounded up the room experience perfectly. The only issue we experienced during our stay was that the toilet did not flush anymore and we nearly had a flooding in the separated toilet. So we, unfortunately, had to call housekeeping around midnight to come and help on this issue which was rather unpleasant. However, I was playing around with my favorite app: the Four Seasons app where you can order everything you want. I was interested to see how the staff performs and ordered another set of toiletries as well as a pair of these super fluffy slippers. Within 10 minutes the products arrived and I have to say this was the fastest process I have had so far compared to Four Seasons Bogota and Milan. A plus for the staff at the Four Seasons Seoul.
While I was keen on visiting the spa area - being told that it's one of the coolest new spas in Asia - my colleague and me had to make sure to see the city as well. I mean that's also why we were here for. So we started with the amazing Gyeongbokgung palace and moved on to Insadong-gil a typical South Korean neighbourhood before we walked all the way to Myeong-dong, the city's shopping district. From there we went to a typical market in Dongdaemun before we returned to the hotel to enjoy the facilities and our room. Unfortunately we have reserved a table at a local restaurant at 6pm. So we decided to ask the concierge if she could inform the restaurant if we can come later so we can have a shower. She tried to call the restaurant but could not reach someone. Therefore she just suggested that we just just leave. I found this a little bit unhelpful though guess there is no other way to handle this situation.
Well you can imagine how excited I was to see the spa so I could await to finally see the pool after the dinner at 9pm. We both enjoyed the amazing pool and the warm jacuzzi next to it until they finally closed the spa. Wow, I was impressed of how big and stylish the entire Four Seasons Club - that's how they call the spa and gym - is. There are two different floors: while one floor is solely for treatments and changing rooms, the second floor is occupied by the indoor pool, juice bar and the truly vast gym. I need to focus on the changing rooms because they are the biggest I have ever seen with a vast dressing area, massive lockers, sauna, steam bath and two smaller and one spacious jacuzzi. What impressed me most was the fact that beside extremely fluffy bathrobes they also provide gym outfits, such as shorts and t-shirts with the Four Seasons logo on it. So what can you do when you already have had dinner, the pool is closed and it is only 11pm? Well you would think of going to the bar, but we decided to actually do the opposite: we tried out the gym, which was amazing with lots of TechnoGym equipment and a PowerPlate.
You can not even imagine how well we slept. I think these were the most intense 8 hours of sleep I have had for a long time. Of course we were more than ready to check out the breakfast. Only then we registered that we have not been informed about where breakfast is served so we went down to the front desk to get an indication to the basement where the breakfast buffet was supposed to be set up. Unfortunately, we could not understand what the lady at the restaurant was trying to say, so it was kind of an uncomfortable situation. Actually she wanted to say that the restaurant is fully booked and we have to go. We did not get the part that a table has been set up in the Italian restaurant which turned out to be much more beautiful than the regular breakfast restaurant. After all, we anyhow made it to our supposed table and were rewarded with an amazing buffet, top service and even more stunning views of the green alley and the blue sky. The quality of the products were truly amazing and overall this was just the right way to start this sunny and lovely day in Seoul.
All in all we can highly recommend the Four Seasons Seoul, no matter if you are staying there for business or leisure. The big spa and gym really takes your breath away and will 100 per cent make sure that you are fully relaxed even after the hardest day of sightseeing or after having had the toughest business meeting. We loved our stay at this perfectly situated property and won't hesitate to stay there again as soon as we are back in Seoul, the cool and modern capital of South Korea.
We stayed at the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul for editorial purposes and therefore were guests of the hotel. However all above written expresses our own opinion and has not been influenced.
