Good value in the heart of Seoul’s art and culture scene.
Seoul, South Korea — This trip represented a return to leisure travel for me and my partner after planned and failed trips to Japan and Korea in 2020 and 2021, respectively, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I was sitting on an excess of refunded airline flight credits as well as hotel points there were burning a hole in my wallet, and I was itching for adventure as the world started re-opening.
As this would be our second trip to Seoul, we opted to stay slightly further away from the more touristy sites near Seoul Station/Myeongdong and settled on the relatively new Holiday Inn Express (HIEx) Seoul Hongdae (completed in 2018), which is nestled on top of Hongik University Station and adjacent to Hongdae’s shopping street.
Dates stayed: 2022 September 18-24 (6 nights)
Room type: 1 Queen Standard Award (upgraded to Standard corner room)
Elite status: IHG Platinum Elite
Notables: Easy access to airports and main subway lines. Free breakfast included with all stays (not just elites).
Location
The hotel’s location on top of Hongik University Station allows for easy direct access to Incheon International Airport, Gimpo International Airport, and Seoul Station by way of the AREX rail line. Additionally, you can also access Seoul Subway Line 2 and the Gyeongui-Jungang Line through this station.
The Hongdae area (named for Hongik University) is a young and hip part of town mostly inhabited by university students and tourists (both domestic and international). The main shopping street is bordered on both sides by a variety of smaller boutique shops all the way up to brand names with various cafes and restaurants thrown into the mix. If you are craving something, you can probably find it here.
The evenings are particularly lively when the bars and restaurants open for dinner, the street food vendors open their stands and the street performers come out to do their thing. During our time here we enjoyed some comedy routines and K-pop dance covers while wandering around the main street and small alleyways.
It is worth mentioning that this area of Seoul has less of a night-time club scene (compared to Itaewon for example) as it is mostly bars and restaurants and things mostly wind down just after midnight.
The Room
We booked a 1-Queen Standard Award room on points (more on that later) and received a small upgrade to a nicer 1-Queen corner room, by virtue of my IHG Platinum Elite status, which had more windows for natural light and a view of the Hongdae shopping street. The room was relatively spacious for an East Asian hotel room which tend to be much smaller than most US hotel rooms and it was a comfortable stay for the two of us. I suspect any more than two people might become a little tight.
The room was very clean, and there are two buttons at the entryway for “Do Not Disturb” and “Make Up Room” (i.e. clean room request”). If you do not click the button for room services, the staff will not clean your room or bring towels.
A few small quirks about the room – only one nightstand had an outlet so if your partner on the other side of the bed needs to charge something, you need to run a long cable across. Additionally, the bathroom did not have an outlet for charging my electric shaver (but did have a hairdryer). The bathroom door doubles as the shower stall door which is great for space saving but a little awkward if someone is showering and the other person is using the toilet.
Dining
HIEx Hongdae offers free breakfast to all guests and it is easily one of the best Holiday Inn Express breakfasts I’ve ever experienced in the world, possibly top 3 of all budget hotel chains ever. There is not a US domestic HIEx that can match this. Breakfast is included in your room fare and you are given paper vouchers for up to two people for each day.
Breakfast is available 6:30-9:30AM every day in the lobby and space is very nice and comfortable. There are both hot and cold Western and Korean options to include a rice noodle station, Western continental fare (eggs, sausage/bacon, yogurts, cereals), Korean breakfast fare (rice, kimchi, soups), at least 3-4 bread/toast/pastries options, 3 different coffee roasts at the espresso/coffee machines, 2-3 different fruit juices. Most of the options are fixed with a few of them rotating each day.
If it means anything to you, my partner has mentioned to me that she would come back and stay here for the breakfast alone next time we’re in Seoul.
Amenities
There is a gym on-site with a few treadmills, a stairclimber and a few free weights. Nothing really to write home about. The laundry facility is very nice and did a good job with the midweek load of clothes we ran through. Detergent and fabric softener sheets are available in the vending machine in the room and there is a coin machine should you need to break large bills – both the washers and dryer require 4000 KRW each to run a load. We did not use any conference rooms or business facilities during this trip.
How we booked and final thoughts
This 6-night stay was booked directly through IHG for a total of 76,000 IHG Rewards points at the time of booking. This worked out to about 0.7 cents per point after accounting for the 4th-night free benefit availed to IHG credit card holders (a net positive if we value IHG points for approximately 0.5 cpp). I hold IHG Platinum Elite status by way of my Chase IHG Premier Card.
Among the various HIEx’s that I’ve stayed in so far, there is not a single US domestic HIEx I can think of that can hold a candle to the Seoul Hongdae location. We would not hesitate to stay here again next our travels bring us to Seoul.
Hotel website https://www.ihg.com/holidayinnexpress/hotels/us/en/seoul/seohg/hoteldetail
Chase IHG Premier Credit Card
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Bun World Traveler 