From Honolulu to Seoul (2022) | Travel Report

Introduction

This massive 5 star luxury hotel is perhaps a grand statement from the Conrad brand.

The Conrad Seoul is located within the business districts of Yeouido, aka known as Korea’s Wall Street. You can definitely witness the swath of business magnates and corporations and a series of tourists here at the Conrad. As a five star hotel, this 37 story building is also conveniently located within IFC, or the International Finance Center and next to the Hyundai Shopping Center. Boasting a ridiculous six restaurants, 400+ guest rooms, executive lounge, indoor pool, spa, fitness, golf range and more, this place has all that a luxury traveler would want.

Because of its connection to the IFC mall and the subway line, this made for a great hotel to begin our travels in Seoul. The mall has plenty of great (and expensive) stores and a variety of fantastic restaurants. International brands from Apple and Zara all the way to upscale Chanel and Prada are all within walking distance.

Check-In and Upgrade

Having first checked-in our first night using our AMEX Fine Hotels and Resorts booking, I headed downstairs around 7:00am to see if I could check-in early.

While waiting, the lobby is seriously massive and incredibly luxurious in all senses. The perfume that accompanies the building to the materials and design elements made for a beautiful yet expensive feel to the building lobby. As mentioned in my latest travel report (see here), I applied 171,000 Hilton Points for a deluxe room for the remaining nights.

As I was checking in, I inquired about the availability of any suites, since I was staying here for a couple of nights. Interestingly enough, there was a Grand View Executive Suite available for the nights that we had, and the front desk agent explained that as Diamond member, he would be willingly to work something out to help us get an upgrade to that suite. Needless to say, a few minutes later - Room 2619 was within my sights. If paid in cash, this would have been a whopping $1,951.71 USD for the three nights! For me, this was a massive value win and a great thanks to the front desk here!

If I had to pay this in cash, it would be close to $2,000 USD!

The Grand King Executive Suite (RM 2619)

Upon entering the suite, you’re greeted with an amazing view of the living room and a breathtaking view of the Han River. To the right on entry is a powder room. A few steps into the foyer and past the powder room is an exquisite two door walk in closet. The closet is probably big enough to count as a room and allowed us to store our luggages easily. The closet connects both the living room and the massive bathroom, which we’ll get to in a bit. Overall, the suite is a massive 96 square meters (1033 square foot) monstrosity, making this suite one of the biggest we’ve ever reviewed.

Next to the massive king bed lies a daybed, to which my wife utilized 100% of it during our rest time. It’s incredibly comfy and was just nice to lay there and survey her Instagram posts and stories. Back to the bed - it was incredibly comfortable and had a series of feather pillows (count five) and made for quick work as we slept to combat jet lag.

A series of control panels are found in the living room and the bedroom, along with a few arrays of lighting switches. Interestingly enough, each partition of the suite has 2 modes of lighting, which I thought was a bit much, but hey, great to see that incorporation! Strong wi-fi, a handful of TVs, a Bose sound system and a Nespresso coffee machine made for a great place to relax and unwind to.

Of course, the main selling point of this suite is the incredible 180-view of Seoul and it expansive 4 window layout, making almost all of Seoul’s landmarks within view of your hotel windows. My pictures can’t do justice to the amazing views that one can see with their own two eyes. I’ve attached a couple of window shots towards the end of the review to showcase the magnificent views from the bedroom and living room windows.

Suite Bathroom

The bathroom is beyond massive. Of all the Conrad hotels that we’ve stayed at, this bathroom is literally a guest bedroom in itself. A motorized blind gives you the option to witness the city of Seoul while you bathe and soak away your time at the Conrad. The shower can be accessible in two directions, and the ridiculously great shower pressure made showering a favorite time during our stay here. Bidets galore.

There’s even a Dyson air dryer - it’s a trend that I’ve seen grow more and more with luxury hotels.

Continuing onwards, there are dual sinks and Byredo amenities, though to my disappoint, they’re all incorporated into shareable containers, which made bringing any toiletries home not possible. You’re also able to watch some television whilst you brush your teeth. A makeup table is even available. Yes, this bathroom has everything a woman or man would want.

Hotel Features

Let’s just say, this hotel may be the one of the most decked out hotel gyms I’ve been to in my life. The gym is massive and is open 24/7. A heated indoor swimming pool was available along with a series of sauna and well-suited dressing rooms. There’s even a golf range simulator, which as a Diamond member, was given 40 minutes complementary screen golf practice time. Not bad! I was able to use the gym almost every day get a massive workout in - the pilates and stretching machines made it worthy of a top 5 fitness center that I’ve been to in the world!

I also got to enjoy the sauna room and spa for a day and was pleased with the amenities provided - from the steam and sauna to the ice plunge to the jacuzzi, this was well-staffed and very catered for business clients.

Breakfast at Zest

As a Diamond member, we were granted breakfast for each day and we took full advantage of that during our stay. Zest is a buffet that serves all three meals, and the breakfast samples were fantastic. From Korean and Japanese cuisine to Western tastes, it had everything a business and/or tourist would want to enjoy for a morning start to the day. Service was great and the salad tower made for a beautiful touch in the buffet area. Coffee and juices are provided and you can also get multiple juices/vitamin waters if you want. Overall, the breakfast was great and a pleasant experience for a Diamond Hilton member. You can also eat at the Executive Lounge for breakfast, but I’m more of the quantity vs. privacy type of breakfast buffet type of guy.

Attentive Service

Service here was fantastic, with one caveat. During our 1st day of arrival, we had ordered in-room dining and we ran into a problem of the service not being picked up. We called multiple times and eventually had to ask a staff to help flag down the in-room dining team. A few apologies later and an hour later - our food arrived and we ate to a happy start to the meal. Our second use of the In-room dining for dinner was easily ordered and came within 45-50 minutes on a busy 6:30pm day.

The following days afterwards, service from the front desk to housekeeping to the coffee shops were all fantastic. We even grabbed ourselves a Conrad Bear and Rubber Ducky to add to our collection with the help of the coffee shop team!

Summary

The Conrad Seoul definitely made a great mark in my portfolio of hotels, and is right up with its Conrad siblings, like the Conrad Osaka and Los Angeles. Having been bumped from a Deluxe to a Grand King Executive Suite definitely made for strong impression, but the service was fantastic from the get go, fantastic room and the quality of breakfast and in-room dining made this all but a strong luxury hotel.

As mentioned before, the in-room service of the first day was perhaps a mishap due to the demand that their In-Room Dining team was going through, but the front desk service made up for it, and more. Ultimately, this amazing luxury hotel is a fantastic bargain for the Hilton points that we used for our nights here in Seoul, and is indeed a hallmark of the top hotels in South Korea.