Visit to Seoul end of Feb - recommendations

[GomiGirl]

Family trip (my family, my brother and my parents etc) to Seoul for a long weekend at the end of Feb - 28-4th March. My parents are on a layover on their way to Europe so we thought we might all meet up in Seoul.

Where is a good area to stay, eat, shop, sightsee etc? I have no idea what Seoul has to offer.

Remember that I have a 2 year old in tow as well as parents who are in their 60's and 70's.

[yanpa]

Will you be checking out Gangnam?

[Taro Toporific]

Where is a good area to stay, eat, shop, sightsee etc? I have no idea what Seoul has to offer.

It's gonna a bit nippy (if not damn cold), but don't miss the Korean Folk Village, which is living museum experience with re-enactors playing the parts of villagers 100 years ago.

Although now* extravagantly expensive, the Korean House's dinner based on historical recipes of the Korean royal court served by waitresses clad in hanbok dresses and followed by traditional music and dance routines in their small theater is great cultural-vulture fun.

*"Back in the day", it only cost $30 USD for the entire evening,
now it's 40,000+ yen per person for the royal dinner and show.

[Coligny]

The Hilton near the main train stashiun was not too bad.
The weather at this time is usually... quite fucking cold... Sendai style... Harble freezing level... Since it's a hilly, snowy, frozen place I highly recommend the snow-chains for shoes like they sell in Tokyu hands, me Djoolie got flip down pins shoes from sports depot that have turnaway/retractable iron pins under the heel for that one time she went a Hokkaido for a wintur conference. It was a godsend... well except at the metal detector gate in zee airport.
A 2 inches suspension lift, trail rated tires and front winch for the baby cart could help too... don't forget to put cold weather oil, winterized diesel and top charge the battery...

[Cyka UchuuJin]

I stayed at W Walker Hill, was ok (wasn't my favourite W, but had all the usual facilities and a good sized room). The best part was the hotel internet connection, the main screen had 'i accept' and 'i do accept' on the disclaimer page.

[matsuki]

Stay away from HIS tour packages...they sent me to the "New Boolean" hotel a few years ago. tattered towels, toilet next to the shower...not unit bath, I mean literally next to the shower, used family sized toothpaste, and an elevator from hell. It was also conveniently located in the pink light district...hey honeeeey!

[Samurai_Jerk]

The Myeongdong or Gangnam areas are good areas to stay. Check out the street food at the markets like Dong Dae Moon (東大門) or Nam Dae Moon (南大門). In those areas if you have trouble communicating with the vendors in English, try Japanese as a lot of them know the basics. I'll second the recommendation of the Korean Folk Village. I usually hate that kind of stuff but actually enjoyed it there. Another interesting place to see if you're into anti-Japanese propaganda is Korean Independence Hall.

[yanpa]

Stay away from HIS tour packages...they sent me to the "New Boolean" hotel a few years ago.

Is that true?

[matsuki]

if you have trouble communicating with the vendors in English, try Japanese as a lot of them know the basics.

THIS

The whole "Everyone in Seoul knows English!" BS I heard from everyone was hilarious. Japanese, on the other hand, allowed me to get around no problem.

Stay away from HIS tour packages...they sent me to the "New Boolean" hotel a few years ago.

Is that true?

Yeah, I wish I had taken pics...it was pretty fucking bad.

[yanpa]

Stay away from HIS tour packages...they sent me to the "New Boolean" hotel a few years ago.

Is that true?

Yeah, I wish I had taken pics...it was pretty fucking bad.

It was the logical choice, I suppose.

[Coligny]

It was the logical choice, I suppose.

IT'S A TRAP... don't click that link... (unless you have aspirin handy...)

[matsuki]

Stay away from HIS tour packages...they sent me to the "New Boolean" hotel a few years ago.

Is that true?

Yeah, I wish I had taken pics...it was pretty fucking bad.

It was the logical choice, I suppose.

I was laughing when I saw the name too....but not so much when I got there...."new" is the exact opposite of what I'd call that place. It was like a run down love hotel from the 70's, without the black lights and the only pron was really weak skin flicks on the prayboy channerrr

[matsuki]

So google will tell all:

Apparently it's "New Boolim Hotel" but I swear the HIS brochure said "Boolean."

New Boolim Hotel Seoul offers 50 basic guest rooms. It is a central location with less than a 2 minute walk to the Cheongnyangni railway and metro station. Near the red light district, this hotel has easy access to the Namdaemun Market, the oldest traditional market in Korea. The historic wood and stone Namdaemun Gate is also nearby.

[Coligny]

Also... avoid booking with Rakuten travel... we did it for the last stay at Hilton Saigon... and the checkout was epic... despite showing all the reservation papers at checkin, with price and discount for late checkin,nfree interwab and stuff. At checkout they wanted to bill everything full price, the japanese manager gurl seems excessively unhappy and tell to a nother manager that they have to let us pay "only" the agreed price... (plus me julie was nearly sure everything had been prepaid, lucky we took a printout of all the rakuten emailz...)

Back here, she was unabul to find a complain/customer service link... as usual... pay and go fuck yourself...

[GomiGirl]

Looking at a few places on AirBNB. Big houses that look great for our group of 6.

[Coligny]

So google will tell all:

Apparently it's "New Boolim Hotel" but I swear the HIS brochure said "Boolean."

Frack, i just got the joke...