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My final destination of the trip was Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. In trying to optimize on the $1000 USD Delta voucher I had from a recent flight bump, I noticed the best (least cash out of pocket) itinerary on Delta connected through Seoul on to Ho Chi Minh City. My layover options were to either spend 8 hours or 23 hours in Seoul. Obviously, I picked the latter and decided to spend a day in Seoul.
Booking Grand Hyatt Seoul
In order to save out of pocket cash, paying for one night on points or points+cash was the aim. Seoul has 3 hyatt properties (2 Grand Hyatt’s and 1 Park Hyatt) and I was looking to spend my day in the city rather than closer to Incheon. So, Grand Hyatt Seoul fit the bill and I booked the points+cash rate at 7500 points + $95 cash.
Check in
A smooth bus ride from Incheon International to Seoul city (my review of the bus ride is here) brought me to the door step of the hotel. Grand Hyatt Seoul is a scheduled pick-up and drop-off location for the airport limousine buses and offer great door to door service for passengers.
Check in was smooth and I was offered an upgrade to the Club King Room. I opted to check in at the Club level desk for a more personalized service. The associate at the club level check-in desk gave me a run down of all the services on offer and ones I could avail on a complementary basis as a Diamond member. Given this was my first visit to the property, I found the personalized check-in and overview very handy. Diamond status membership came with premium WiFi, access to club lounge (Breakfast, snacks, drinks etc.), the spa (sauna), in addition to other standard hotel amenities.
Pictures below were taken the next morning.
Grand Hyatt Seoul entrance
Hotel driveway and entrance to main lobby
Lobby Area
Check-in Desk on the lobby floor
Lobby Bar and Breakfast Area
More Seating – Lobby Bar
Club King Room
My Club King Room, was on the 17th floor. The room, although small, was warm and inviting. The wood trimmings and furnishing gave it an earthy tone which I quite liked.
Room 1748 entrance
King Bed, Sofa and the work Desk
Sofa (not a pull out bed), 2 Free Bottles of water and welcome fruit tray
Looking towards the Door – Bathroom to the left and a storage closet to the right.
The cabinet opened up to a locker, mini fridge and Coffee station. Nothing fancy, but adequate.
The minibar!
Ceiling to Floor window, looking over the city. I could tell the view next morning would be amazing!
Bathroom was small yet very functional
The shower and bath tub space was tight!
Hotel window view next morning 🙂 The hotel is perched up on a hill so the views all around were amazing!
View of the hotel pool and tennis courts from the room
Most importantly, the bed in the room was really comfortable and I slept well. Granted that the 13.5 hour flight (in Delta Comfort+ , my review here) may also have something to do with it. The next day I felt well rested and ready to spend my day strolling the city. But first, breakfast!
Club Lounge and Breakfast
It is hard to explain the layout of the club lounge, it spanned the sides of half the floor, on both sides. The elevator opened to the lounge itself and the two sides of the hallway accounted for the lounge and offered great sweeping views of the city.
Breakfast had plethora of options ranging from continental to full western and Korean items.
Lounge seating overlooking the Namsan Mountain and North Seoul
More seating area in the lounge, facing North Seoul
The continental breakfast section
Given the layout of the lounge, breakfast was also spread across the floor. Each section offered a theme of food options.
The hot breakfast section included the usual western suspects alongside korean seawood soup and bibimbap
Coffee station
Best part of the lounge and breakfast – the view!
Lounge View: Looking South towards downtown Seoul
More lounge view
Wish breakfast was as picturesque everyday 🙂
Take away
My trip was very short and did not do justice to the hotel’s grandeur and its amenities. And yet, Grand Hyatt Seoul lived up to my expectations and more, will definitely come back to the property and spend a lot longer soaking in the sun and the views. It is located in the Itaewon neighborhood which is ex-pat heavy but also offers the traditional Seoul experience. With lots of bars, clubs, street food and shopping I was able to spend the rest of my day strolling among locals and eating street food in Itaewon. This Cat 4 property was priced at $236 USD/nt which is a little pricey but the points or points+cash options were reasonable and made for a great redemption.
2 comments
Been to Grand Hyatt Seoul many times and lots of super memories. Haven’t been in a while so your post a nostalgia trip. Though the club floor good, better place to eat (especially breakfast) is coffee shop at main level thats very bright and open. Lower level has best steak I have ever had (French restaurant). The bar (Mahoney’s) has fantastic live music. Koreans really let down their hair in the evening, plus with the various expat visitors wanting to do the same, great atmosphere. The lobby lounge and bar also v nice. Only bad thing about staying here (if you live in Singapore like me) is catching the 9am Singapore airlines flight back, means waking up at 5am as airport v far. Waking up in Seoul at 5am means one doesn’t sleep!!!
I agree, the lobby bar/restaurant was a hopping place on the Saturday night. I had dinner there, service was a bit slow but the ambience was top notch! Their restaurant “The Terrace” had incredible views from the terrace seating. I want to get back there asap!