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Motels in Seoul

 
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tanklor1



Joined: 13 Jun 2006

PostPosted: Thu Jan 24, 2013 12:25 am    Post subject: Motels in Seoul Reply with quote

Anyone know of any cheap motels around 25000-40000 won in Seoul?
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joesp



Joined: 16 Jan 2008

PostPosted: Sat Jan 26, 2013 1:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

They're called love motels or yeokwons. They rent by the hour. There are so many Koreans employed working in them that the government sees it as a problem, grouping them with the number of people working in other service industries such as restaurants/food. So, you could basically get in a taxi anywhere in Seoul and tell the driver "yeokwon jew-say-yo" (please take me to a yeokwon) and get to a love motel that'll be 30 ~ 40,000 per night within the distance before the minimum fare starts to charge for distance (is it like 2 kms or something) .

caveats:

#1: rich areas will be like 70,000 ~ 90,000 . They will encourage you to rent by the hour cuz they make more money per room, then, obviously.

#2: because they wanna charge by the hour only, there are no reservations and it is a walk-in basis only. Depending on their popularity and the neighborhood, they may not let you check in for "overnight" until after 10 or 11 PM or something like that. I know that may seem nerve-wracking to not be able to plan .... but you have to somehow just deal with the fact that you may not be allowed to check in to some one specific motel at the time you want.

some of them are nice and decent. If you drop below 30,000 anywhere in Seoul you're in the "dive" price range so you know.

They have no problem letting you check out the room, first, either.

==============
Besides Yeokwons, there are "hotels". "hotels" are like world class 250 USD a night, yeokwons are like "motels" or just a nice clean room with a bed, shower, etc.

The yeokwons make travelling in Korea cheap. They are so easy, abundant and convenient. The only person that will find them uncomfortable is somebody who makes more than 100,000 USD a year. Just stay away from the obvious dives and you'll be fine.

Don't forget the free drink in the fridge!

And always lock your door!

I hope that helps, though I have no idea where you're coming from with this.
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tanklor1



Joined: 13 Jun 2006

PostPosted: Sat Jan 26, 2013 6:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the info. I was looking for more of an area of Seoul that has reasonably priced motels. I'm heading there on vacation and I'd like a home base.
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joesp



Joined: 16 Jan 2008

PostPosted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 1:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

What I described is then what you are looking for. Just get out of the expensive areas of Seoul like Gangnam, Cheongdam, and Apgujeong when you wanna sleep. Take the subway somewhere and get out and take a taxi to a nearby yeokwon or look around the station when you get above ground. No problem.

Also, if you like the place, and it's not a busy love motel, they will rent you 5 days or a week at a stretch and you will get one free day PLUS a place to store your luggage. Still, even in that situation, be aware that you always leave your room key (after locking your door; all the time, lock your door!) with the staff so you will need to carry your valuables with you.

You can also arrange some good deals at places between "motels" and "hotels" on the Internet before you leave for Korea. A lot of people have visited me over the years. My aunts especially got a good deal at the Seonbi hotel in Insadong.

http://hotelsunbee.com/en/main/main.php

If you look at a map of Seoul, you will notice that the Seonbi and Insadong are centrally located. If you go to a place like "The Seonbi" before you leave, you can get a place to put your luggage. Their website says 100,000 per night but somehow they got a room for like 60,000 per night. Probably through an affiliate site.

The second time they came, my aunts made internet arrangements that ended up just being for an Insadong love hotel. Their room looked like Valentine's Day and they could hear their neighbors banging each other every few hours. Plus, every night they were at the mercy of a taxi driver for an expensive taxi ride back to nothing but something they could have found a better version of just a stone's throw away from where I live.

Yeokwon travelling is good if you don't have a lot of luggage. The staff and the owner of them rarely (ever?) speak English. So, you'd have a hard time requesting to them that you leave your luggage with them and do their normal check-in at 10 or 11 PM ...

I did that when I went to Vietnam. Just took one backpack with me and washed my clothes every night and dried them in the Vietnamese version of a yeokwon. There were so many roadside motels there you just check into one wherever you happen to be when it's time to go to sleep.

Maybe you could leave your luggage with a friend.
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Benjamino



Joined: 21 Apr 2012
Location: Jinju

PostPosted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 3:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've stayed in both these places and although around the 70K mark I had no problems.

http://126mansion.com/eng/index.html

is a traditional place in the arty district but very friendly English speaking staff. More of a personal touch to this place and it's a walk from the metro so consider that.

This place is ok too

http://www.agoda.com/asia/south_korea/seoul/new_world_hotel.html

Not 3 * but 2* I'd say but big, clean rooms within walking distance of metro ( 2 mins walk) . Very central and you're more of an anonymous guest than the other I recommend.
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tanklor1



Joined: 13 Jun 2006

PostPosted: Mon Feb 04, 2013 5:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Benjamino wrote:
I've stayed in both these places and although around the 70K mark I had no problems.

http://126mansion.com/eng/index.html

is a traditional place in the arty district but very friendly English speaking staff. More of a personal touch to this place and it's a walk from the metro so consider that.

This place is ok too

http://www.agoda.com/asia/south_korea/seoul/new_world_hotel.html

Not 3 * but 2* I'd say but big, clean rooms within walking distance of metro ( 2 mins walk) . Very central and you're more of an anonymous guest than the other I recommend.


Hey, major props for http://www.agoda.com. I found an awesome motel for 30000 won a night! Thanks!
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alongway



Joined: 02 Jan 2012

PostPosted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 3:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
#1: rich areas will be like 70,000 ~ 90,000 . They will encourage you to rent by the hour cuz they make more money per room, then, obviously.

It's a lot less complicated than that, Anything I've seen is this:
3 hours is standard 20-25k depending on the place. There are likely luxury places which are more. They don't really "rent by the hour" they rent for 3 hours which is basically called "day rest"

They do so until about 10 pm at night at which point you have to rent for the night, because after 10 pm, they start getting less and less traffic, and the traffic they are getting tends to stay the night. If you rent for 3 hour at 10pm, at 1 am they're going to start having issues filling the room for the rest of the night so they make you rent it for the whole night, usually 40-50k for a standard place.

Gangnam and Hongdae which are probably very high traffic love motel areas might be a little different, but any other areas where i've checked out motels that is pretty much standard.


Last edited by alongway on Tue Feb 05, 2013 5:27 am; edited 1 time in total
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Keeper



Joined: 11 Jun 2012

PostPosted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 4:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

This place is in your price range and the owner seems to be very interested in pleasing his customers. Read the reviews and you will notice he responds to everyone who leaves comments. The only downside to this place is the cheaper rooms are small. I was about to book a stay there but opted for a different hotel which was larger (and cost more money).

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g294197-d3291691-Reviews-WS_Hotel-Seoul.html
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audreyalyssa



Joined: 21 Nov 2012

PostPosted: Thu Feb 07, 2013 2:31 am    Post subject: Amazing Spots of Bali Reply with quote

Good post...



Bali Villas
ubud Villas
Luxury Villa
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newinseoul



Joined: 22 Sep 2005
Location: Busan

PostPosted: Thu Feb 07, 2013 4:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I believe the OP already found a place, but for future purposes. I stayed at the Rainbow International Hotel which has rooms for 60,000 won and it is a decent room with a huge TV, King sized bed, fridge and air con.

Located close to Seoul station as well and very close to Namyoung station.
http://rainbowinseoul.co.kr/e-intro.htm
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