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Why are Hostels and Guesthouse so expensive in Korea?
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marsavalanche



Joined: 27 Aug 2010
Location: where pretty lies perish

PostPosted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 6:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

definitely maybe wrote:
Come on Mars! You can't compare as dump hostel overcharging with staying on the Upper East Side. A lot of Americans know little of the Upper East and West Sides beyond Sex and the City or Gossip Girl. I doubt you've ever stayed anyplace other than a friend or family member's while in Manhattan. Then again, maybe you just catch the train back to NJ when you're done.



i lived in new york city for four years, have friends all over the tri-state area, and have visited numerous times. wanna try again brah?

definitely maybe wrote:

Things may get busy down in Busan, but it's still possible to find love motels for around the same price as a shared room for two at that hostel, even if they have doubled in price for the summer. Something tells me marsavalanche is not shelling out 3-400,000 won a night to stay at the Westin or Paradise on his public school salary.


i dont shell out that kind of coin when i need a place to stay. i'm saying compared to other famous places around the world, 65 to sleep is not bad.

if OP was smart he would have just taken a taxi out of the area and saved some serious coin. i know a hotel outside of Haeundae that would have been 25k total (12k a person)! OP is a tourist, and if he's that concerned about money he needs to either stop being a tightwad or spend less time on daves moping and more time finding good deals.
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rainism



Joined: 13 Apr 2011

PostPosted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 8:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

welcome to Korean Economy 101.

1) sell stuff as cheaply as possible overseas, keeping your currency as weak as possible in order to do so.

2) absolutely rape and price gouge the domestic market to your heart's contempt.
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highstreet



Joined: 13 Nov 2010

PostPosted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 8:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

rainism wrote:
welcome to Korean Economy 101.

1) sell stuff as cheaply as possible overseas, keeping your currency as weak as possible in order to do so.

2) absolutely rape and price gouge the domestic market to your heart's contempt.


How is that related to guesthouses?
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cert43



Joined: 17 Jun 2010

PostPosted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 9:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Rape?When?
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definitely maybe



Joined: 16 Feb 2008

PostPosted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 9:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

marsavalanche wrote:
definitely maybe wrote:
Come on Mars! You can't compare as dump hostel overcharging with staying on the Upper East Side. A lot of Americans know little of the Upper East and West Sides beyond Sex and the City or Gossip Girl. I doubt you've ever stayed anyplace other than a friend or family member's while in Manhattan. Then again, maybe you just catch the train back to NJ when you're done.



i lived in new york city for four years, have friends all over the tri-state area, and have visited numerous times. wanna try again brah?

definitely maybe wrote:

Things may get busy down in Busan, but it's still possible to find love motels for around the same price as a shared room for two at that hostel, even if they have doubled in price for the summer. Something tells me marsavalanche is not shelling out 3-400,000 won a night to stay at the Westin or Paradise on his public school salary.


i dont shell out that kind of coin when i need a place to stay. i'm saying compared to other famous places around the world, 65 to sleep is not bad.

if OP was smart he would have just taken a taxi out of the area and saved some serious coin. i know a hotel outside of Haeundae that would have been 25k total (12k a person)! OP is a tourist, and if he's that concerned about money he needs to either stop being a tightwad or spend less time on daves moping and more time finding good deals.


Sensitive about the city, huh? Smells like bridge and tunnel to me. Hoboken is not NYC my friend!

To be honest, I tend to agree with you on most things, but your quickness to attack and your aggressive candor tend to overwhelm a lot of your points, many of which are good. Tone it down a bit, brah!
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rainism



Joined: 13 Apr 2011

PostPosted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 9:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

highstreet wrote:
rainism wrote:
welcome to Korean Economy 101.

1) sell stuff as cheaply as possible overseas, keeping your currency as weak as possible in order to do so.

2) absolutely rape and price gouge the domestic market to your heart's contempt.


How is that related to guesthouses?


it's related to the prices of everything in Korea re pt. 2
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young_clinton



Joined: 09 Sep 2009

PostPosted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 10:53 pm    Post subject: Re: Why are Hostels and Guesthouse so expensive in Korea? Reply with quote

Tigerstyleone wrote:
A friend of mine came to Busan and was set in his mind to stay in a Guesthouse.
I advised him to stay in a Motel, but he didn't agree.

We went to the Wow Guesthouse in Haeundae and they wanted 65.000 for a shared room per night.

Indy Guesthouse in the Gwangali area, but a good 10 minutes from the beach charged him 45,000 per night.

I personally have stayed in Love Motels with a huge King Sized bed and 56 inch HD flat screen TV and desktop computer, cold and hot water dispenser not to mention an insanely big bathroom about 8 pyong for 35,000 a night.

So can someone please tell my why the Guesthouse in Korea are so expensive ?


You pay twice as much for a cheap guesthouse in Korea as you would in Thailand. That is pretty much what you would expect given Korea is a much wealthier country.
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rainism



Joined: 13 Apr 2011

PostPosted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 12:54 am    Post subject: Re: Why are Hostels and Guesthouse so expensive in Korea? Reply with quote

young_clinton wrote:
Tigerstyleone wrote:
A friend of mine came to Busan and was set in his mind to stay in a Guesthouse.
I advised him to stay in a Motel, but he didn't agree.

We went to the Wow Guesthouse in Haeundae and they wanted 65.000 for a shared room per night.

Indy Guesthouse in the Gwangali area, but a good 10 minutes from the beach charged him 45,000 per night.

I personally have stayed in Love Motels with a huge King Sized bed and 56 inch HD flat screen TV and desktop computer, cold and hot water dispenser not to mention an insanely big bathroom about 8 pyong for 35,000 a night.

So can someone please tell my why the Guesthouse in Korea are so expensive ?


You pay twice as much for a cheap guesthouse in Korea as you would in Thailand. That is pretty much what you would expect given Korea is a much wealthier country.


except the baht has gained 40%!! to the crap KRW over the last 5 years Very Happy (would've been more but the Koreans finally stopped interfering in the FX market by selling the won as they did throughout 2010)

http://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=THB&to=KRW&view=5Y

Korean vacations to Thailand have become significantly more expensive. Not that the Koreans will notice, since they travel in those ridiculous travel guide groups.

and guesthouses in Thailand can run below 10 bucks, which is significantly more than HALF priced.


Last edited by rainism on Fri Jul 29, 2011 1:02 am; edited 1 time in total
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rainism



Joined: 13 Apr 2011

PostPosted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 1:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

cert43 wrote:
Rape?When?


when you buy most airplane tickets out of Korea
when you buy fruit in Korea
etc etc

it's called using a word figuratively.
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StudentInKorea



Joined: 29 Sep 2009

PostPosted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 1:53 am    Post subject: Re: Why are Hostels and Guesthouse so expensive in Korea? Reply with quote

definitely maybe wrote:

Cheapness aside, hostels and guesthouses in this country are a joke. In Korea you often get what you pay for in terms accommodations, but certainly not guesthouses. "Resorts" tend to be a trap as well.

It is common to pack 15 people into a 4 person room at the resorts. This makes the price seem a lot more reasonable.

Generally I have to agree that the hostel price is ridiculous compared with the price of motels. My guess is that the hotels only earm money on tourists who doesn't want to stay at motels or tourists who assume that hostels are cheaper. I stayed at hostels a couple of times when I first came here because I had no idea that motels are nicer and cheaper.
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ssuprnova



Joined: 17 Dec 2010
Location: Saigon

PostPosted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 3:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

marsavalanche wrote:


i dont shell out that kind of coin when i need a place to stay. i'm saying compared to other famous places around the world, 65 to sleep is not bad.


Busan? "Famous around the world"?

In your own words, "wanna try again brah?".

What a donkeyhat.
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rainism



Joined: 13 Apr 2011

PostPosted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 3:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Korea seriously lacks budget to mid budget hotel options. They seem to think that they charging NY hotel prices in Seoul, much less outside of Seoul is perfectly ordinary and a successful business model.

but then again, reread Korean Economy 101.
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Who's Your Daddy?



Joined: 30 May 2010
Location: Victoria, Canada.

PostPosted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 3:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

They think foreigners are rich and stupid. So if you're looking for something marketed to foreigners, say a foreigner guesthouse, you'll be overcharged. Same with foreigner taxi's, Expat credit cards, English websites.

Go with the Korean option and get a reasonable price.
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PatrickGHBusan



Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -

PostPosted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 3:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

ippy wrote:
^^

Summer. Busan prices skyrocket in the summer. Particularly by the beach for rather obvious reasons.


"Case" closed.

Glad that mystery was solved! Wink Laughing
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Lolimahro



Joined: 19 May 2009

PostPosted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 4:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

If I was going on a vacation to Busan (supposing I wasn't bringing my kid with me), I would stay at a place a fair enough distance from the beach, but still convenient by bus or subway to get there in under 30 minutes. Don't know if that rule will save you some money. I would also bring a cooler with my favorite foods/drinks so I could eat in for breakfast and lunch and only eat out for dinner.

I have an almost-3-year old and whenever my family travels we *always* stay at love motels. We usually throw in an extra 5~10,000 won per night to have a room with a bathtub. But the most I've ever paid for a motel stay was 70,000 won per night - during a festival in Namwon. There was not really reliable public transit to the festival sites from our hotel at that time, which was slightly out of town, and all the in-town motels were booked up or charging 150,000 per room per night. Prices get jacked up seasonally and for festivals and that's pretty typical.

Even non-busy, non-famous places like Motel 6's in South Dakota, USA jack up their prices (and gas stations do the same with their gas!) in the summer when everyone wants to go see Mt. Rushmore and play at the Deadwood casinos. (and I use the term "everyone" loosely) So it's not that surprising that one would have to pay 65,000 for a shared room with a stranger per night at a busy beach area during the heat of the summer. That said, I still think motels are the way to go.
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