Korean Job Discussion Forums

[philinkorea]

my folks are coming to korea this october.
just wondered anywhere i could recomment them today,
somewhere good and reasonably priced

[OiGirl]

Are you in Seoul?
Are they in good health? Can they climb stairs?
Will they "understand" certain features of inexpensive Korean lodging? I mean, like shoes off, common bottles of moisturizer and shampoo, free porn.

[schwa]

Reminds me of when my friend got married, she had her parents over from small-town Ontario (they'd never been out of the country), nice folks & all but somewhat conservative & religious. She set them up in one of the better love motels in Seoul & they were happy with the accommodation, but we were all under threat of death never to mention the motel's true purposes.

[chronicpride]

How cheap do you want to go? Goshiwons can run for 50-100,000/wk, but are the size of large walk-in closets. Minbaks are good, if they want a Korea-style sleeping arrangement(floor) for 15-20,000/night. Yeogwans are probably the best bet, motel style for 25-35,000/night, depending on the area. In the back streets of your neighborhood, you can find some good and comfortable deals. But if they want something along the lines of a 3-5 star hotel, then that's a different ball game of price ranges.

[MixtecaMike]

A question for the experienced Korea hands.

How do you find a goshiwon? Do they have a sign out front that says goshiwon, or do you need to ask people where to go? If so, how would you say "Where can I find a goshiwon?"

I read elsewhere that they proliferate around markets and bus stations. Is that correct?

[chronicpride]

They're everywhere. Particularly Seoul. I never saw one in Daegu for the time that I lived there, but then again, I wasn't looking.

You can try saying (not proper romanization, but more phonetically correct) "goh-shi-wohn oh-dee-ish-im-nih-ka?", which means, 'where is a goshiwon?"

But better yet, here is a Korean site that has a listing of goshiwons with some phone numbers, pictures, and maps.

http://www.gosi1.net/index.html
select search on the right and you'll see a big list of goshiwons.

If you don't read Korean well, the red houses are the goshiwons' homepages; the Computer, Car, Coffee Cup images, mean Internet connection, Parking, and free rice, respectively. The numbers to the right of the address is the price range, ie., the goshiwon at the top has rooms starting at 260,000/mnth-450,000/mnth. The cost variation is usually on room size and if the room has a window or not. My place costs 50,000 more a month, if I wanted a window. But, as I'm never home, except to sleep, I took a pass.

If you look around on this site, you'll find some dirt-ass cheap rooms. All come with shared, communal washrooms and showers, shared washer, shared kitchen and fridges. And the rooms are claustrophobic, at best. So be warned. If you are out a lot, then it's a good way to store stuff and sleep and shower. But any more than that, I'd recommend getting a more expensive goshiwon.

Personally, I'm paying 200,000/mnth for one in Gangnam. It's great, because it enables me to really reduce costs. Free rice. Don't need to buy soap. Don't need to buy laundry detergent. It's all provided. But, I'm going to move into a 300,000 one, next month. This one now, I have to walk up 3 flights of stairs, everytime I need to use the washroom or shower, which doesn't sound bad, but is an inconvenience over time. There are only 2 showers, servicing the guests living in 30+ rooms, plus 1 washer, so there is some waiting at times. And they only turn on the gas for hot water from 6pm-12am. Any other time is a cold shower. Don't know how they operate in the winter for that. And don't get me started on the 'drying clothes' room. I have to improvise to hang up and dry my clothes, around everybody elses stuff (Somebody keeps swiping my hangers!). But, it's 200,000/mnth, no deposit, no need for anything, but you and your suitcase. Great way to keep costs low.

Next month, I'm moving to another one nearby, that has washrooms on the same floor and my own encased glass shower stall, in my room.

If you are looking for a goshiwon and have trouble or difficulty reading Korean or negotiating, PM me and I'll help you out. Assuming that you are in the Seoul area.

[MixtecaMike]

Thanks for the details, chronicpride. As my "definite" job has disappeared the day before I leave for Korea I guess I'm on my own re. accomodation. I'm sure I'll be putting this info to good use.

[Manner of Speaking]

Chronicpride,

Awesome post, I didn't know that much about goshiwons before I read it. Thanks! From the looks of the site you can get some goshiwons with showers in the room. Do they let you have a toaster or a coffee machine in the room?

[mithridates]

I've lived in a Goshiwon twice before and the first time it was quite nice, the second time a nightmare.

Memories from the first one: meeting my first Korean girlfriend there, meeting a nice Chinese girl that I'm still friends with, getting free amenities, food, internet, going on the roof at night to work out, being in the middle of Shinchon during the World Cup. 300 000.

Memories from the second one: Hearing each and everybody horking in the shower, the horrid smell from the washroom, having only one shower room, waiting for somebody to finish using the shower only to find he had some business to take care of after the shower was over as well (I promptly knocked on the door and startled him out of his..reverie), having the hot water cut out in the shower and having to go down one floor to the spa to use a shower instead. 170 000.


So, like Chronicpride said, price makes all the difference. Don't go cheap on a goshiwon and take a good look at that site first. Make sure there are pictures, and try to get a room that's bigger than a bed and a tiny little space to the left of it if you want to do anything in your room.

[Manner of Speaking]

[MixtecaMike]

If you get into Incheon feeling like the walking dead after 22 hours travelling ask at the tourist information desk about Guesthouse Incheon, it was W35,000 for a single in a very nice room with a very nice bathroom, the room even had a hot plate and tv with cable.

It was 5 minutes from the airport in the International Business Center, the guy there speaks English well and you even get picked up from the airport.

There is not much in the way of shops around there, but it's only a few minutes from the airport in one of the free shuttle buses if you need to buy anything. You can get a bus from right in front to the Incheon Station when you're ready to move on.

[chronicpride]

MoS,

They have plug-ins in your room for TV and internet, and you'll also have a desk, so if you buy a power bar and plug it in, I'm sure you can have all the electrical appliances that you need. With exception of a grow-op.

I'm not sure of a nightly or weekly rate, as I've never inquired. But this is Korea and one can always seem to be able to negotiate something. Call or visit enough goshiwons and you can find a place to meet your needs.

I forgot to add for those that are looking for a place for a couple, like the OP. Forget about goshiwons. The beds are super-single (and they feel even smaller than that). My goshiwon even has a rule on the contract that says that I can't have guests. The walls are paper-thin and they don't want any noise after 12am. Hell, I even go out to use my cellphone. My first night there, I was talking to a friend on my cell, using a hushed voice, at 12:30am and I got a knock on my door from the owner, explaining the noise policy. My place might be the exception to the rule, as I've seen other goshiwons with thicker walls and look to be better set ups. I basically have drywall separating my fellow guests.

Every morning, between 7-9am, you hear everyone's ringtone go off on their cell, waking them up. You can imagine. And the guys that are heavy sleepers that let their ringtone go on for 5 minutes. Or the guy next to me that sleeps in and misses work every day and gets the phone call from the boss, followed by his half-asleep apology, and then the noisy scramble of him out the door.

Living in a goshiwon is full of compromise, but is good if you are tolerant and are determined in your resolve to save money (I can swap 'goshiwon' for 'korea' in that same sentence and it will still ring true. )

Ahhhh, dorm life.

[Manner of Speaking]

[Manner of Speaking]

[mithridates]

Also don't forget to check out the internet access they have there. Some of them claim to have it but it's just a run-down computer in the corner that's always in use anyway. If there are enough computers that you won't have to go to a PC bang, you can save yourself from 30 000 to 50 000 or so a month depending on how much you use the internet every day.
Basically look at the price minus all the free amenities:
-rice (10000 a month or more)
-internet (30000 +)
-washing machine and detergent (5000 a month)
-soap, shampoo (10000 a month)
-whatever else

Subtract that from the total and usually you have yourself a pretty good deal. Some places will let you stay for a few weeks if they have some vacancies but usually it's on a per month basis. The nice thing about them is that there's no deposit though.