I’d heard great things about Mondrian Seoul Itaewon in South Korea and had wanted to check it out for myself for a while.
So, when I found a bargain business class fare with Japan Airlines to Europe that started in Seoul, it was the perfect opportunity.
It’s a 5-star hotel in the Yongsan District, south of the city’s central main tourist areas. Having spent most of the 48 hours I had in Seoul at the hotel working or sleeping, I gained detailed insight into several shortcomings that revealed a definite oversight in the hotel’s star rating.
How I Booked My Stay at Mondrian Seoul Itaewon
With ALL – Accor Live Limitless Platinum status and an Accor+ Explorer subscription under my belt, I’ve been getting great value from booking Accor stays directly during my travels around Asia.
I did the same for my stay at Mondrian Seoul Itaewon, and got even more bang for my investment in the Accor+ subscription when I was presented with a Red Hot Room deal of 30% off — a discount only available to Accor+ Explorer members.
The total for 2 nights was £314 ($423), which I thought was a great deal for a last-minute booking in a 5-star hotel.
The Signature King room would be fine for what I needed, but I was hopeful that my Platinum status would secure me a nice upgrade.
I paid for my stay using my U.K. version of the Platinum Card® from American Express. The U.S. card earns 5x Membership Rewards points on prepaid hotel bookings made through AmexTravel.com.
My Experience as an Accor Platinum Elite
The first member of the Mondrian Seoul Itaewon staff I had a proper interaction with was Jaydon at check-in. He immediately thanked me for my Accor loyalty and let me know I’d been upgraded to a high-floor, city-view room. As I often do, I tried my luck and asked whether a suite upgrade would be available. Jaydon told me it was high season, that there was no availability, and that my upgrade would be from a regular Signature King to a Signature King on a high floor.
I’d presumed that Platinum status came with a higher priority or better quality upgrade. After checking the terms and conditions, it turned out Accor only offers a 1-category upgrade no matter your level of status.
As a Platinum member, I also get a welcome drink at all participating Accor properties. I usually forget to claim them, but on this occasion, I enjoyed a crisp glass of white wine at the hotel’s Blind Spot bar while editing pictures of the Fairmont Tokyo.
Over the last 8 months of back-to-back Accor stays, I’ve consistently received welcome notes, some handwritten, some preprinted. In most cases, I’ve also found welcome treats, like these macarons.
The Room Was Comfy but in Need of TLC
Let’s start with the pros.
I appreciated the excellent view of the city that I probably wouldn’t have had that if it hadn’t been for my status.
My Signature King room wasn’t huge, but it was all I needed for a 2-night trip.
I was also a fan of the room’s contemporary lifestyle design.
My favorite amenity was the water filter, which I’d never had in a hotel room before. Other than that, there was a pair of slippers, and just 2 bathroom amenities (a shower cap and vanity kit). There was also no turndown service — a major requirement for any hotel that markets itself as 5-star.
After a couple of hours in the room, I started to notice a little shabbiness. The faucet wobbled and clanked loudly against the sink when I used it, I noticed various chips and scuffs in the furniture, and despite the AC being set to 62 degrees Fahrenheit for 3 hours, the room didn’t get lower than 75.
I mentioned it to the front desk, and after finishing my welcome drink and work in the lobby, I went back to the room and found it had cooled down.
I really don’t enjoy nitpicking, but the list of minor issues started to grow. I noticed a dark smear in the corner of the shower, which I thought was just discoloration. After closer inspection, I found it was shower grime that hadn’t been cleaned properly. The shower door also opened outward, and there was no gap underneath, so I couldn’t put the bathmat down to keep the floor dry.
Elsewhere in the room, there were lots of signs of wear and tear, the kind you should absolutely not find in a 5-star hotel.
It wasn’t just my room where TLC was needed. The carpet by the elevator and the corridor of the 15th floor was really stained.
Expect To Pay Extra To Use the Outdoor Pool
After a whirlwind 2-month adventure around Japan, I wanted to spend a couple of days relaxing in Seoul before heading to Europe. The thought of lazing by the Mondrian’s outdoor pool for a few hours sounded like a perfect way to do that, and it had been an important part in my deciding which Accor property to stay at.
I didn’t realize it when booking, but the hotel charges its guests to use the pool. At $55 per visit, it wasn’t cheap, either. Thankfully, Jaydon at check-in gave me 2 pool vouchers, which I was very grateful for. I later found out through a hotel duty manager that these vouchers are usually only handed out to locals, so I got lucky.
It got weirder. You can only access the pool during one of 2 daily sessions: either from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m., or from 3:30 to 7 p.m. Having to forgo vacation spontaneity to plan your day around pool opening hours is a new one for me, and it’s something 5-star hotels shouldn’t impose on their guests.
On my first day, I went to have a look at the pool around 1:30 p.m. It was pretty much empty, leading me to wonder whether guests were deterred by the steep fee.
Later that afternoon, during the pool’s second session, I peeped down from my room and saw it was packed.
I saved my 2 vouchers for my second and third day at the hotel. I was shocked at what I found. The pool lining was peeling off, unidentified items were floating in the water, the grouting was filthy, and worst of all, there were cracked and loose tiles everywhere where people were walking barefoot.
To think some people were paying $55 for this is quite frankly outrageous. It didn’t stop people queueing to get in to get their snaps for the ‘gram.
The Breakfast Buffet Was Varied and of Great Quality
There was no à la carte menu, but the eggs-your-way station made up for it. My egg white omelet was served to perfection both mornings.
This was the most variety in terms of international cuisine I’ve seen at a hotel in Asia over the last 3 months. There was grilled halal chicken, shakshuka, chow mein, and even hash browns.
I liked that international guests were catered for, but Korean cuisine was the focus: beef bulgogi, abalone porridge, tuna kimchi stew.
And the pastries tasted as declicious as if they were fresh from a French patisserie.
I Loved the Gym and Bathing Facilities
I’d heard from a friend who’d stayed here recently that the gym was excellent, so I couldn’t wait to try it out. She undersold it to me.
Before using the spa, sauna, and gym, hotel guests need to check in at reception.
This gym has everything you could need for a full-body workout. There were 4 weight benches, a Smith machine, a squat rack, multiple barbell press racks, and basically every other piece of equipment in the Technogym catalog. Memberships are also available for those not staying at the hotel, hence the excellent quality.
It was here that I learned that a shared bathing culture like Japan’s exists in South Korea. Photography is strictly forbidden, so I have no evidence, but the changing rooms and no-swimsuit bathing pools were some of the best I’d seen in a hotel in Asia.
Service
My first interaction with Jaydon at check-in set a precedent for the rest of my stay.
Alex at breakfast was the next to make a great impression. I’m a self-confessed coffee snob, and the machine espresso at breakfast was, well, not the best. I asked one of the waitstaff if there was anywhere else I could get a double espresso. A couple of minutes later, Alex came over and presented me with a freshly prepared double espresso from the barista station of a different restaurant. After apologizing for the machine coffee, he explained he used to live in Australia, so he understood the importance of good coffee.
Later that day, I was finishing some work in my room around 3 p.m. when the phone rang. It was Mary from guest experience, who thanked me for my Platinum status and said she wanted to make sure everything was going well with my stay. I genuinely cannot remember ever receiving a call like this at a hotel before.
I was so impressed with the service that I asked to speak with a duty manager as I was checking out to let them know what a great team they had at the hotel.
Final Thoughts
Mondrian Seoul Itaewon has a lot of work to do before it can live up to the standards of a true 5-star hotel. It was a strange hybrid of 5-star service with the amenities and upkeep of a 3-star hotel.
The main letdowns were the disrepair of the pool and the stains and wear and tear throughout the hotel, including my room. A hotel simply cannot call itself 5-star in this state, and to charge guests $55 to use the frankly disgusting pool is outright daylight robbery.
I wanted to love this stay, but it really missed the mark.