Hotel Skypark 1 in Myeongdong, Korea

After arriving at Korea and making our way via the Airport Limousine Bus, we arrived at our hotel -- Hotel Skypark 1 -- located right at the heart of busy shopper's haven, Myeongdong.

Since we got to the hotel a little past 10AM, we were told that our rooms were still not ready and we sadly had to go back at 2PM to check in. Not really a big problem for us as our hotel was strategically located beside retail outlets like Uniqlo, Mango, Gap, Skin Food and several food establishments like Lotteria (more on this later), Smoothie King and a lot more.

Not quite satisfied with our airport meal, we decided to head out to search for a place to have coffee and some snacks. Koreans must really love coffee as you'll see a lot of pretty coffee shops everywhere! The more popular ones being Cafe Pascucci, Starbucks Coffee, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and Caffe Bene.We chose Cafe Pascucci which is located a few blocks away from our hotel.

Paul and I shared this cup of Strawberry Juice which was so refreshing! We partnered this with a box of fresh Korean strawberries (W5,000) which everyone in the group enjoyed very much.

Going back to the hotel, we finally checked into our Standard Double room which I got from Agoda.com for only $119.29 (approximately Php. 5,358.298/night). Quite on the pricey side but we really wanted a hotel that's accessible to the subway and is located in a shopping district thus the choice to get Hotel Skypark 1 was the unanimous decision. The room was small. That's the only description I can really give for it as compared to past hotels that Paul and I have stayed in, this has a narrow walkway and there's hardly any space for us to put our luggage on.



I got to say though that they sure know how to make the most of the tiny space as we basically had most of the things we need in the room. It's well-furnished with an LED TV, a safety deposit box, a complete set of toiletries (minus the toothbrush and toothpaste), towels and linens and even two robes for us to use. I also appreciated that they would refill our bottled water, coffee and tea on a daily basis.

The toilet has a built-in bidet, massager and the seat is even heated.  

The shower area, however, was almost non-existent as there's just a shower head installed on the wall but no enclosure or bath tub present in our tiny bathroom. I told you, we had a really really tiny room! 

I didn't really mind the small space as we were able to sleep soundly every night. The bed was comfy and the pillows soft enough despite it deflating bit by bit when we lie on it. I love coming home to a clean room and that's what we got for the entire duration of our trip.

Outside our room, we had a cute pink business center created by Etude House. What a lovely place where you can surf the internet, print some documents or hang out as you refill some water and get some ice too!

They also have a couple of nail polishes that you can try for yourself. Little girls Lauren and Keirra enjoyed having their nails done as they experimented with the different colors available.

Upon booking, I didn't expect that breakfast would be included but when we checked in, we were given a set of breakfast coupons to use. Oh joy! We tried their buffet breakfast the next day which consists of some hard boiled eggs, hotdogs cooked in tomato sauce, a basket of bread with butter and jam, some cereals and salads. It wasn't much and definitely miles behind the sumptuous breakfast offered by my favorite Swissotel Stamford Hotel in Singapore. However, who can say no to free breakfast? Definitely, not us!

We tried it on the first day and again on the second day. It was then that I realized that they don't change their breakfast line-up. Yup! Every single day, they would offer exactly the same things. I had it for two consecutive breakfasts and gave up on my 3rd day.  Sorry! No more hard boiled eggs and hotdogs for me! Instead, I got myself a chewy donut from nearby Dunkin Donut.

Well, that's the only thing that I didn't like about the hotel. Wish they would change their breakfast menu to make it more enticing for hotel guests to try.

Over-all, Paul and I enjoyed our stay at Hotel Skypark 1. We loved it so much that Paul availed of their membership that entitles us with discounts and great deals should we plan to go back to Korea someday.

Hotel Skypark 1 is located at 24-23 1-Ka Chungmu-Ro Jung-Ku Seoul. Visit their official website here.