Courtyard Marriott Namdaemun (Seoul, SOUTH KOREA)

This week, I'm back in Seoul, my home away from home for a week. As much as I wanted to stay at Lotte L7 Myeongyong again for its convenient location, I ended up going a different direction at the very end because I know space would be a huge issue with me bringing my 5-month old nugget along this time. I concluded my hour-long online research with a 2-room booking at the Courtyard Marriott Namdaemun, a hotel that has just opened in early May 2016 (so about 2 months new?). As you may have guessed from the hotel name, it's right besides the infamous Namdaemun market.



Courtyard Marriott Namdaemun is not considered big for a 4-star hotel in Seoul but it has everything you need......from a nice lobby lounge.



.....to a good looking wine bar.



When I was taking the elevator up, I began to wonder if this is all too good to be true (considering the little price tag I was paying).



So I started looking for my two rooms. Mom has decided to tag along this time as she has always wanted to visit this lovely city and as a result, I've requested connecting rooms during my reservation. The hotel did their very best to accommodate us and their effort was very much appreciated.



I like simple designs with a lot of wood and this is right up my alley.




For a room measured at around 26 square metres in size, the bathroom sure looked reasonably big.



Obviously it is very popular these days to have a see-through ceiling-to-floor glass panel between the shower room and bedroom. I love having natural light in my bathroom.




The hotel is conveniently situated between two subway stations - City Hall (Line 1 and 2) and Hoehyeon (Line 4). Myeongdong station is also within walk-able distance (12-15 minutes) although I would highly recommend that you take Hoehyeon station instead since it's much closer and also happen to be on Line 4. However, if shopping in Myeongdong is a significant part of your agenda, then take a leisure walk towards the famed shopping district isn't that bad at all.



Namdaemun is right around the corner of the hotel so we ended up checking the place out a few times during our stay.



I have stayed at quite a number of Courtyard Marriotts in the world. The brand has always been a lock for a good 3-star lodging experience but this one is a little different. They have managed to throw in something a little more luxurious here in making it more than just a business traveler's haven. It's suited for solo traveler. It's good for family. Yeah it's for everybody. 

They have a small gym in the basement that looks serviceable. The concierge team is fabulous. Like traveling in Japan, I rely heavily on the hotel concierge in Seoul to make restaurant and spa bookings for me. My previous experiences were mixed even when I was staying at some of the top hotels like Westin Chosun and Park Hyatt as they often failed to respond back to my requests and inquiries in a timely fashion. But that's not the case for Courtyard Namdaemun. Their concierge had feedback for me almost instantly and they would even go the extra mile to give me advice and stuff. It's almost like you have a personal assistant in Seoul to take care of all those appointments for you. That was just very heartwarming.

What else is good? Check-in was a breeze and the sound proof system was working very well as we couldn't hear a thing from the streets. All in all, it was a wonderful stay and quite honestly, I was a little tempted to give them full marks. If I had to be a little picky, well the neighborhood surrounding the backside of the hotel (from the backdoor) wasn't particularly pleasant as there are numerous bars and nightclubs that opened very late at night. Another slightly disappointing fact is that it doesn't have a swimming pool but other than that, it was almost perfect. Almost.

Rating: ❤❤❤❤
Price: ₩₩₩
Address: 9 Namdaemun-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Tel: +82 2-2211-8000
Website: www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/selsn-courtyard-seoul-namdaemun/