Hotel Onoma Daejeon Autograph Collection

We spent the night at Hotel Onoma after a day of hiking at nearby Gyejoksan Mountain. We were very pleased with this hotel. The valet was warm with his greeting. The concierge assisted us to the reception desk and made us feel at home. The reception desk was professional and upgraded our room with a wonderful corner room view of the river and city. We took advantage of the pools and saunas. They have a warm pool for sitting and a traditional pool for laps. Both the wet sauna and dry sauna held amazing views and delivered a tranquil atmosphere. Room service after a long day of hiking and relaxing in the amenities was a welcome delight. The bed was high quality, making sleep refreshing. Breakfast at Town House was phenomenal. A fusion of East meets West leaves no palette untamed. A sample is pictured below. We will certainly return and recommend the same for travelers.

They don’t offer Bonvoy upgrades even when the next tier rooms are available online on almost every website. The restaurant, Onoma Lounge, is brilliant, though, and that’s the only saving grace.

I was initially thrilled when a 5-star hotel opened in Daejeon, and for the past three years, I’ve stayed there every time I visited Korea. This time, I traveled with my mother, wife, and daughter, so we booked two rooms. One evening, after having some drinks with friends outside, I wanted to enjoy a cocktail at the hotel bar. However, when I went down, I was told the bar was reserved for a private event, and I was turned away. Frustrated, I went to the front desk, where they suggested I order from room service instead. I followed their advice, but the bar refused to fulfill the order, saying it wasn’t possible. I’ve stayed in countless hotels during my travels, and this is the first time I’ve encountered such an unreasonable situation. Typically, hotels make an effort to accommodate their guests in situations like this, but this hotel’s response was nothing but a dismissive "we’re sorry." There was no effort to find a solution or show they valued their customers. I rarely leave complaints, but this experience was infuriating enough to compel me to write one. It’s disappointing because Daejeon doesn’t have many hotels of this quality, so I doubt they’ll pay much attention to feedback like this. While I hope others don’t have to go through a similar experience, I’d advise being cautious when booking here.