Shilla Stay Gangnam Yeoksam

Although the place, the rooms and the facilities (such as the gym) are terrific, hats off to the staff in the lobby. Fantastic sense of service and gave us such a warm welcome when we had to wait for our room to get sorted. They even gave us access to a room earlier than expected and were so nice about it.

Breakfast was great. Very clean and modern. Showers were great with amazing water pressure. Easy access to a bus stop directly outside the hotel. Staff was very nice and accommodating.

This hotel was a bit shabby, not sure why it is listed as a 4-star hotel. Maybe more of an economy business hotel? We stayed in the 'Grand' room, which was the largest in the hotel. The bed was quite small, about the equivalent of a US full size; I know because my feet hung off the end of the bed. There was only one outlet by the bed, so the second person didn't have a place to plug their phone in. We asked the front desk for an additional pillow, and were told they didn't give those out. There were individual thermostats in the room, but they didn't control the heat or AC in any way, so it would often be very hot in the morning (27 or 28 C according to the thermostat), and occasionally very cold in the early evening. The hot water pressure was so low in the shower, that the shower would not stay on, and instead water would just dribble out of the hand-shower. The only way to get the shower to stay on was to take a cold shower. The location is a bit awkward, as it's about a 15 minute walk away up a big hill from 4 different metro stations, so for getting around it was easier to use the bus or cab. The advertised bar was closed (or I never saw it open). The restaurant was open for breakfast, but didn't seem open for lunch or dinner, or was always booked out for a private event. On the plus side, the place was very clean, and the cleaning staff very friendly. They left us snacks and drinks in our room daily. The convenience store and bakery in the building was also very helpful.