JW Marriott Hotel Seoul

So many wonderful features of the JW Marriott in Seoul:|1. Staff go out of their way to help/assist, whether it's simply to open a door, to help with advice, offer water, etc. They are always pleasant and gracious in manner.|2. Location is very convenient, located within steps of a metro station and a bus station, a department store, multiple restaurants of different ethnic cuisines, convenience store (e.g. Emart), and underground shops.|3. Gym facilities rival the best with tens of treadmills, ellipticals, weight machines, and free weights and kettle bells. The swimming pool looks Olympic-sized and is staffed with life guards.|4. Club lounge offers full array of foods in buffet style for breakfast and evening happy hour (it's called "happy hour" but provides much more than beer/wine/liquors & bar snacks; the buffet offerings could easily suffice as a dinner).|5. Rooms are well appointed and very comfortable. We had both a suite and a connecting room with 2 queen beds. The floor was rather low (#14) but we could still see the mountains and Namsam (aka Seoul) tower in the distance. Our beds were so comfortable - firm mattresses with a soft pillowy topper and crisp white sheets - we slept very soundly each night despite jet lag!|6. Housekeeping is excellent. Over our 2 week stay, the housekeeping staff consistently provided super clean rooms.||The only downside is perhaps that this JW Marriott does have more "rules" than other JW Marriotts, e.g. no children in the club lounge after a certain hour (6 or 7 pm; can't remember exactly) and hotel guests can only use 1 specific swimming lane because Seoul local residents who are gym members utilize the other lanes.||Overall, our family (father, mother, child over 18, child age 6, and grandmother) had a terrific time here and would definitely consider staying again.

Located very near to the bus terminal and connected to a departmental store, this hotel perfect for travel to and from the airport. The limousine bus service from airport takes about 1 hr to reach the hotel. You will need to walk for about 5 mins from the bus stop to get in. The rooms and services are good. I didn't get to try the breakfast but overall i enjoyed my stay.

Really enjoyed our stay and the restaurant, Flavors. Especially Joy was fabulous who we met at the cafe. She was very fast responding and offered us attentive service. Room condition was alright, but the hotel was awesome in location and staff. In Flavors we enjoyed thr short ribs and jowls.

She was so nice and tried her best to help us. We had a bit of an issue with our booking in the past, and Helen went out of her way to try and accommodate us. She was always smiling and empathetic, and made the experience of staying at JW Marriott Seoul that much more enjoyable.

In all honesty and objectiveness I do not understand why this hotel is rated so highly, over other 5 stars such as Shilla, Parnas, etc. Perhaps it’s just me or one time incidence, who knows. But here it goes.|When I arrived with my two kids the concierge took one of my bags without asking me and told me that he will keep it for me as all the rooms are full and I arrived early and the room isn’t ready. I had quite a few cumbersome bags but he only took one and walked away without asking me if I wanted to leave anything else. I got confused a bit and asked that if I can check in first(the front desk told him in advance that nothing is available?). It would have been so helpful if he had asked me if he introduced what he was intending on doing and asking me how many things I would like to leave with concierge. The lady standing next to him told me yes, I should be able to get checked in immediately(of course!) and led me to the lobby. One the way I asked her if I could leave more things with them and she assisted accordingly. Front desk checked us and was able to give us the room right away which I really appreciated so the concierge definitely needs work. |The Room - it is known to be renovated. However considering this is Korea 5 star hotel it felt icky and not 100% clean. Comforters weren’t crisp, I can see dust flying in the air and I was not impressed as I have seen far many better 5 stars. |The Pool - the lifeguards at the pool perhaps don’t want to be there… enough said. The photo of the pool on their website is 100x better than the actual thing. This felt like the pool at my wonderful community YMCA. |The Spa is better so use that. I could write more but this constant lacking in its quality and hospitality made me question its close to 5star rating on tripadvisor. When I asked my Korean friend what she thinks the deal is (and she is a serious hotel snob) she believes it is bc of the location. Hmmmm, perhaps but I am not convinced. There are other better locations. Or maybe I set my expectations too high. But… my 2 cents and for what is worth to the reader, when I revisit next year this one won’t be at the top of my list.

I've been fortunate to have stayed at quite a few excellent hotels around the world, and the JW Marriott in Seoul is the best service I've received anywhere. All of the staff -- the bellhop, the check in people, the room service, the cleaning woman, the laundry people, the cooks and servers and restaurant staff -- were remarkably kind, attentive, and accommodating. I don't think I've ever experienced faster service, either. Thanks to the following people, from the 9th floor Executive Lounge: Ms. Hanoka, Ms. Daisy, Ms. Olivia, Ms. Elle, Ms. Ellie, Ms. Min, Ms. Rudy, as well as Mr. Heyun (spelling?) and the tall chef (Mr. Sung). The 9th Floor Executive Lounge has an large, excellent variety of dishes for breakfast and "happy hour" / dinner which rotate daily. If you feel like Korean food, there's plenty. If you don't feel like Korean food, there's also plenty. There is a decent selection of wines and liquor to mix your own drinks, if you'd like. As for the location -- you could do a lot without every going outside, because the hotel is directly attached to the large Singhae shopping mall, as well as the Express Bus Terminal -- which has bus and subway connections to all of Seoul and beyond. I also enjoyed the Marquis Spa, which is one of the largest gyms in Korea (I was told). I had a fabulous body scrub. The overall experience -- spa, gym, executive lounge, rooms, location, and staff made for a wonderful stay. Gamsahabnida!

This was the most amazing service. Hyung Chai Lin, the Flavors restaurant manager, treated us with his gracious personality. It was Fun and extremely delicious food. Try the breakfast buffet, best in Seoul. I ate at other restaurants but this was my favorite of the week.

Close to the city center, fantastic rooms. The gym was spacious, well kept and loads of equipment for all types of exercises. Breakfast spread is tasty. Recommend getting the exec lounge access