A Birthday Staycation at Four Seasons Seoul: Luxury and Little Joys
대한민국 서울특별시 종로구 당주동 새문안로 97
To celebrate my husband's birthday, we had a one-night staycation at the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul.
I had originally booked the Walkerhill Douglas House, but I thought my husband would prefer the city view at the Four Seasons. Plus, I figured if Hollywood stars often stay there when they're in town, it must be good. So, I canceled the original booking and rebooked at the Four Seasons.
To be honest, I was a bit worried before going. Since it's so close to home, I wondered if we were spending a lot of money on something not that special. But all my worries were unfounded. We had a wonderful time! If I had the money (which I don't), I'd go again in a heartbeat.
At the Four Seasons, check-in is usually on the L floor, but guests staying in Club Rooms can check in at the lounge on the 28th floor. When we went to the front desk, they checked our name and immediately sent us up. It seemed like they knew all the Club Room guests' names by heart, rather than checking a computer or list. It's a small thing, but it made me feel special and left a great first impression.
In my 'always-add-more' fashion, I booked a Club Room which included access to the Executive Lounge. This meant we had Afternoon Tea, Happy Hour, and breakfast included – so we spent a lot of time up there during our stay.
While checking us in, they had us sit at a table and offered to make us any drink we wanted.
I picked up the flower bouquet early in the morning from Sose, a flower shop in Hongdae.
I was a little worried about getting the smallest Club Room, but it turned out to be surprisingly spacious.
Since our room was on the same floor as the Executive Lounge, it was super convenient – no need to take the elevator.
I think they gave us a room on one of the higher floors for the Club Rooms. (The hotel goes up to the 29th floor.)
The room had a lot of Korean design elements.
The amenities were Diptyque.
Sadly, I didn't get to use the bathtub.
With my delicate constitution, I really appreciate having a bench in the shower. If I could remodel my house, I'd definitely put one in my own shower!
Of course, you can close the partition, but there's still a bathtub that's directly visible from the room. I really wonder if there's a demand for this kind of layout...
It was amazing...
This is the view with the blinds up.
When the automatic blinds are raised, it's all glass.
We could have upgraded to a Palace View for an extra fee, but I thought my husband would prefer the Kyobo Bookstore view (lol), so I didn't. He was very happy with it, as expected.
The infamous Kyobo Bookstore and Anna Seorin Building view.
This is the view from the other side.
Details like the traditionally-inspired TV stand and drawers made the entire room's interior feel incredibly well-executed.
Inside the closet next to the desk, there were simple stationery items like pens and erasers prepared.
Teapot and teacups. Coffee capsules, tea, and water are provided free of charge.
Everything else is available in the mini-bar… for a very high price.
My husband was in desperate need of rest after months of overwork, so this was perfect.
We spent about 30 minutes relaxing and enjoying the extra-soft bedding before heading up to Afternoon Tea.
Afternoon Tea was available from 3 PM to 5 PM, and this is what was prepared.
We hadn't eaten anything until then, so we focused on the light sandwiches.
The apple pie and cookies looked delicious, so I grabbed some, and they were amazing! It was a shame that Happy Hour was coming up right after, so I tried not to eat too much.
We went back to our room and relaxed for about an hour, listening to music on the Bluetooth speaker, then headed to Happy Hour.
We were planning to have dinner there as well.
They had snacks like cheese, ham, and crackers, perfect with alcohol.
There were also some meal-type dishes like salad, beef tartare and kimbap, sushi rolls, and seared tuna. In the fridge, there were simple fruits like watermelon and melon.
They also had hot foods: dim sum, pasta, nurungji soup, LA galbi, and a few more.
The alcoholic beverages were wine, whiskey, and beer.
They had Laurent-Perrier! I immediately grabbed some. (I was really curious about it, so I focused on drinking that.)
The lounge was very spacious compared to the number of guests. It was located along the edge of the building, and almost all the seats were by the windows, so you could sit and enjoy slightly different views.
It's even prettier at sunset.
We celebrated my husband's birthday with champagne.
For red wine, they had Mollydooker and Textbook. I had Mollydooker recently, so I had a glass of Textbook.
My husband also tasted some of the whiskeys he was curious about. You can't buy everything, so he had to try it at this time.
This is what it looks like after sunset...
And even until this point, I hadn't met any Koreans. It seemed like most of the guests were foreigners visiting Korea for business.
And since it was a weekday, there weren't many people, so we really felt like we had the lounge to ourselves.
My husband and I dislike crowded places, so we thoroughly enjoyed the peace, like an old couple.
Lobby on each floor.
Somewhat like the album cover for The Great Gatsby OST, "Young and Beautiful."
Back in the room...
We watched baseball.
How about watching baseball for a million won?
But the LG Twins are playing so badly; isn't that embezzlement????
There were only three regular season games left at this point.
If they won this game, they would clinch the championship, but they lost lol.
I'm annoyed, but I'll try to bear it since I'm in a nice place.
I watched Pedro Almodóvar's *Pain and Glory*.
Like *The Fabelmans*, it's a film where a master has shed all their toxicity. It was great to watch in a good mood.
After watching it, I started to get hungry, so I was thinking about ordering room service, but then I decided to go to Charles H. bar since we were at the Four Seasons. So I grabbed some clothes and went out again.
It was around 11:50 PM at this point, so I rushed there thinking we could celebrate his birthday with a toast right at midnight, haha.
Basic table setting. There's usually a table charge, but it's free for hotel guests.
I thought I saw that the complimentary drink was Piper, but I might be wrong...
The grape pickles are surprisingly delicious.
We ordered these two drinks.
The one in the front was a Tarragon Paloma, and the orange drink in the back was a Paper Crane.
I ordered the Tarragon Paloma because *Pain and Glory* had a scene where they were drinking tequila, and I ordered the Paper Crane because they had Aperol Spritz... ^^ My husband's spiritual home (not really).
We debated between chicken and beef tartare for the appetizer, but we thought we wouldn't be able to finish the chicken, so we went with the beef tartare, which was a good choice.
And then I finished with another Old Fashioned.
The next day...
I went to bed later than I thought the night before, so I was so, so, so tired, and I debated whether or not to go to the pool.....................
But I thought I'd regret it later if I didn't go, so I forced myself to go to the pool........................
There's a gym and a pool on the same floor, and in the middle, there's a juice bar where they seem to give out simple fruits and drinks. The service is so good that it feels underrated.
For breakfast, we sat with a Palace View.
We have to look at the ugly roof of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts...
Becoming a Gyeongbokgung Yeosiga (a Joseon dynasty woman who lived near Gyeongbokgung Palace)
I had requested heating the day before because the room was a bit cold, and they asked me again during check-out if it was okay (of course, it's probably the result of intense service training), but it felt thoughtful.
If you need anything, you can send a chat message through the pad in the room, which is great for people who are phone-averse.
When we checked out at 12 PM, they gave us takeaway coffee from the lounge (I think you could also drink it there).
Out of all the staycations I've experienced so far, this was the one where I felt they were providing the most personally attentive service.
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