Howdy all. Time for a patented Andy’s World Journeys ‘Accommodation Review’ for you today! I’ve got vlogs from all my recent stays in April/May this year when I visited Japan and South Korea, but I thought some of them were worth doing written reviews of too and I imagine that there are many that watch the vlogs but don’t read the blogs, and more importantly in this instance, vice versa.

The ‘Star Guest OneRoomtel’ had a somewhat strange name, but was named simply ‘Star Guesthouse’ when I booked on Agoda, on Agoda. I decided to add an extra night in Seoul and drop one in Busan, and well the place I had booked didn’t allow me to do that without rebooking completely, and when I cancelled the original booking (I only book rooms these days that can be cancelled) the price changed going up a lot, so I decided to find another place because I was determined not to break the bank on this trip. In fact I kept all hotels on the trip to under $100AUD which I was very happy about!

I stayed six nights for 325,000 Korean Won, which worked out to be a little over $350AUD. So around $60AUD a night or $39USD. I was happy with the price, just a little more than I was paying originally, however I don’t think the place was as nice as the original one, but this booking was made within 2 weeks of arrival, and that’s what you get.

Not to say that I wasn’t happy with the place. It’s in a little district near City Hall metro station, which has a lot of eateries and an incredible number of Korean BBQ joints – which I LOVE. The entrance was tricky to find, blink and you’ll miss the sign and so naturally despite using Google Maps I walked right past it three times.

Eventually I found the building, it inhabited the fifth and top floor of the building. In Korea, the number four represents death and so fourth floors generally do not exist. In my Busan hotel there was no floor four at ALL – just went from 3 to 5. Here though, it went floor 2, floor 3, floor F, floor 5. I came out to reception straight from the lift, and there was a guy there to greet me. He didn’t speak any English, I didn’t speak any Korean, but I was checked in quick. I looked up and down the corridors, there was not a lot of space between the doors for each room. I knew straight away we were talking about a small place to stay.

The room was indeed small, a single with a single bed, if you put a double in there it would stretch width-wise from wall to wall. Small fridge which I didn’t really need and took up space and hummed, a small TV with a lot of Korean channels. Small bedside table squeezed in too and at the foot of the bed a bath room – toilet and shower together, with a glass door and wall separating them from the room.

All in all, it was tiny. Hard to know of its value, I had a large room in Busan for around $80AUD with a massive bath and bathroom. But this was the capital. The worst aspect was the bed that creaked, was super soft and felt very unstable.

The guesthouse had a tiny kitchen people could use, and the best thing was the free use of washer and dryer for the guests. A big time saver not having to go out to a laundromat and do your washing there. There didn’t seem to be a lot of people staying there. I saw a few on odd occasions. The reception was either the guy that checked me in or a couple of older Korean ladies who were helpful and kind despite the language barrier. 

There wasn’t room service in terms of a daily clean so that was up to me, but I didn’t really mind too much. There was access to the roof with some views over Seoul. That was nice but not a well utilised space. There was a reverse cycle air conditioner and heater in the room too. At night the double window kept most but not all sounds from below out.

All in all though I feel I’ve sounded a bit harsh on a place that I didn’t mind staying at. It was well located and save a few bucks, and the staff were friendly (another difference to Busan) which makes a big difference and I booked my DMZ tour through the hotel.

Andy’s Ratings

Value for Money : 3.5/5

Location : 4/5

Cleanliness : 3/5

Noise : 2/5

Service: 3.5/5

TOTAL: 16/25 [64/100]

Thanks for popping by today! May the Journey Never End!