Grand Mercure Ambassador Hotel dan Residences Seoul Yongsan bintang 5

This was my first stay at the Grand Mercure Ambassador Hotel and Residences Seoul Yongsan and the stay was well above my already high expectations. The hotel environment, room, location and staff were all a very pleasant surprise to me. The hotel is only 6 years old and I feel it is often overlooked as an option for those visiting Seoul due to its relatively recent opening and as most of the visitors coming to Korea seem to focus on the US-based hotel chains. There are 4 hotels that are connected in the Seoul Dragon City complex. In addition to the Mercure, there is also an IBIS Hotel, Novotel and Novotel Residences. There's a total of 1,200 rooms in Seoul Dragon City so hotel dining, lounging and people watching is endless. The Mercure has its own lobby and is very quiet and small enough to quickly reach the elevators from the entrance. The other hotels have their check-in desks in a huge lobby. I noticed that on weekends the lobbies got quite crowded as that wing of the complex houses most of the rooms. The location is perfect. It's only a few minutes cab ride to downtown Seoul, where most of the business headquarters and tourist attractions are located. The Youido financial district opposite downtown Seoul is only a 5 minute car ride away while the posh Kangnam district is about 15 minutes. The connection to the IPark Shopping Mall and Yongsan Station made for an exceptionally convenient stay. Yongsan Station is one of two major railway hubs in Seoul for the high-speed KTX train (the other is Seoul Station, only a couple of subway stops away). It’s only a 5 minute walk and connected via a dedicated walkway. Furthermore, there is never any traffic on the main road leading to the hotel entrance so there is less stress vs the locations of other popular hotels in Seoul. For those that want some entertainment, there's also a casino within the hotel complex. You can also venture to the rows of local eateries located on both sides of the hotel. These venues provide almost all type of Korean cuisine, ranging from the local outdoor drinking tents, Korean barbecue and seafood restaurants, and even the common western chains such as Shake Shack, Subway, McDonald’s and more. The Yongsan area, where the hotel is located, is emerging into a central part of Seoul and has shopping for everything (including a massive duty free shop), eating and entertainment within 5-10 minutes walk from the hotel. I stayed in the smallest room type (Junior Suite with 1 King Bed) and it was still more than enough space. The room is about 41 square meters (410 square feet) but feels much bigger due to the efficient layout and open views (even from the bathroom). There are abundant closet space and shelves, as well as a dining table that doubles as a desk, which makes for a very organized working environment. The desk is situated so you can face the open view of the city while working...and it can be used as a dining table as well with a chair at the opposite side of the table. The view from my room was beautiful. I had the north exposure, with unobstructed views of the city and the landmark Namsan Tower. The bathroom is huge and shares the same open views (which can be curtained off for privacy). There is a full kitchen and laundry machine in the room.....it's just like staying at home with all these conveniences. All this was complemented with an immaculately clean room and hotel facilities. The hotel has a large Fitness Club that covers 3 floors. There is a large gym, separate GTX room, swimming pool (indoor), stretching room, fitness trainers and huge sauna/shower facilities. I used the gym every day and loved running on the treadmill while looking at the southern views of also unobstructed. Parking was an ease. The parking lot always had spaces available and the size of the parking slots are the biggest I've seen in Seoul. And, of course, none of the above mean anything without the proper team to take care of the guests. The Mercure staff were extremely friendly, efficient, anticipated my needs, greeted me whenever I walked thru the lobby and accommodated my special requests. This goes for almost all categories of staff - reception, concierge, valet parking, housekeeping and management. One example of being on top of their game was the reception staff all knew that I had already booked a future visit when I was storing my luggage for a few days between stays.I felt like coming home whenever I returned to the hotel. I would like to give special mention to Lena Lee (reception) and Pauline (French lady at reception/concierge). They were my main contact points during while at the hotel. Just knowing they're at the hotel made me feel at ease with any special requests or questions. I also had a contact point behind the scenes who ensured all my bookings and room viewings were completed without issue and very quickly. It may sound like everything's perfect but there are some areas I'd like to point out. First of all, I had a problem with the laundry dryer as it seemed to take forever to dry even a few T-shirts. I ended up hang drying my clothes. I highlighted this to management and they suggested that I have an employee help me the next time as I may have used the dryer incorrectly. Using the washer/dryer and microwave oven can be confusing for non-Korean speakers as all the indicator knobs on the machines are in Korean only. There are English instructions hidden within the room manual but guest services had to tell me where to find it and I didn’t think the explanations were very clear. Another issue I found inconvenient was the in-room safe. It's located in a large drawer and opens upward. The safe door is very heavy so constantly trying to open it or hold it open was quite difficult. I used the safe often as I had alot of organizing to do for my trip. But for those of you who use it only once or twice a day, it's not a problem at all. The smallest room type only comes with a shower but that wasn’t a problem for me. I thought the elevators were inefficient. The lights would indicate which elevator is coming and suddenly another one behind me opens up and then leaves without me noticing as the beep sounds are very quiet. I had several instances of missing elevators due to this issue. In sum, I really enjoyed my stay at the hotel. I travel to Seoul several times a year and will definitely be returning to the hotel for future trips. In fact, I'm already back after a short 3-night domestic trip and I'm staying in the exact same room as my first visit!

I had an excellent stay ! Very well located just near Yongsan station linked by a pedestrian bridge. The bed is really comfy, amazing view on the City, and the living room with Netflix is perfect 😁 Loved the amenities with ensuite bathroom with shower & bathtub. Great staff at front desk & concierge as well as the Executive Lounge on 3rd floor where I had breakfast. My highlight was the chocolate muffin which was amazing 😋. The vanilla latte was really good & thank you to the female staff who welcomed me. My favourite place in the hotel is definitely the swimming pool ! One of the fitness staff showed me how to use the locker room which I really appreciated. The swimming pool is perfect to use it in the morning and was most of the time alone. 😄 I loved the elevator connecting the corridor where the locker room is located on the 5th floor to the 6th floor where the swimming pool is. Perfect hotel that feels like home 🥰

Fantastic hotel with great facilities and service. We stayed here with the UK Scout Contingent and also after as a couple. Food was great, service was great, rooms well serviced. Even had a robot that could bring you things in the night. Cheap rate, round £150 a night for a suite, and amazing views.

This wasn't written anywhere in the hotel website or on their check in information, but they do not allow anyone with tattoos to use their amenities. So, anyone from a western country may find this place not super friendly to stay at. It's a bit unusual policy as well given that this is a hotel in Korea and not Japan. My assumption is this discriminatory policy is mostly to keep out foreigners from the hotel. Especially given I used local jjimjilbang and the hotel Korean saunas at the Four Seasons with 0 issues or such policies. My Korean friend I visited as well confirmed this to be very unusual. In terms of location, it is a bit far out from a lot of the tourist spots. It can be easy to access via the subway system , but you will need to walk quite a bit to just get to the station from the hotel. Most of the tourists locations are roughly 20 minutes from the hotel. The area is still being developed and can be a bit out of the way for a lot of people. I don't recommend for tourists visiting Korea.

Stayed in the hotel in September for three days. When we were leaving one of our flights back home was cancelled. The hotel team took over all relations with Korea Airlines (the main carrier but not the airline cancelling their flight). A french woman who was managing the concierge at the hotel and her marvellous Korean team did a fantastic job in making us feel comfortable with this difficult situation. “We will find a way and send you new tickets to your room”😃 Absolutely great service - outstanding - at times when you need it the most! Thank you!