Banyan Tree Club & Spa Seoul

Our stay at the Banyan Tree Hotel with our family was absolutely fabulous. The Oasis swimming pool gave us a foreign vibe. The kids enjoyed playing in the sand. The breakfast was beyond our expectations, with a wide variety and incredible flavors. It is the top hotel for a vacation that we have recently visited. I highly recommend it!

The room was classic, but most of all, it was clean, and the view out the window was fantastic. Also, the pizza from Granum Restaurant delivered through room service was the best pizza I've ever had. In addition to the natural scenery inside the hotel, the walking path outside the city center is a great place to visit. It was something special that couldn't be found anywhere else. And the outdoor swimming pool in the hotel was the coolest, and the cabana was nice because it added to the exotic scenery.

Oasis outdoor pool is a place where I can relax in the city center in the beautiful forest with a refreshing view of Namsan Mountain. It is where I can't feel I am in downtown anywhere else. It's like a fairy tale that's unrealistically beautiful. The Cabanas that reproduce the feeling of the Banyan Tree Resort Pool Villa are equipped with private pools, so I can enjoy a more private rest.

The Banyan tree has a high level service and beautiful rooms. It is an oasis in the heart of Seoul, walking distance to the mount Namsam. Super clean rooms, family friendly and an extraordinary Korean breakfast. The view to the mountain and the city was stunning, the bathroom extraordinary, the kids loved the pool.

If I could give a half star this hotel would be 2.5. Poor is too harsh but it's a bit below average. So read my 3 as "a bit below average" Lets start with the good : This is a nice property with a fantastic view of the mountain and the city. It has some beautifully laid out rooms - we stayed in a Namsan Pool Suite which is on a corner and it has views over 2 full sides and a relaxation pool kept warm all day in the room. The gym is fantastic - 2 huge floors, smith machine, squat racks, two bench presses, big free weights area and what must be 20 Technogym machines plus a cardio floor. The spa was nice with great massage and there is a lovely patisserie in the club area. But if you are used to a normal 5 star experience you might find it a bit lacking. Service is pretty rigid with some odd aspects. At 800-1000 Euros per night depending on the day I'm used to hotels being pretty flexible with reasonable requests and they fall short here. So you can make up your own mind, here's what we didn't love. Property designs and location are great bit the hotel itself is a bit tired. Wooden panels in the rooms are chipped and cracked and it's not that many years from needing a refurb. This wouldn't have bothered me much to be honest it was the service that lost it 2 stars. Housekeeping could be a lot better - many surfaces were dusty, limescale on the bathroom fittings. Mini bar is basically empty - 2 beers, a sprite, a coke and a packet of Pringles. Reason is "We decided April to empty the mini bars and ask guests to use room service instead". Problem with that is when I asked to service for 2 beers they said it would be an hour as they were busy. Seems bizarre when a well stocked mini bar should make a fortune for a hotel and can make a stay more comfortable.Mini bar is unusually free but as there is nothing much in it thats not really a nice benefit. I would go back to a fully stocked and paid for ini bar There is no evening turn down service which I've never come across before in a hotel of this class. Maybe it's a Korean thing? I don't know. Asked Room service for 2 beers and some fries and they said "You cant have fries they are only on the menu along with a burger". Much discussion was had about this and in the end I said just charge me for the burger and fries and send the fries and only they insisted they would have to send the burger! Asked the bar for an Espresso Martini and was told they cant make one!! I asked if they had espresso, they do, do they have vodka, yes, do they have sugar syrup, do you have coffee liqueur , yes, can you combine them into an Espresso Martini? No we cant. Hmm! Asked at reception "Can I borrow some scissors please" - Answer "We have some but we are not allowed to lend them out. You can bring your item here and cut it in reception." Oh - do they think after spending 14000 Euros on 2 rooms for a week my goal is to steal them? Or might I hurt myself without supervision? Not sure. Moon bar on the roof is awful - much advertised and looks great in the pictures but it had awful furniture, terrible music and the twice we went absolutely no customers (presumably because of the other issues) So bear those things in mind and if you don't mind, you'll have a lovely stay, the view is fantastic (windows could do with a clean) and the pool rooms are a really special idea. We had a nice enough time but I wouldn't stay there again, I would try somewhere else.