Grand Hyatt Seoul Review: Honest Take on the Room, Dining, and Amex FHR Benefits

We have been wanting to visit Grand Hyatt Seoul for a while. It sits up on a hill near Namsan with genuinely beautiful city views, and it has a reputation as one of Seoul's classic luxury properties. We stayed two nights in October 2025 during Chuseok (Korea's Thanksgiving holiday), which turned out to affect almost every aspect of our stay.

We booked a corner room through the Amex Travel Portal at around $600 per night for three people. Here is the full breakdown.

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Location

Grand Hyatt Seoul is located near Namsan, and the hill setting gives you great views but also means it is not a walkable hotel. There are subway stations nearby (Itaewon and Hangangjin) but the uphill walk back is uncomfortable, especially in hot weather or with bags. There are a few small restaurants within walking distance, but no big malls or major shopping areas.

Most guests here rely on taxis or Uber. The hotel does offer a shuttle service to nearby subway stations, which is a nice touch and something not all Seoul hotels provide.

If walkability to shops and restaurants is important to you, this is not the right base. If you prioritize views and a quieter setting, it works well.

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The Room

We had two different rooms across our stay, which gave us a useful comparison.

First night: Room 301, lower floor, facing the parking lot entrance. The view was honestly not great.

Second night: Room 1859, corner king room on a higher floor. Much better. The Namsan Tower was visible, and the difference in the view quality was significant. If you are booking here, request a room on the higher floors on the side facing Namsan rather than the main parking lot entrance. It makes a real difference.

Room layout and design

The room had a minimalist wood tone aesthetic, cozy and comfortable. The large dining table takes up a substantial amount of space but makes sense if you plan to use in-room dining. The overall feel was warm rather than sleek.

What we liked:

• Deep bathtub. This was a highlight. It is a very deep Japanese-style soaking tub and genuinely one of the better baths we have had in a hotel room. Worth using if you enjoy that.
• USB cables provided. Both lightning and USB-C were included in the desk drawer. Small thing but we rarely see this.
• Water purifier (Coway brand). Hot, cold, and room temperature options. You can refill your own bottle from the room and the water tastes good. Genuinely useful.
• Drapes close automatically via the room control panel.
• Room WiFi is significantly faster than the general guest WiFi. Double the speed in our test. Make sure you connect to the room-specific network, not the general hotel network.

What we did not like:

• TV is small. For the viewing distance in the room, it felt undersized. Less than 50 inches.
• No YouTube or smart TV functionality. If you want to stream from your phone or laptop, bring your own HDMI cable.
• Korean outlets only. No universal adapter provided. Bring your own.
• AC control is hidden. It is positioned in a place you only notice when lying in bed. Not obvious when you first arrive.
• Bathroom lighting is dim. If you need to do makeup or see yourself clearly in the mirror, the lighting makes it difficult. This felt like a design oversight.
• Bathroom is pre-renovation. We were told other rooms have been renovated. The renovated bathrooms reportedly no longer have the tub. If the bathtub is important to you, specifically request a non-renovated room.
• Bed is firm. Some people prefer this. We did not find it uncomfortable, but it is noticeably harder than what we experienced at Four Seasons.
• Parking costs extra. 10,000 KRW per night, plus 30,000 KRW for valet. Many Korean hotels do not charge for parking, so this stood out.

Balmain Paris amenities were provided: lotion, soap, dental kit, cotton pads, sanitary bag, and shower cap. Solid selection.

Turndown service: Basic. They folded down the bed and left chocolate and water. Nothing more elaborate. Fine but not remarkable.

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Hotel Amenities: Club Olympus

The pool and fitness area is called Club Olympus and is located on a lower level.

Indoor pool: Small but clean. Swim caps are required (you can buy one for 3,000 KRW if you did not bring yours). Reservations required via QR code, closes at 10 PM.

Outdoor pool: Larger, no reservation needed, but closes at 6 PM. If the weather cooperates, this is the better option.

Gym: Decent size with a full range of equipment. Can feel crowded. No views from the cardio machines, which is a miss given the hotel's location.

Sauna: Not included. It costs 63,000 KRW per person for the steam and dry sauna. For a hotel at this price point, we expected this to be complimentary.

Grand Club Lounge: We did not book club access this stay. Walk-in access is 31,500 KRW per person.

There is also a hotel shop on the lower level where you can buy pajamas (183,000 KRW), swimwear (around 120,000 KRW), and the Grand Hyatt Seoul mascot plush called Hi. We bought Hi. He is cute.

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Dining

Because we visited during Chuseok, almost every restaurant in the hotel was fully booked. Grand Hyatt Seoul has several options on the lower level: Ki (Japanese), Peppan (teppanyaki steakhouse), Pengai (yakitori), Paris Bar, and The Gallery in the lobby. We recommend making restaurant reservations before you arrive if you are visiting during a Korean public holiday.

The Gallery (Lobby Restaurant)

This is the main lobby restaurant, first-come first-served, no reservation needed. It doubles as an afternoon tea spot. The same kitchen also handles room service, though the in-person menu is more limited.

We dined here on our second night. We ordered spaghetti alfredo, beef abalone bibimbap, truffle fries with cheese, and two cocktails (espresso martini and the Seoul Bramble, which was a Korean twist on a classic).

The experience had some issues we have to be honest about:

1. A piece of plastic material was found in the spaghetti. We flagged it to the manager. The response was a semi-apology, the dish was removed from the bill, and they offered a replacement. We ordered curry kimchi fried rice as the replacement.
2. The bibimbap was poorly plated. It looked like it was assembled without care, which felt wrong for a five-star property.
3. Water was brought only at the end of the meal. We asked for it earlier and it still came late. For a restaurant at this level, not providing water at the start of a meal is a basic service miss.
4. A live cello performance was happening right in front of our table, which was actually a nice touch and made the second night feel more special.

Overall the dining experience at The Gallery was below what we expected. The cocktails were good. The food ranged from fine to disappointing.

In-Room Dining (Chuseok Set)

We used our $100 FHR food and beverage credit on the Chuseok holiday room service set. It included champagne service, red wine, a Hanu burger, fries, beer, half-and-half cheese pizza, Korean fried chicken (yangnyeom and crispy), and soft drinks.

The Korean fried chicken was genuinely good. Dark meat, well seasoned, not overly sweet. That was the standout.

The pizza was bad. Hard crust, nothing special. If you are ordering room service without a credit to offset the price, we would not recommend it except for the chicken.

Soft drink price reference: Coca-Cola is 8,000 KRW (about $6 USD).

Breakfast Buffet

Breakfast is included with FHR booking. If paying out of pocket, it is 65,000 KRW per adult.

The spread was large and covered Western, Korean, Chinese, and Japanese options. Standard hotel buffet quality overall. The Korean side dishes and selections were solid. They also had natto (including a Korean black bean version) and the usual pastry and fruit section.

If you have to pay the full price for breakfast only, we personally would not. At 65,000 KRW, we would rather put that toward dinner somewhere with better food.

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Amex FHR Checklist

The Chuseok holiday heavily impacted the FHR benefits this stay. No upgrade, late check-in, restaurants fully booked. If you are considering Grand Hyatt Seoul, we would avoid visiting during major Korean public holidays unless you plan and reserve everything weeks in advance.

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Our Honest Verdict

Grand Hyatt Seoul has some genuinely good things going for it: the Namsan hillside setting, the views on higher floors, the deep bathtub, the water purifier, the shuttle service, and the fast in-room WiFi. It is a comfortable hotel with a classic feel.

But there were several things that felt below the standard you expect at this price and star rating: dim bathroom lighting, the small TV, no smart TV connectivity, extra charges for sauna and parking, the The Gallery dining experience, and the plastic in the food.

Mom's verdict on the property: "This is not a five-star hotel."

We would not rule out returning but we would go during a non-holiday period, skip The Gallery restaurant, book a higher floor on the Namsan-facing side from the start, and make restaurant reservations well in advance.

If you are comparing Grand Hyatt Seoul with Four Seasons Seoul for the same budget, based on our experience the Four Seasons wins on room quality, dining, service consistency, and overall polish. But Grand Hyatt has its strengths and the mascot Hi is very cute.