Data SIM: Seoul

Having access to a data network is more important than voice these days.  Especially when I have the "O50 Plus" (EN) IP telephony service from NTT Communications.

Googling revealed at least one prepaid SIM option in Korea; EG Sim  Even if they shipped to Japan, which they don't, activation is a bit of a hassle; as of March 2015, one can only activate it between 09:00 and 22:00 weekdays, and between 09:00 and 18:00 on weekends and holidays.  My recent flight to Seoul didn't arrive till after 22:00 so it was a no-go for me unless I would wait till the next morning.

An alternative was renting a WiFi router (aka, egg, dongle, pocket wifi.)  LG U+ Roaming seems to have a counter 24x7 counters and Incheon but the counter at Gimpo probably with gears from other telecoms closes at 23:00.  So, if my flight was delayed, or, if there were long lines for the immigration, I wouldn't make it.

I recalled reading from shimajiro@mobiler that there are at least 2 outfits in Japan that I can rent from.  I checked them out and decided to go with Global WiFi because it was cheaper though by a very small margin.

The application process was relatively painless (if you know Japanese.)  I paid ¥100 extra to have them courier the hardware to my home which was schedule to arrive and did one day prior to departure. They were running some kind of campaign for the ¥100 courier fee.  It's usually more expensive.  I could have picked it up at Haneda but I didn't want to rush.

As advertised, the package, arrived the day before my departure.  In the pouch, there was a USB charger suitable for Korean outlets, a short USB cable, and the LG U+ WiFi router model# ME-Y30K.  The charger was handy as I could use it as my phone charger too and I didn't need to bring my own.

I'd rented it for 3 days and the total cost came to ¥2,658 which I think it's around the same if I were to rent it in Korea.

Returning the package was easy too. I dropped it off at "Global Wifi" counter in the arrival level of Haneda.

Beware: I didn't test it but according to the literature which came with the package, voice-calling someone on Line is blocked in Korea. 

I'll probably use them again.

Conrad Seoul

Ever since my 2-month stay at Conrad Hong Kong in the summer of 1994, I have been a regular there and become loyal to the Conrad brand.

Conrad was the obvious choice when I traveled to Seoul recently.  Not surprisingly, it was the best hotel I'd used in Seoul.  Sadly, it isn't good enough for a Conrad.

Check-in: 2015/03/20
Check-out: 2015/03/22

Arrival

The bellhop greeting me was helpful.  He was so helpful that I didn't want to hurt his feeling by not letting him take care of my one and only one roll-on bag.  Sadly, he was a little clumsy and let my bag, with its handle extended out, fall flat on its face, so to speak, making it loud, startling sound as it hit the hard surface.  Further sparing his feelings, I pretended that I didn't notice.

The lady who checked me in took care of business fast and efficiently.  A little too efficient actually;  she didn't remind me nor confirm that the e-Standy I'd applied for was granted. She just proceeded to prepare the arrival paperwork for me to sign.  I had to ask her about it before she confirm that yes, the upgrade I'd wanted was available. 

Bothersome Housekeeping

One afternoon, I'd napped and showered before going out to dinner.  On the way out, I'd switched on the "make up room" indicator, hoping for fresh towels and a tidying-up of the bed. Less than three meters from the room, a housekeeping personnel, who seemed to have been servicing the room next door, stopped me and my interpreter to ask if my room had already been cleaned in the morning.  When I responded, through my interpreter, that indeed the room had been cleaned in the morning, the housekeeper asked why I had switched on the "make up room" indicator.  I explained that I'd wanted fresh towels and the bed straightened up. The housekeeper than asked me to consider not turning on the 'make up room' sign, because whenever it is switched on, she must clean the whole room again, from scratch, and it was too bothersome.

That gave me pause. Too 'bothersome'?

I repeated that I just wanted new towels and the bed straightened-up, and I didn't need clean sheets nor the re-vacuuming of the room. Nonetheless, the housekeeper kept her grounds and asked me to switch off the "make up room" indicator because it was too bothersome for her to re-clean the room.

Bathroom supplies, such as cotton buds (a la Q-tips), emery board, and soap were never replenished. Shampoo, conditioner, tooth-brushes, etc. were replenished.   The mouthwash was replenished with a vengeance.  They had replaced an unfinished bottle a new one.  Other hotels have trained me to expect all items not in the trash bin would be left alone.

Further example of substandard housekeeping; There was a hole in the duvet cover. The bathmat was frayed. I may have such old linens at home but I wouldn't let house guests use them. I would expect Conrad to have higher standards than my household.



Apple-Tech, or No-Tech

The room was filled with Hi-Tech gadgets, including a Mac-mini.  It could have been a Mac TV and I wouldn't know as I'm not a Mac person.  The Conrad site said rooms have "Apple-based multimedia entertainment hub."  Unfortunately, instructions weren't readily available and I didn't want to waste time trying to it.  As I don't have any Mac products, I was out of luck.

Conrad (as well as Hilton) still charges for in-room WiFi.  For Conrad Seoul, it was approx USD20 per day.  Globe-trotting big-shots, i.e. Hilton Honors Gold and Diamond members do enjoy free WiFi.  But then, I doubt those bigshots would even notice the extra USD20/day WiFi on their bills.

The TV built into the bathroom mirror looked cool.  Watching terrestrial television was fine but anything from cable/satellite was a struggle. The staccato, choppy movement of the picture of CNN or BBC made it painful to watch.  Seemed like the video streams needed more bandwidth. Or, the TV needed much more computing power to decompress/decode the video.

The lack of a shavers-only, multiregion-plug enabled power outlet in the bathroom was another disappointment.

Low-tech items, such as an extra memo pad by, or on the writing desk would be appreciated.  I had to go over to the bedside table to grab the memo pad from there. 

Continental Executive

Guests on the Executive Floor rooms, quoting from their website, "... enjoy exclusive access to the hotel’s Executive Lounge, serving complimentary breakfast and evening cocktails."  The Executive Lounge was spacious, well appointed, with panoramic windows on three sides.  

Unfortunately, its breakfast offering was disappointing.  One can order egg-dishes from the wait-staff but the only other 'western' breakfast meats were pork sausages and beacon.  Observed over 2 days, the other 4 or 5 dishes were of hot dishes were Korean, or Asian.  I distinctively didn't want Bulgogi pork, nor fried rice for breakfast.

There was a good selection of pastries, fruits, yogurts (though none of them were non-sweetened,) and fruit juices (none freshly squeezed.) It's more of a continental breakfast buffet, with the very limited choices of hot dishes thrown in as a bonus. If you are looking for a hearty breakfast, don't breakfast at the executive lounge. I recall a better breakfast offering at the Seoul Millennium Hilton executive lounge years ago.

The height of their tables and chairs seemed to cater for larger and taller westerners. I'm a 175 cm tall Asian, and I found my plate of food too close to my face, i.e. the chairs were too low or the table was too high.  Come to think of it, maybe the chairs weren't designed for taller westerners, just the tables. 

Their choice of flatware is of the cheaper steel-chrome variety from WMF. There is nothing wrong with WMF flatware itself for they were well made and would probably last longer than the more expensive-looking, less scratch-resistant Christofle.  But those brushed-steel flatware seems to fit better with the Hilton brand of properties, and certainly not with the real linen napkins that the executive lounge provided.  The flatware would be more at home with paper napkins.

The staff was helpful and friendly.  They only asked for my room number on the first day.  On the second day, when a nice staff member brought me coffee, she asked where I was from.  That gave me pause, (yes, the second pause by Conrad Seoul,) as I don't usually get asked, especially by a hotel personnel.  Sensing my hesitation, the friendly young lady added that because my English was very good, she wondered if I was from the U.S.  Later the same young lady reminded me that their breakfast service was ending at 11:00pm.  It was then that I remember she was the same one who said the same 11:00pm the day before.  I didn't have the heart to correct her as I was flattered by her saying how good my English was.

Marble, Granite, and Wood

The bathroom floor may not be marble.  At a minimum it was polished granite.  Nice.  The walls looked to be of the same stone/marble but knocking on it would reveal that it's made of some kind of wood, or other material pretending to be stone/marble, bringing on a 'cheap' dimension to it.   Pretending to be something else with camouflage is always a no-no.  Wooden panels in the bathroom wouldn't be so bad.

There are electric-powered black-out screens to ensure a good night's sleep.  But it ended up waking me.

The window sill/frame is of metal.  The metal meets the prevalent wood paneling between the glass and the closed screens.   The trapped heat from the morning sun would heat up the metal, and the wood paneling, expanding them, but at different rates. This would make the wood "pop" regularly.  I couldn't quite place it when the 'pop' woke me in the first morning.  I thought the closet door had popped opened.   I figured it out when I was woken again the second morning.

Connection

It's a long walk from the hotel to the nearest subway stop.  With the transfer from elevators to escalators and moving walkways, it took me at least 10 minutes from the lobby to the nearest subway turnstiles. 

The doors separating the IFC Mall entrance and the "IFC Street" level stores lock up at 22:30 I think, but definitely, before 23:00.   Note to myself: The doors on the left (from the subway to the IFC Mall) stays open.

Shared Email

I had emailed their front office about room-types and car-service.  Their responses came via the same shared email address.  If it were the same frontoffice@<their domain> I wouldn't mind.  But it was a firstname.lastname address, like Mary.Jane@<their domain> signed-off as "Susan Hall."  The next response, would be from the same Mary.Jane@<their domain> address but signed off by another staff member, say "Kate Poole". 

Late Check-in

I don't recall any other hotels with a 16:00 check-in time.  As a "Sliver" Hilton Honors member, I read that I could ask for a late checkout, subject to availability. So I did ask for a late checkout of 13:00 instead of the mandated 12:00.  Unfortunately, my room had the next customer lined up but they could grant me a 30-minute delay.  I'm doubtful that they need 3.5 hours to ready my room for the next customer. 

Goodies

Conrad is still the best hotel I'd experienced in Seoul.  I'm particularly impressed by (1) the quality of the toothbrush it provided.  It was too good to be for single-use.  (2) 'Shower toilets' as if I were in Japan.  (3) Enormous shower booth.

Suggestions

1. Shape up housekeeping.
2. State that executive floor room guests are entitled to "complimentary continental  breakfast"  It's better to pleasantly surprise guests with the limited hot dishes than to disappoint them.  It's commonly referred to as "manage expectation."
3. Going hi-tech is good, but don't forget about low-tech stuff, like providing more than one memo pad.  There are two phones in the room so why not provide a memo-pad next to each phone?  Why only one memo pad next to the bedside phone, and not the desk?
4. Use less plastic; replace plastic laundry bags, and plastic bags the slippers come in with paper/cloth ones.
5. Get group addresses for customer-facing personnel/groups.  Staff members should answer emails with "on behalf of" function of corporate email systems.
6. Re-instate the Conrad-signature rubber duck and Conrad Bear. 

Hole in duvet cover



Frayed bathmat