Conrad Seoul, Revisited

I have a soft spot for Conrad. The soft spot led me back to Conrad Seoul despite a less than stellar experience in March 2015.

Check-in: 2016/01/08

Check-out: 2016/01/10

The Good Stuff
Before I start whining, here are the nice things about Conrad Seoul.

1. Delicious food.  Breakfast at the executive lounge was the only exception.
2. Very thoughtful to provide toothbrushes in different colors.
3. Bell hops, and others in the lobby were observant enough to anticipate guests' needs.  Impressive.

Perks? No, Yes, and No
Conrad offers HHonors "Gold" members a free upgrade to preferred rooms (insert the usual fine-print here.)  Conrad Seoul was the exception in that no free-upgrade was offered when I took advantage of the year-end (2015) sale and booked a prepaid, non-refundable "Premium Riverview room" via the official hiltonhotels.com site.

The HHonors app on my phone also said that upgrades weren't available at this property.  That's fine, as each property has its own rules. So, I rolled the die and used e-Standby for upgrades.  Though e-Standby upgrades weren't guaranteed, prices were reasonable, and the upgrade requests are usually granted.  So far, only once out of 30 times was my e-standby request denied due to full capacity.  I chose to upgrade from "Premium River-view room" to any one of these:

1. King Executive with Lounge Access
2. King Executive Riverview with Lounge Access
3. Grand King Executive Corner Suite

I don't know why/when/how it happened but my reservation was upgraded to a "Premier Riverview Executive Room."  I noticed it on the HHonors app a few days before the trip.  Thinking it was a mistake, I left it.

I wasn't the only one puzzled by the mysterious upgrade.  It also puzzled the nice lady who processed my check-in.  Upon seeing my e-Standby requests, she said I "...already have access to the executive lounge..." implying 2 of the 3 e-Standby options were invalid.

As for my third option, the Executive Corner Suite was only available for 1 of the 2 nights I was there.  She asked if I still wanted the Executive Corner Suite because she could offer it to me if I were to pay one night of the e-Standby upgrade fee.  It was too good of a deal so I asked her why only one night of the upgrade fee and she said because the Executive Corner Suite was available for Friday night only, the night I arrived.  I suspected that all corner suites were the same and by listing me in the lounge access list, she would make it an Executive Corner Suite.  It was a good deal so I took it.  I wanted the extra space for meetings.

I didn't realize my mistake till I saw the bill at check-out; I was charged 2 full nights of the e-Standby rates.  That was the price if the mysterious upgrade didn't occur and I would have paid that much to go from a "Premium Riverview Room" to an Executive Corner Suite.

With hindsight, that lady must have meant the figure she had noted in the check-in form was a per-night upgrade rate.  But I distinctively remembered that here was no "/night" or equivalent notation on that form which I'd signed.  Also, why did she mention that the suite was available only for one night?

My pet peeves with the mysterious upgrade are that (1) it confused all involved, (2) the upgrade had not affected the e-Standby rates.  In my case, the price to go from an "Executive Riverview Room" to an "Executive Corner Suite" should have been less than going from a "Premium Riverview Room."  

There is no free lunch after all.

Dislodged light fixture.

Night 1 (Friday)

The spacious corner suite was impressive.  Perfect for the intensive meetings I had planned for the weekend.

The "club sandwich" from room service was delicious.  Service was prompt and courteous.  A good start to the weekend.  Unfortunately, the first of many something-is-wrong-with-this-picture moments occurred soon after.

Putting on the bathrobe after a shower, I first felt, then saw a long strand of hair protruding from the mouth of the right sleeve.  I have always wondered how often those bathrobes get laundered.  Apparently, not often enough.  Found more strands of similar looking hair in the garbage bin.  The previous female guest had left me an unwanted souvenir.  Call me fastidious, but this was worse than finding hair in my food.  Had to take another shower.

But, where is the bag?

Before retiring for the night, I further noticed the following:

1. Lighting fixture at the back of the shelf had dislodged from its intended location.
2. Memo pad on the desk was upside down, and needed a refill as it was down to its last 2 or 3 sheets.  Last time, I had whined about how there was only one memo pad in the room with two phones (not counting the phone in the bathroom.)  This time, it was good to find a pad by both of the phones in the bedroom.   But the sitting room was note-pad free.  An improvement of sorts, but no cigar.
3. The service menu, the one with room service menu, lists of restaurants etc.,  was filed upside-down in its binder.
4. There was a "Shoeshine Service" card on the tray in the closet saying "Please place your shoes in the bag and call Conrad Service for collection."  But, where is the bag?
5. The wood wall panel next to the safe needed repairs.  Like the above mentioned dislodged lighting fixture, it had become unstuck.

Upside-down pocket.

Day 1 (Saturday)

Still Continental
Breakfast at the executive lounge was disappointing, for the lack of improvements since my March 2015 visit.  It had the exact same, 2-choice western breakfast meats; lukewarm pork sausages and bacon.  The cook-to-order egg station couldn't soften the disappointment.

I'd stayed at the Millennium Seoul Hilton in September 2015.  Its executive lounge breakfast offerings were much better, with more western and Asian breakfast choices.

My previous verdict stands; Conrad Seoul executive lounge essentially serves continental breakfasts only.

Forgotten pillow.

Substandard housekeeping, again.
Left my room around noon, returning a little before 15:00.  Surprisingly, the room had yet to be serviced.  Called Conrad Service to get it serviced, and left the room again.  When I returned an hour later, the room was serviced, but in an obvious hurry.

1. A pillow was left on the the day-bed/couch.
2. Used bathmat, still damp, was left on the floor (though a fresh one was provided.)
3. Hand soap was not replenished, though bath-soap was.
4. Cotton buds were not replenished.
5. Oily smudges were left on the window, possibly from the forehead of previous guest(s).
6. Last time, I had suggested Conrad Seoul to consider using less plastic.  So, it was encouraging to see the laundry bag was now made of cloth. Sadly, housekeeping had replenished it with a plastic one.  Is Conrad Seoul in transition from plastic to non-plastic ones?

Moreover, the dislodged light fixture, the upside-down service menu, the upside-down notepad that needed a refill, were left exactly as the night before.  The missing shoe-bag was still missing.  Alas, the housekeeper didn't forget the tip I'd left for her/him.

Upside-down pad.

Day 2 (Sunday)
Decided to skip the disappointing executive lounge breakfast service and opted for an early working-lunch before leaving Seoul.  A little before 11:00, asked Conrad Service when Atrio would open.  The helpful lady said lunch service was from 11:00 and that she would proceed to make a reservation for me.  Before hanging up, she corrected herself and said Atrio opened from 11:30.  That was fine and she made a 11:30 reservation for me.

When my client and I showed up at Atrio for my 11:30 reservation, we waited a tad to be met at the door.  When the maître d' finally appeared, she said the restaurant would open from 12:00 p.m.  I said I had a 11:30 reservation, a reservation made by Conrad Service.  She repeated that lunch is from 12:00 and gestured for me to see a few wait staff busy cleaning up after the just-finished breakfast service.

Returned to my room and phoned Conrad Service.  A few minutes later the person who "made" the reservation phoned me and apologized for the mix-up.  She then made a 12:00 pm reservation for me.  No explanation was given as to how she could have "made" a 11:30 reservation when the restaurant didn't open till 12:00.  I wondered if she had actually made a reservation.  If she had, she would have caught on earlier, and would have called me in my room before I left.

When we showed up again my 12:00 reservation, all the desirable tables were already taken.  I asked if I could take a table close to the window.  The helpful waitress suggested another one as a baby was expected to join the table next to the one I'd wanted.  We were then led to the middle of the restaurant.  I noted that we weren't shown to a particular, reserved table. We were just led to whichever one available.  I wondered again if Conrad Service actually made a reservation for me.

A very bored, annoyed, and loud toddler was seated next to our table minutes later, making conversation difficult.  (His parents were trying to entertain him by playing music or video loudly.)  It's ironic that the original table I'd wanted by the window was actually quieter as the baby there was peaceful.  I wonder why I was advised against taking the preferred table and the wait staff then proceeded to seat a toddler next to me, especially when less than half of the restaurant was filled.

Just when I thought the loud toddler was distracting, a very loud announcement in Korean came over the hotel-wide, P.A. system.  It was so loud that it drowned out all conversations in the restaurant, the background music, and the toddler's crying.  Not understanding Korean, I thought there was an emergency and that we had to evacuate.  My client, a native Korean, explained that the announcement was for summoning guests to a wedding party as the ceremony was about to begin.

My client further added that it was unusual, actually surprising, for such an announcement to be made in a high-end hotel.  Apparently such announcements are often heard in wedding halls.

A few minutes later, the same announcement repeated, with the same loudness.  Only after the second time, did the wait staff go around to apologize and explain to non-Koreans like me what it was about.  I was just glad it wasn't an emergency.

The wait staff seemed overwhelmed, as there were plenty of running around, and service seemed rushed.  Our waitress asked my client at least twice if she was done with her food when obviously she wasn't. Obvious because of how my client had positioned the knife and fork and that there was still food on the plate.

The food was delicious and the ingredients were fresh. Quality food wasn't enough to save the day nonetheless.

On the way out, my client pointed out the open/close times which were stenciled on the glass door; "Lunch: 11:30 ~ 14:00"  Much later, I noticed that on the back of my room key-card folder, it also stated that the lunch service at Atrio was from 11:30.

From the ghost-reservation, to the very loud Korean announcement, it was a bizarre experience.

Panel needs glue.  Arrows point to gap.

Changes

Here's the list of suggestions from last time and their current status.

1. Shape up housekeeping.  No change, needs a lot of work.
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."  No change. 
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?  Partially improved and there are still questions.
4. Use less plastic; replace plastic laundry bags, and plastic bags the slippers come in with paper/cloth ones.  Not sure about this one as both plastic and cloth laundry bags were sighted.
5. Get group addresses for customer-facing personnel/groups.  Staff members should answer emails with "on behalf of" function of corporate email systems.  Well done!
6. Re-instate the Conrad-signature rubber duck and Conrad Bear.  No change.  The photos of various rooms on the hotel website still feature the Conrad Bear prominently.  Either reinstate the bear, or update the photos.
7. Built-into-bathroom-mirror TV struggled to stream cable/satellite stations.  Improvements of sorts, as it had fewer cable/satellite channels.  The Discovery Channel looked smooth.  There were many blank, tuned-to-nothing channels.  Also, the same terrestrial station would appear multiple times on the clicker.  

New Suggestions.

1. Introduce turn-down service. 
2. Make your guests feel welcomed.  It's all in the details; like the fresh fruits and the "welcome" message found in Conrad Hong Kong.  Or, in the case of the Millennium Seoul Hilton, a hand-written "welcome back" note from its general manager for returning guests.  They didn't have fresh fruits but the few pieces of chocolate was a nice touch.

Conclusion
My second stay at Conrad Seoul was, like the strand of hair on the bathrobe, full of surprises.  Like my lunch at Atrio, it was at times comical.  I still have a soft spot for the Conrad brand. But it isn't soft (strong?) enough to take me back to Conrad Seoul for the third time.

Nice details at Conrad Hong Kong.

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