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1. Hotel building(s) and public space(s)
Paradise Hotel Busan is a five star hotel, a member of The Leading Hotels of the World, located at Haeundae beach area, Busan, Republic of Korea. It is one of the top hotels in Busan, along with The Westin Chosun, Lotte Hotel and Novotel Ambassador (the former Marriott Busan), to name a few.
Entering the hotel complex (west building) by car.
This picture and the next one: west building and adjacent Paradise Duty Free shops front area.
The hotel consists of two buildings, both located along and overlooking the beach. The one on the east side is the original building, which was renovated two years ago. The building on the west side is newer, and has 18 floors, with floors 15-18 being executive floors. The Executive lounge is located on the 18th floor. The two buildings are connected to each other by a bridge, located on the second floor.
View of the bridge connecting the east (shown on the right) and west (shown on the left) hotel buildings. Picture taken from the beach side.
View of the bridge connecting the east (shown on the right) and west (shown on the left) hotel buildings. Picture taken from the beach side.
Looking at both hotel buildings from the beach side.
New apartment block being almost finished, next to Paradise Hotel Busan east side building. For approximately *.S.$15,000 per square meter, you can have your own apartment and enjoy the ocean view at your time and leisure…
November 2006. The new apartment building next to Paradise Hotel we just saw above, in its early days of construction.
Haeundae beach, Busan. Looking east.
Paradise Hotel Busan is located along Haeundae beach, the famous long beach of South Korea. The beach in which if you dare to swim off-season (i.e. earlier that May and later that September), they actually come and force you to get out (yes, unbelievable but true.) This happens in all South Korean beaches during the off-season period. It is probably because most people don’t know how to swim, and this is the main reason some get drowned each year.
Haeundae beach, Busan. Looking west. View from balcony of room in the west building, 15th floor. The Westin Chosun is at the end of the beach.
The Haeundae area is quite touristy, not truly representative of Busan (more on this later), with expensive hotels but also cheap ‘love’ motels (which actually offer very good value). More on the love motels later in this report or in one of my future threads (time & work permitting). The Paradise is preferred by Japanese tourists and the maritime professionals (the maritime people often prefer The Chosun, Novotel Ambassador and Lotte Hotel as well). I heard a story few days ago about the Japanese who come in Busan by the hundreds for having their cosmetic operations performed here, as it is considerably cheaper than having them done in their country. The hospitals of Busan (and the same applies for Seoul) are full of *.S.-educated Korean medical professionals who are supposed to be very good indeed. Another reason for the Japanese to come here is, of course, shopping.
Paradise Hotel, Busan. West (on the left) and east (on the right) buildings.
All rooms facing the sea offer a nice balcony, which is something other hotels in the same area do not have (Westin Chosun, Novotel Ambassador). I have actually stayed at all three hotels a number of times in Executive rooms with city and sea view respectively at each hotel. Getting a room with ocean view balcony makes a difference, as rooms facing the beach avenue have more noise. Facing the ocean you get an imminent feeling of relaxation and calmness, so it’s definitely worth it. The east building of Paradise Hotel has a casino, located on the first floor. Entrance to Korean citizens is forbidden to the casino, from what I have heard. I have never actually been there so I cannot really give an opinion – but a casino is a casino, it’s a legitimate business and not a non-profit organization, so the odds are clearly against you (simple maths). The hotel has a nice gym, which operates from 6am to 10pm and is located in the third floor of the west building. It offers good training facilities and a sauna. There is an outside pool, too (see picture), operating all year long.
Outside pool, located in the east building.
Should a guest wants to have dinner in the hotel, there is an Italian restaurant (west building again, second floor) and although I have not tried that yet, I plan to do so in the next month or so. Parking in the hotel is arranged (a) outside (valet, see picture) and (b) at the basement (three floors). The negative point here is a common occurrence in Korean hotels: the two elevators run from the bottom basement only up to the fourth floor; then you have to get off and get one of the other three elevators which run from B1 to 18th floor… Same type of arrangement exists at the Novotel Ambassador (which incidentally had a minor renovation in ’07). As for the parking at the Westin I cannot really say as the two times I stayed there we were shipyard’s and shipowner’s guest and were transported to/from the hotel by helicopter and car respectively.
Breakfast is buffet service and is arranged on the Executive floor (for guests in floors 15-18) and on the first or second floor (if I am not mistaken, as I have never been there) for all other guests, that is for the west building.
Paradise Hotel Busan is a five star hotel, a member of The Leading Hotels of the World, located at Haeundae beach area, Busan, Republic of Korea. It is one of the top hotels in Busan, along with The Westin Chosun, Lotte Hotel and Novotel Ambassador (the former Marriott Busan), to name a few.
Entering the hotel complex (west building) by car.
This picture and the next one: west building and adjacent Paradise Duty Free shops front area.
The hotel consists of two buildings, both located along and overlooking the beach. The one on the east side is the original building, which was renovated two years ago. The building on the west side is newer, and has 18 floors, with floors 15-18 being executive floors. The Executive lounge is located on the 18th floor. The two buildings are connected to each other by a bridge, located on the second floor.
View of the bridge connecting the east (shown on the right) and west (shown on the left) hotel buildings. Picture taken from the beach side.
View of the bridge connecting the east (shown on the right) and west (shown on the left) hotel buildings. Picture taken from the beach side.
Looking at both hotel buildings from the beach side.
New apartment block being almost finished, next to Paradise Hotel Busan east side building. For approximately *.S.$15,000 per square meter, you can have your own apartment and enjoy the ocean view at your time and leisure…
November 2006. The new apartment building next to Paradise Hotel we just saw above, in its early days of construction.
Haeundae beach, Busan. Looking east.
Paradise Hotel Busan is located along Haeundae beach, the famous long beach of South Korea. The beach in which if you dare to swim off-season (i.e. earlier that May and later that September), they actually come and force you to get out (yes, unbelievable but true.) This happens in all South Korean beaches during the off-season period. It is probably because most people don’t know how to swim, and this is the main reason some get drowned each year.
Haeundae beach, Busan. Looking west. View from balcony of room in the west building, 15th floor. The Westin Chosun is at the end of the beach.
The Haeundae area is quite touristy, not truly representative of Busan (more on this later), with expensive hotels but also cheap ‘love’ motels (which actually offer very good value). More on the love motels later in this report or in one of my future threads (time & work permitting). The Paradise is preferred by Japanese tourists and the maritime professionals (the maritime people often prefer The Chosun, Novotel Ambassador and Lotte Hotel as well). I heard a story few days ago about the Japanese who come in Busan by the hundreds for having their cosmetic operations performed here, as it is considerably cheaper than having them done in their country. The hospitals of Busan (and the same applies for Seoul) are full of *.S.-educated Korean medical professionals who are supposed to be very good indeed. Another reason for the Japanese to come here is, of course, shopping.
Paradise Hotel, Busan. West (on the left) and east (on the right) buildings.
All rooms facing the sea offer a nice balcony, which is something other hotels in the same area do not have (Westin Chosun, Novotel Ambassador). I have actually stayed at all three hotels a number of times in Executive rooms with city and sea view respectively at each hotel. Getting a room with ocean view balcony makes a difference, as rooms facing the beach avenue have more noise. Facing the ocean you get an imminent feeling of relaxation and calmness, so it’s definitely worth it. The east building of Paradise Hotel has a casino, located on the first floor. Entrance to Korean citizens is forbidden to the casino, from what I have heard. I have never actually been there so I cannot really give an opinion – but a casino is a casino, it’s a legitimate business and not a non-profit organization, so the odds are clearly against you (simple maths). The hotel has a nice gym, which operates from 6am to 10pm and is located in the third floor of the west building. It offers good training facilities and a sauna. There is an outside pool, too (see picture), operating all year long.
Outside pool, located in the east building.
Should a guest wants to have dinner in the hotel, there is an Italian restaurant (west building again, second floor) and although I have not tried that yet, I plan to do so in the next month or so. Parking in the hotel is arranged (a) outside (valet, see picture) and (b) at the basement (three floors). The negative point here is a common occurrence in Korean hotels: the two elevators run from the bottom basement only up to the fourth floor; then you have to get off and get one of the other three elevators which run from B1 to 18th floor… Same type of arrangement exists at the Novotel Ambassador (which incidentally had a minor renovation in ’07). As for the parking at the Westin I cannot really say as the two times I stayed there we were shipyard’s and shipowner’s guest and were transported to/from the hotel by helicopter and car respectively.
Breakfast is buffet service and is arranged on the Executive floor (for guests in floors 15-18) and on the first or second floor (if I am not mistaken, as I have never been there) for all other guests, that is for the west building.
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