JW Marriott vs Park Hyatt Seoul

[FlyingDan]

I currently have a reservation for both the JW Marriott and the Park Hyatt in Seoul. Both seem to be very nice hotels - I'm only interested in the hotel itself, the area the hotel is in is of no interest to me. I have 3 days in Seoul where I will be sightseeing all day, before taking the day before and the day of departure to enjoy either the PH or the JW Marriott.

The Park Hyatt rate is 240000KRW, whereas the rate for the JW Marriott is only 140000KRW. Is the Park Hyatt worth the extra 100000KRW? I should add that I do have a diamond upgrade certificate available which I could use for the Park Hyatt . All in all, is the Park Hyatt worth the extra 100k?

[rodemaii]

Park Hyatt Seoul
If you're parking your car at hotel there will charge 10,000 KRW per car. even hotel guest
Also, if you are using Diamond Upgrade Certificate, there is 2 type of Park Suite
5 line is more space for bed room. but, you can enjoy(?!) some hotel guests what there are doing in there room.
or 10 line is more private than 5 line. because, it's located in corner side.
but, 10 line's bed room is smaller than 5 line.

JW Marriott
Sorry. I don't know about the room.
It's located in Central City (we called Gang Nam Bus Terminal) with subway line number 3,7,9
it means, more convenient to access to local transportation.

[FlyingDan]

Thanks for your reply! What do you mean with 5 and 10-line? Can you please clarify?

[SQOZflyer]

Park Hyatt Seoul is definitely nicer if you prefer smaller, modern hotels with more personalized service and a younger crowd. JW Marriot is a more traditional, large business hotel (IMO very anonymous service and atmosphere) and adjacent to the huge Express Bus Terminal complex where you get lost easily if you don't know your way around Seoul.

Park Hyatt sits on top of a subway station which is very convenient (as you might be aware, the subway is the only way to get around efficiently- Seoul's terminally slow traffic makes driving impractical). However, if you consider a Diamond Suite upgrade and if you happen to be a light sleeper you should be aware that the bedrooms of all standard suites in PH Seoul face a very (!) noisy intersection with constant traffic throughout the night. I personally had sometimes difficulty to sleep due to the noise from traffic but I know a few people for whom this was not an issue. Also if you love to swim, you should know that the pool at PH is tiny (albeit with a fantastic view).

If you want to do mainly sightseeing, have never been to Seoul before and don't know your way around the subway I do not recommend either of the two hotels because they are located in the newer posh districts south of the river and at least 1 hour drive (or 30-40 min. by subway) from the interesting (for tourists) stuff, north of the river. If your main purpose for coming to Seoul is tourism and not business or shopping I would recommend you the Grand Hyatt, Westin Chosun or Shilla Hotels which are all much closer to the main tourist areas.

If you want to stick with PH or JW I would definitely pick PH over JW. However if noise is an issue for you I would save the suite upgrade and ask for a quiet Deluxe room (not facing the Samseong intersection and COEX mall).

Hope this is somewhat helpful