city guides: seoul

Seoul has numerous hotels, with a number of five-star international options. If you’re north of the river, the Westin Chosun (02 771-0500, www.echosunhotel.com) remains the all-around best, as it has been ever since its founding as Seoul’s first hotel in 1914, soon after the onset of Japanese rule.

Across the street, the Radisson Seoul Plaza, (02 771-0200, www.seoulplaza.co.kr) overlooks City Hall plaza. Its second-floor coffee shop is a favorite meeting place for match-makers introducing eligible young men and women.

Around the corner, just off the plaza, the Lotte (02 771-1000, www.lottehotel.co.kr) offers remodeled rooms in high-rises above a refurbished lobby. On a slope of Namsan, the mountain in the middle of the capital, the Grand Hyatt (02 797-1234, www.grandhyattseoul.co.kr) looms above Itaewon, to which the hotel runs shuttle vans.

Also on the side of Namsan, closer to the center, is the Seoul Hilton (02 753-7788, www.hilton.co.kr), where Miss Kong has presided with loving care for years over the capital’s best business center. (Just don’t confuse the Seoul Hilton with its rival Grand Hilton, formerly the Swiss Grand, on the northern fringe near World Cup Stadium.)

On the other side of Namsan, a favorite for big conferences is the Shilla (02 2233-3131, www.shilla.net).

If you’re attending a convention or show at COEX or the World Trade Center, way south of the river, stay at the Grand InterContinental (02 555-5656, www.seoul.interconti.com), its newer partner, the COEX InterContinental (02 3452-2500, www.seoul.interconti.com), or the Ramada (02 6202-2000, www.ramadaseoul.co.kr).

Closer to Apukujeong, the JW Marriott (02 6282-6262, www.jw-marriott.co.kr) rises over Seoul’s biggest intercity bus terminal. Not far away, also conveniently south of the river, are the renovated and renamed Imperial Palace (02 3440-8000, www.iphotel.co.kr), formerly Amiga; the Ritz-Carlton (02 3451-8000, www.ritz.co.kr); and the Renaissance (02 555-0501, www.renaissance-seoul.com).