Luxury hotels lure millennials with strawberries
Walkerhill Hotels & Resorts is offering a strawberry dessert buffet, Very Berry Strawberry, under the concept of an amusement park until April. 26. / Courtesy of Walkerhill Hotels & Resorts
By Jun Ji-hye
After celebrating Christmas and New Year's Day with various events and promotions, luxury hotels here are now going all out to win the hearts and minds of visitors with strawberry buffets and strawberry-themed afternoon tea sets.
Every January, hotels become a battlefield of strawberries as the peak of the strawberry season occurs in midwinter in Korea.
The popularity of photogenic strawberry buffets and afternoon tea sets is growing especially among millennials, the generation born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s, who tend to place a value on “Instagrammable” experiences.
Instagrammable is a neologism referring to photos that are worth posting on Instagram to share memorable moments with friends.
Hotels' strawberry-themed events that are cheaper than regular dinners and attract young people who tend to pursue “small luxuries” which are expensive in their category but still affordable overall.
The small luxury has recently become a trend here as a result of a compromise between the desire for consumption and reality in the sluggish economy.
As strawberry-themed buffets and afternoon tea sets have become one of the major events in the winter season, competition among hotels has intensified to differentiate their menus from one another. This has expanded menus from desserts to savory dishes such as sandwiches and pizza.
Walkerhill Hotels & Resorts began its strawberry buffet “Very Berry Strawberry,” Jan. 11 running through April. 26 at The Pavilion, the lobby lounge of the Grand Walkerhill Seoul.
“This year, we enhanced the decoration for the buffet, creating a strawberry Ferris wheel and merry-go-round under the concept of Berry Hill Park,” a Walkerhill official said. “This offers the most Instagrammable spots for visitors.”
The hotel showcases more than 45 dishes including strawberry desserts and others such as strawberry cakes, scones, chocolate, roasted chicken, fried lamb, sushi and sandwiches.
The hotel also operates a live station, in which chefs cook on the spot for visitors.
Very Berry Strawberry takes place every Friday and Saturday, and is priced at 68,000 won ($59) for adults and 53,000 won for teenagers.
Novotel Ambassador Seoul Dongdaemun Hotels & Residences is running the Strawberry Afternoon Tea promotion until April 12 at its Gourmet Bar from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., offering a variety of mouthwatering desserts utilizing strawberries.
Novotel Ambassador Seoul Dongdaemun Hotels & Residences runs the Strawberry Afternoon Tea promotion until April 12. / Courtesy of Novotel Ambassador Seoul Dongdaemun Hotels & Residences
The promotion offers two options for visitors ― the strawberry afternoon tea set and one with a brunch menu.
The strawberry afternoon tea set includes desserts with tea, coffee or rose sparkling wine, while the strawberry brunch set includes desserts with omelet, pancake, French toast and strawberry ricotta cheese salad in addition to beverages.
The hotel prepared strawberry mille-feuille and strawberry creme brulee as for the dessert menu, among others.
Courtyard by Marriott Seoul Times Square runs the Oh! Berry Strawberry buffet at its MoMo Bar every weekend until April 12.
Courtyard by Marriott Seoul Times Square runs Oh! Berry Strawberry buffet every weekend until April 12. / Courtesy of Courtyard by Marriott Seoul Times Square
Visitors can enjoy eye-catching strawberry desserts such as brownies and macaroons in addition to unlimited sparkling wine, strawberry drinks and coffee.
The buffer also offers pizza and sandwiches, which are enough for one meal.
The cost-effective buffet is priced at 39,000 won.
During weekdays, the hotel runs the strawberry-themed afternoon tea set at 19,000 won until April 10.
The Sheraton Grand Incheon Hotel started a strawberry dessert buffet featuring Pucca, one of the most popular animated characters here, Jan. 3 that runs through to March 22.
Sheraton Grand Incheon Hotel runs the Pucca Berry promotion, a strawberry dessert buffet featuring Pucca characters until March 22. / Courtesy of Sheraton Grand Incheon Hotel
The Pucca Berry promotion is held at the hotel's Bene restaurant on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, offering desserts and dishes such as strawberry cakes, chocolate fondue, hotdog, fried chicken and meatballs in addition to the chefs' pasta.
Visitors can also enjoy taking photos with the limited edition Pucca dolls at the photo zone.
The buffet is priced at 45,000 won for adults and 22,500 won for children.
Seoul Dragon City runs Strawberry Studio buffet, offering 20 kinds of professional patisserie-made desserts such as strawberry omelet, strawberry crepe cake, pavlova, strawberry roll and rosemary cheese cake.
The buffet takes place every weekend at THE 26, the brasserie of Novotel Suites Ambassador Seoul Yongsan, where visitors can also enjoy the fascinating view of Mount Nam.