Enticing promotions, new menu offered in springtime

By Jun Ji-hye

Spring is right around the corner, and luxury hotels here have been busy preparing to help their guests to embrace the seasonal change, offering special promotions and delicious seasonal ingredients.

L'Escape Hotel, the first stand-alone brand of Shinsegae Chosun Hotel, is showcasing its spring package until May 31 for guests who are planning to ring in the season early.

Package guests can enjoy various privileges and appreciate the spring floral decorations created through a collaboration with Tony Marklew, a London-based “event imagineer.”

Three room types ― standard, deluxe and suite ― are prepared for the package, with prices starting from 205,000 won ($172).

As people tend to be reluctant to participate in outdoor activities due to air pollution caused by fine dust at this time of the year, the hotel developed its spring package which offers a floral tea set, rose-scented cosmetics and a Jane Packer flowerpot in addition to a chance to appreciate splendid floral ornaments.

Le Salon's floral tea set includes two madeleines and two cups of flower-infused blending tea at Le Salon by maison M'O, and is available from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

For skincare and skin protection from fine dust, premium cleansing water by French skincare and cosmetics brand Garancia is offered.

“The cleansing water's rose fragrance will surely remind guests of the arrival of spring,” an L'Escape Hotel official said.

Guests who stay in deluxe and suite rooms are additionally offered a spring flowerpot coupon for use at Jane Packer.

Guests can choose their flowerpot at the Jane Packer located at the main branch of Shinsegae Department Store.

In addition, coloring activities designed to restore calm and inner peace are included in the package privileges and to offer a more colorful staycation experience. Two pieces of coloring activity paper, a paper frame and colored pencils are given to guests upon check-in.

For guests who post their coloring activity results on their Instagram accounts with the hashtags of #lescapehotel and #hotelpackage, a coffee voucher available at Le Salon by maison M'O is presented.

Springtime package guests can take a fragrant glimpse of spring at the hotel, too.

Under the guidance of Tony Marklew, the hotel decorated its interior with ornaments made with harbingers of spring such as magnolia, forsythia, rose and butterflies.

Every guest room is equipped with an air purifier to keep the indoor air clean. The air quality at the reception desk on the first floor, the front desk on the seventh floor and the gym on the eighth floor is monitored and purified with air purifiers manufactured by Airocide, a premium air purifier manufacturer.

In guest rooms where guests and their companion animals can stay together, an LG Electronics' 360-degree air purifier with pet mode is placed.

Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas and InterContinental Seoul COEX are presenting spring cuisine featuring seasonal ingredients that capture the spirit of spring.

Diners are invited to enjoy spring season course meals that are delicious, comforting and nourishing.

The courses include flounder, an invigorating seasonal fish that has high protein content and is low in fat, and the spring-signaling, fully aromatic alkaline herb mugwort.

The courses also include cockle ― packed with high quality proteins and essential amino acids ― and the taurine-rich webfoot octopus, which helps diners recover from fatigue.

Japanese restaurant Hakone of Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas presents its Flounder Kaiseki Special, which features refreshing spring ingredients.

Prepared with flounder from Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang Province, widely recognized for its top quality and spring flavor, the lunch course comes with mild flounder and mugwort soup cooked in the chef's original secret recipe, seasonal sashimi, kakiage (tempura) with a hint of the fragrant scent of shepherd's purse and a generous portion of snow crab meat.

The energy-enhancing dinner course features flounder soup, deep fried scallops and pot rice with truffle and snow crab meat.

Asian Live from InterContinental Seoul COEX introduces its special Spring Feast with various dishes made from seasonal spring ingredients.

The lunch menu was carefully designed for the spring season to reinvigorate the body and mind. It features parboiled webfoot octopus and nutritious fatsia shoots that are specially handled to preserve all the nutrients.

The sumptuous dinner menu presents a course meal including a webfoot octopus soup that helps relieve stress, beef and fatsia shoot sanjeok that is rich in proteins and vitamin C and a hearty noodle soup.

Hakone has 13 separate rooms including tatami rooms, while Asian Live has 17 rooms, so diners can enjoy their meals in privacy and comfort.

Hakone's Flounder Special, offered at 145,000 won, is available during March, while Asian Live's Spring Feast Special is available until April at 65,000 won.

JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square Seoul is also greeting the new season at Tavolo 24, its all-day dining restaurant.

The Spring at Tavolo 24 promotion, which runs until April 30, is a celebration of aromatic spring greens, seasonal seafood and culinary styles from around the world.

The promotion brings a bibimbap section featuring fresh spring greens including canola, siler, saebal, aster, stringy stonecrop and pickled choseokjam as well as many other seasonal ingredients such as fermented sea squirt, seaweed flakes and sesame oil.

The Asian section offers unlimited servings of spring seafood delicacies including snow crab, mud crab and three-spot swimming crab.

Hot dishes include steamed oxtail that is rich in minerals and protein and ideal for promoting a healthy immune system. Fried webfoot octopus and pork in chili sauce will be also offered.

All guests dining at Tavolo 24 during the spring promotion are served a bowl of sukiyaki, where beef, napa cabbage, crown daisies and pak choi come together in a richly-infused broth.

The Spring at Tavolo 24 promotion is priced at 78,000 won per person at weekday lunchtimes, and 98,000 won per person at weekday dinner, weekends and public holidays.