By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
Five-star hotels in Seoul are competing to improve services and upgrade facilities to win the title of the best business hotel in town.
With all the talk about loud renovation projects and luxurious amenities, however, some people wonder whether the focus is shifting from delivering the right service at the right price.
The Hotel Ibis Myeong-dong, which opened last year in Seoul’s bustling downtown district of Myongdong, has its focus on value, not frills.
The 280-unit hotel offers rooms that are not much smaller than those of neighboring five-star hotels such as the Lotte Hotel Seoul or the Westin Chosun, providing guests with clean accommodation and quality amenities that would rival that of any top-end hotel.
However, with its standard rooms priced at 105,000 won, Ibis Myeong-dong provides accommodation at 40 to 60 percent lower than its five-star competitors, making it among the city’s best budget choices.
``For businessmen moving on a limited budget or individual travelers with a light wallet, Seoul’s high accommodation prices, which are even higher than Tokyo, have become a burden,’’ said Bruce Lee, the general manager of Hotel Ibis Myeong-dong.
``As seen by the success of the previous Ibis property in southern Seoul, which has an occupancy rate in the mid-90s, the market is more than ready for a hotel like ours,’’ he said.
The hotel, which celebrates its first anniversary May 1, has established itself among the successful hotels in the city.
Located in the center of Myong-dong, the premium business & shopping district, Ibis Ambassador Myeong-dong was launched as the second Ibis brand joint venture between French hotel group Accor and Korea’s Ambassadors. The first property, the Ibis Ambassador Seoul in Samsong-dong opened in 2003.
The new Ibis has successfully introduced and developed a new class of ``economy hotel’’ into the ``luxury’’ dominated market. The emergence of this new type of hotel, along with a shaky local economy affected by a weak U.S. dollar and Japanese yen, led foreign travelers to look for alternatives for their overpriced lodging in Korea.
In spite of the decreased number of overseas travelers in Korea during its first year, the hotel has been achieving an eye-opening occupancy rate with business travelers for weekdays and tourists over weekends. The ratio of domestic and overseas guests is 3 to 7, proving the hotel’s reasonable rates have been well-directed not only for overseas travelers but for domestic guests as well.
Behind its low, flat rates was a strategic decision to cut out all the extravagant services such as bellman, doorman, valet parking, room service and others that aren’t essential to all guests. Instead, the hotel offers high-speed Internet, fitness club, sauna and other basic yet fundamental services for the guests’ convenience.
The emergence of this economic business hotel such as Ibis Ambassador Myeong-dong and its successful landing in the industry has solidified the economic hotel market and generated a significant impact on the national tourism industry as the market has been growing gradually. More significantly, it’s expected to bring more travelers into Korea to revitalize the tourism industry.
For more information, call (02)6361-8888 or visit www.ambatel.com/myeongdong.