By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
The summer vacation season is over and the next big thing for many people is Chuseok, or Korean Thanksgiving Day, which falls on Oct. 3.
On what is known as Korea's favorite holiday, family members gather to talk about their daily lives, celebrate the full harvest of autumn and swap presents to pay respect to each other.
Hotels, which have the best chefs in the business, the best ingredients and the best clients in the country, are thriving to win the hearts of the VIPs, who are searching for very luxurious and special gifts. "Everyone knows that hotels' gift sets are far classier than those of department stores or supermarkets," Lotte Hotel Seoul promoter Moon In-young said. "They are expensive but worth every penny. If you look into how much effort and goods are in them, you will be surprised."
It is a little early, but if you are thinking about getting one of the finely selected, cream-of-the-crop choices for your beloved ones, you might want to call the hotels and see what's in store for you. The Korea Times looked into some of them.
Hoteliers do not just wrap up simple items. Chefs of each hotel add their magic touch of craftsmanship to make the best product.
Lotte provides Hanwoo, or Korean beef, with the chef's secret sauce. The Hanwoo set, Assorted Beef set and Wagyu set are priced between 250,000 won and 600,000 won, including tax.
Millennium Seoul Hilton has a variety of meat packages. The chef's highly-acclaimed "galbi," or rib, sauce is provided in each rib menu selection.
Sets of prime-Grade (1++) Hanwoo beef, Australian Wagyu beef and prime U.S. beef with a marbling score of 8 or higher are priced from 330,000 won to 950,000 won.
The Westin Chosun Seoul has put out its Chinese restaurant Hong Yuan's Steamed Shark's Fin and Buddha-Jumps-Soup along with salted fish and wild honey. In particular, the top gift set, including a premium set of cultured wild-ginseng roots, which consist of extracts from 55 roots, is priced at 4,400,000 won.
At Grand InterContinental Hotel, the "Neobiani," or meat cake, set and rib-eye steak set are prepared with the finest premium Hanwoo.
Grilled beef strip loin and ox-tail prepared by Eric Pellen, Executive Sous Chef at the hotel's French restaurant Table 34 and char-grilled lamb chop created by master chef at C Grill will be delivered to the clients' house ready to be cooked ― with only heating required. Homemade ham and sausage sets are also available.
Hotel Shilla provides a Korean traditional paste set. With the special recipe handed down from Joseon era philosopher Yun Seon-do's (1587-1671) family, the hotel's special paste set offers traditional Korean flavor.
Wine has become very trendy in Korea lately. Hotels, which have the best sommeliers in the nation, are also gearing up to provide the best wine at relatively affordable prices.
Lotte offers eight bottles of assorted wines, selected by the sommeliers according to the recipient's taste.
The Millennium Seoul Hilton offers the Grand Cru Wine Gift Set where you can choose among the 2004 Chateau Margaux, 2001 Chateau Latour, 2001 Chateau Lafite Rothschild, 2001 Chateau Mouton Rothschild, and a 1999 Chateau Haut Brion.
Champagne gift sets include Moet & Chandon, Brut/Rose Imperial and Dom Perignon.
Imperial Palace Hotel offers a wine hamper set that provides a bottle of red wine and champagne, two wine glasses, an organic tea set, coffee and tea cups, homemade chocolate and cookies, as well as fruits.
At Westin Chosun Seoul, wine sommelier and kikisakeshi (sake sommelier) have a wine list which includes a three bottle set of Chateau Lafite-Rothschild, Chateau Latour and Chateau Margaux, as well as lower-priced options. For an extra special gift, guests may purchase the hotel's old vintage wines as well.
Novotel Ambassador Gangnam offers a bottle of wine and Norwegian salmon.
But if you still can't decide which food is good for whom, handing out vouchers or coupons could be a good way to please your beloved ones.
Lotte offers pre-paid cards for its posh French diner Pierre Gagnaire and others. InterContinental offers buffet vouchers or pre-paid cards for a stay at its hotel.
Moon was emphatic about the progress that's been made. "It has been only 10 years since hotels began to offer Chuseok gift sets. But just look how far we have come."