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JW Marriott Dongdaemun boasts of eco-friendly fitness

Swimming pool at JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square Seoul / Courtesy of JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square SeoulBy Yun Suh-youngThe recently opened JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square Seoul has already built a reputation for one of its facilities just a month into its opening — its top-notch swimming pool.The luxurious looking swimming pool located at “Club 501” has state-of-the-art water managing system using A-1 filter and no chemical sterilizers.Swimming lessons and aqua-aerobic programs are available at the two-lane swimming pool and a separate whirl pool preventing hypothermia from long-hour usage is installed next to the main pool.But the swimming pool is not just eco- and health-friendly, but also a stylish venue for fashion brands to hold events and broadcasting companies to film TV dramas.Recently, the swimming pool had been the venue for popular local shoe brand “Suecomma Bonnie” which held its fall/winter collection showcase at the pool during the fashion week.Calls requesting to use the pool for filming have flooded as well, according to a hotel official.&ld

Apr 3, 2014
JW Marriott Dongdaemun boasts of eco-friendly fitness

Luxury meets fitness

Guests exercise at the fitness center at Haevichi Hotel and Resort Jeju. / Courtesy of Haevichi Hotel and Resort JejuHaevichi embraces fitness in packageBy Yun Suh-youngJEJU — Hotels are actively introducing activity related packages, as people look beyond relaxation and a delicious meal to become fit.The Haevichi Hotel and Resort on Jeju Island has launched a “Life Fitness Styling (LFS)” package starting this month where the entire program is about eating healthy and working out.Guests who book the package program during their stay will follow a schedule set by the hotel, which is a combination of healthy diet menus and workout programs along with outdoor activities and a relaxing spa to wrap up the day.The fitness programs are offered every day and, depending on the number of nights of their stay, guests will be offered the chance to participate in different programs.The fitness programs which are offered during the daytime include gym classes, pilates classes, intensive body training, physical renewal through balance training, aqua dance, mini triathlon and cardi

Apr 3, 2014
Luxury meets fitness

Fashion week this and that

An after party was held at the JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square Seoul Monday from 9 p.m. after that day’s fashion week event ended at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza. Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon who was scheduled to be there, however, was absent. / Courtesy of JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square SeoulBy Yun Suh-youngWhere were you Mayor Park?Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon was scheduled to attend a fashion show after-party on Monday held at the JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square Seoul situated next to the DDP.However, he cancelled the attendance and left the fashion show after watching the Bakangchi collection.Sadly, designers were not enthusiastic about the after-party as well.There wasn’t high attendance rate from designers participating in fashion week except for a few big shots such as designers Lie Sang-bong, Choi Bo-ko, and Shin Jang-kyoung.After the hour-long networking opening reception at the hotel’s Grand Ballroom, a casual hang-out party took place from 11 p.m. at the 11th floor bar.Seating painsAs chaotic as it always is, this year’s Seoul Fashion Week was no diff

Mar 27, 2014
Fashion week this and that

Black, fur, metal, and heels

Seoul Fashion Week displays futuristic styles in city’s strange new building Black to BlackBy Yun Suh-youngThis year’s Seoul Fashion Week, which wrapped up its Fall/Winter Show on Wednesday, got more attention for where it was held than what was shown.The six-day event was the main cultural program that opened the controversial Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP), an otherworldly, 25,000-square-meter cultural complex built on the squalor of the aging commercial district in central Seoul.The aluminum-covered, seven-story building, designed by Zaha Hadid, has been a subject of debate for its appearance. From a distance, it looks like a giant bike helmet split in half. Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon generously calls it a spaceship.While the venue has been criticized for the audacity of its design, Seoul Fashion Week could not have been more down to earth with the textile creations featured on its runway.Black was a dominant color like it always is for cool weather fashion. Designers contrasted the dark colors with vivid splashes of red, blue, purple and green and were also liberal in a

Mar 27, 2014
Black, fur, metal, and heels

A night in Jeonju

Jeonju Hanok Village provides a unique experience in the middle of a modern city. / Photo by Elias Arturo MolinaBy Elias Arturo MolinaThis is an article written by a foreign student participating in the “Must-See Routes” program organized by the Visit Korea Committee. It is the first of a three-part series of articles in The Korea Times’ tourism section — ED.“Have you been to Jeonju?” A Korean friend of mine asked me one day.I thought I knew quite a lot about Korea, but I had never been to the city of Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, although I knew it was famous for its culture and history.Swept up in a wave of curiosity, I hopped on a bus heading to Jeonju one evening. About three hours after leaving Seoul, I was finally in the mid-western city.Hanok experience At first sight, Jeonju felt different from other Korean cities I visited. It seemed to be a place where the past coexisted in harmony with the present.There were alleyways full of traditional “hanok” houses, distinguished by their low roofs ornamented with exquisitely-design

Mar 27, 2014
A night in Jeonju

HOTEL LOBBY

The Lotte City Hotel Daejeon opened Thursday, becoming Lotte’s ninth domestic chain hotel.Daejeon is known as the mecca of advanced science and technology and is often called the Silicon Valley of Korea. The Lotte City Hotel Daejeon bills itself as an ideal location to host international meetings and events.Having broken ground in April 2012, the 18-story building is built in Yuseong-gu, on the opposite side of the Daejeon Convention Center.The hotel offers 312 guest rooms including eight suites, 27 deluxe rooms and 267 standard rooms. Room rates start from 240,000 won up to 400,000 won.For more information about the Lotte City Hotel Daejon, call (042) 333-1000.   The hotel’s Lobby Lounge presents a leisurely tea time with the “Afternoon Tea Set” from 2 p.m. through 5 p.m.The hotel’s pastry chef Beat Loeffel has chosen the offerings, including scones, eclairs, macaroons, sandwiches and toasts. Guests can choose tea (Darjeeling, Jasmine and more) or coffee (Americano, Cafe Latte, Cappuccino). Classical music will be played to set the mood.&

Mar 20, 2014
HOTEL LOBBY

Fussing over desserts

Cakes are latest obsession of Seoul's food loversBy Yun Suh-youngIn recent years, Seoulites have developed an obsession for coffee, evidenced by the ubiquitous branches of Starbucks and Caffe Bene and government data that shows the average adult drinks 1.5 cups a day.Companies are now betting that this nation of ever-increasing caffeine addicts will pay more to have good cakes to complement their Americanos.“Junior’s,” “Cheesecake Factory” and “Mon Chouchou’” are among the foreign cake brands generating buzz among dessert lovers. The Korean company “40192 Roll” is also receiving good reviews for its soft and delicately flavored roll cakes.“I think the culture of having a cup of coffee and dessert after a meal has fully taken hold and this provides us with a growth opportunity,” said an official at Lotte Department Store, which recently added Junior’s to its already deep lineup of dessert franchises represented at its stores.40192 Roll“The Korean work culture is obviously intense, and I think there are

Mar 17, 2014
Fussing over desserts

Rediscovering Seochon

Four different photos of the same location – Daeo Seojeom, the oldest second-hand book store in Seoul – were cut and connected to create this image. / Korea Times photo by Yun Suh-youngBetween the alleyways lie the storiesBy Yun Suh-youngSeochon, an old neighborhood near Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul, is a deceptively hip and happening place.At first sight, the area doesn’t look at all like a magnet for the social media crowd that it is. But then you stroll along the narrow alleys behind the main street and navigate the quirky web of old houses, small shops, restaurants and art galleries, and Seochon begins to open up as a vibrant and fun destination.“There’s more to Seochon than meets the eye. It has its unique character that is different from the cafe-covered Samcheong-dong or the neighboring Bukchangdong,” said Seol Jae-woo, a travel guide and author of the book “Seochon Direction.” He is a long-time Seochon resident, born and raised in the area.“If people just come here for a meal and then leave, they won’t discove

Mar 13, 2014
Rediscovering Seochon

HOTEL LOBBY

 The Westin Chosun Seoul’s Becchia e Nuovo will host one of the first epicurean events to mark the hotel’s centennial coming up in October on March 13 and 15.The hotel has invited chef PJ Calapa from the New York restaurant Ai Fiori. The Italian restaurant has earned one Michelin star, received three stars in a New York Times’ restaurant review and was selected as the best new restaurant by Zagat in 2012. The Westin Chosun presents the chef and his menus at the Ai Fiori del Giardino event with befitting wines. The price for Ai Fiori Del Giardino is 500,000 won including tax and service charge.For more information, call (02) 317-0033. The Plaza presents its spring package, “Spring Library,” in collaboration with the Kyobo Book Center through May 31.The package offers one night in a deluxe room with view of vibrant urban life and the green fields of Seoul Plaza, a book among five recommended by Kyobo, a Kyobo dream card voucher, XYSTUM’s spring herb and entrance tickets to Deoksu Palace. Guests are also presented with an opportunity to

Mar 6, 2014
HOTEL LOBBY

Cultural enrichment: can goverment's free admission program entice more people to cultural venues?

Confusion grows over culture promotion plansBy Do Je-haePresident Park Geun-hye has spent every last Wednesday of the past two months doing something she normally doesn’t do — going to the cinema or theater.In January, she was seen with her aides watching the animation comedy “The Nut Job,” and last month “In Search of Kim Jong-Wook,” a musical based on a script by a Korea National University of Arts student.The two occasions were the president’s manifestation of support for her own policy to incorporate more cultural activity into people’s daily lives. Since her arrival in Cheong Wa Dae, Park has repeatedly spread her message of “cultural enrichment,” a term that has become one of the key items of her administration’s agenda.Translated into Korean, the term sounds like something that belonged to the 1970s. But all of a sudden, the outdated jargon is everywhere, particularly in press releases from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and its affiliated agencies, not to mention major cultural establishments such

Mar 6, 2014By Do Je-hae
Cultural enrichment: can goverment's free admission program entice more people to cultural venues?
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