Hotels Light Up Christmas Decorations
By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
Christmas still seems a way away, but for top-class hotels, it is a good opportunity to create festive and romantic moods. Many of the lobbies and exteriors have transformed into either state-of-the-art or traditional Christmas scenes to wow visitors.
Fancy lounges are certainly not determining factors for a night-stay, but hotels are gearing up for image enhancement through seasonal events.
Traditional Christmas Decoration
Hilton hotels in Seoul have probably the oldest and the most well-known decorations.
The Millennium Hilton's Christmas tree and Christmas train mark their 14th anniversary this year. The grand 10-meter high tree welcomes guests in the center of the main lobby. In the lower lobby, designers and engineers created a miniature Alpine village, complete with snow-capped mountains, tunnels, wooden bridges and hot air balloons. The creme-de la-creme is the Christmas Train, a collection of over 120 handcrafted locomotives and railroad cars that chug their way through the miniature village.
According to the hotel, the train represents a time-honored tradition at the Hilton. Domestic and international companies are invited to sponsor railroad cars and all proceeds are donated to the Hyeshimwon orphanage and the Junggu District office.
The Christmas decorations will be on display at the hotel until mid January.
The Grand Hilton Seoul has set up a six-meter Christmas tree in its main lobby. Children from nearby Songjuk Orphanage performed Christmas carols at a ceremony for turning on the tree lights. "It has become a tradition of sharing love and the Christmas spirit," the hotel said.
Christmas Tree with a Twist
At the Imperial Palace Hotel, visitors will be able to find an unusual approach with all four large Christmas trees hanging upside-down from the ceiling.
It has been three years since the hotel has introduced their take on Christmas decorations. It has been a huge success, the hotel said.
"It is from the Chinese tradition that in the spring people hang the Chinese character '福' (Bok: luck) upside-down in their house for luck. The character '倒' (Do: upside-down) sounds the same as the character '到' (Do: coming) using these homonyms," the hotel promoter said.
Therefore, the upside-down trees delivers the message that tidings of happiness and joy are coming, said Han Mi-sun of the hotel's promotions department. "Anyone who enters the hotel has to take this route. We hope everyone visiting the place will be blessed," she said.
This year's theme is "White Christmas." The extravagant light bulbs around the installment represent white snow. White, cobalt blue and golden balls as well as ribbons add to the festive mood.
Christmas Meets Art
The Shilla Hotel Seoul, famous for great art collections owned by the Samsung family, has installed "An Aggregate 09-0714" in the main lobby.
Park Seon-ki, one of the most active contemporary artists, was invited to show off his grand chandelier. Transparent acrylic boards are tied with nylon strings creating images of corn, hemispheres, squares and many other shapes. "The glitter and sparkles in the air give a warm and special atmosphere to visitors visiting the hotel to enjoy the year-end," Park was quoted as saying to the hotel.
It's not only the chandelier the hotel has to show off. Numerous paintings, print-arts, crafts, sculptures and others works will interest all visitors with the creative mood of the gallery. With open access to all visitors, the pieces have life and value, said a member of the hotel's promotions team.