Hotel4Real!

When I was booking a hotel for my short stay in Seoul, my plans did not involve hanging out in my hotel room for too long. As a result, all I was looking for was a launch pad for tourist activities and nightlife. The Moxy Insadong turned out to be perfect for exactly that.

My flight arrived early afternoon, and I wasn’t in a rush to get anywhere, so I decided to take the subway. That was a mistake, especially after a 12-hour flight, dragging around with me a checked bag and a carry-on. While location-wise it was convenient – the hotel was literally steps away from the Jongno-3-ga subway station – the journey turned out to be unexpectedly long and exhausting, with lots of people, somewhat confusing transfers, and above all, chains of unavoidable and sometimes extremely narrow escalators. As a result, after my 2-hour trek underground, I was in a pretty rough shape. All I wanted was to get checked in and forget about how I got there.

Thankfully, the check-in process was very efficient. The front desk was on the top floor, and in true Moxy fashion, doubled as a bar. In fact, the entire top floor was a bar with a panoramic-view rooftop patio, which was unfortunately not open during my stay due to cold weather. The front desk associate was polite, spoke good English, and proactively went through all I needed to know about the hotel. 4-pm check out was automatically added without question. I also received a welcome drink voucher plus a gift choice of 500 points, a US$10 F&B credit or daily breakfast, from which I chose breakfast for the next three mornings. I was “pre-upgraded” (more on that later) into a family room, and was sent on my way to my room.

To my surprise, even though I booked a room with one bed and single occupancy, I was given a family room with a queen bed plus a twin bed as an upgrade. The room was indeed larger (but not “large” by any means), on a higher floor, and the queen bed was larger than the one double bed I originally booked as well, but I found it interesting that they used these rooms as upgrades as I felt like there were definitely guests that could have better benefited from the layout. The room itself was as advertised and as expected, albeit they did not go as far in terms of crazy decors – everything felt modern but slightly conservative for a Moxy, especially in comparison to the public areas. My only complaints were the lack of a reliable desk/chair setup (there was a wobbly folding desk and a very uncomfortable folding chair) and the location of the TV – it was impossible to watch in any comfortable position.

I had my “Do Not Disturb” sign up during my stay, so housekeeping did not service my room. That being said, the room was set up perfectly when I checked in, and they left three lollypops on my bed as an added touch – very cute. One morning on my way to breakfast I ran into the room attendant on my floor. She also spoke perfect English, greeted me with a big smile and proactively asked if there were anything I needed. I asked for another bath towel, she disappeared into the closet for a few seconds and came out with two full sets of towels and a few water bottles. It was obvious she loved doing what she was doing, and it was great starting my morning with such a positive interaction.

The bathroom was surprisingly spacious and functional. A smart toilet was available. Shower was good with multiple settings, but required constant adjustments as hot water pressure could fluctuate a bit.

I chose breakfast as my welcome gift option, and I did not regret my decision one bit. Even though the breakfast area was not big, the buffet selection was probably one of the best I’ve seen in a select service hotel worldwide. Not only was there a variety of local Korean options, there was also a Western section as well as a Japanese section. On top of that, a noodle bar and a dessert bar were also available. The selections also changed each and every day during my stay, and I kept finding myself going for round two and round three every morning.

On my second night I redeemed my welcome drink voucher for a “Shangri-la” from the bar. It was in fact very similar to a red sangria, only heated up. Although the pour size was tiny, it was delicious and I ended up paying for a second, full pour.

But, nobody book a Moxy for the room, service or breakfast. In fact, Moxy encourages guests to spend as little time in their rooms as possible, and be hanging out in the public areas or be out and about. As such, public areas and location are especially important for Moxy. Even though Moxy Insadong’s public space was not the biggest, it was still functional and inviting. A hangout area aka “living room” was available on the ground floor, with an arcade, a foosball table and an air hockey table. Guest amenities such as gym and laundry room were also present. The laundry room featured washer and dryer sets, both of which were set to charge 4,000 won per cycle – not exactly pricey but not cheap either. Thankfully they accepted foreign credit cards. There was also a currency exchange machine at the hotel, the exchange rates were pretty standard – slightly better than the airport but not quite on par with the banks.

As I mentioned before, even though it was not a pleasant trip from the airport with all the luggage, the location of the hotel really could not be faulted. The hotel door was literally just a few steps away from the subway, and within two to three stations to most major attractions like Gyeongbokgung Palace, Changdeokgung Palace, Myeongdong, Namsan, Itaewon, Gwangjang Market, etc. Being in the Insadong area, there was also a TON of food, bar, convenience stores and entertainment options in the near vicinity. Seoul was bitter cold during my visit, the hotel was so centrally located I was able to frequently come back to the hotel to warm up in between spots.

Objectively, I feel like the Moxy Insadong is not a perfect hotel. The rooms were on the smaller side, guest facilities were somewhat limited, and there wasn’t a full-service restaurant, only a grab-and-go that was severely overpriced. However, subjectively I thoroughly enjoyed my stay and did not regret booking my first Seoul stay here, simply because it met and exceeded all my expectations, and gave me the perfect launch pad for my touristy stuff. I loved the simple but functional room design, cute and energetic ambiance, great staff, and most importantly, the awesome location. For first-time visitors looking to experience Seoul in the most efficient way time- and money-wise, I wholeheartedly recommend this hotel.

Ps. I took the airport limousine bus on my way back to ICN, much easier and well worth the extra some 10,000 won.

RealScore

Service: 8.0

Design and Room Size: 7.0

In-room Amenities: 6

Bathroom Size and Layout: 8

View from (my) Room: 8

Hotel Location: 10

Available Guest Facilities: 7

Food Quality: 9

Food and Beverage Service: 9

Executive Lounge Quality: N/A

Final RealScore: 7.77

Final RealRating: A

Hotel is built/opened: 2019

Total number of rooms: 140

Length of stay: 3 nights

Membership level at check-in: Titanium

Room type experienced: Premium Room (better amenities)