Hotel28 Myeongdong

Hotel28 Myeongdong

Every floor at Hotel28 Myeongdong carries a different set of film-inspired artwork, a detail left over from its founding idea: an industrial-design boutique hotel built around a cinematic theme. It was the first hotel in Korea admitted to Small Luxury Hotels of the World, and that membership shows less in marble than in restraint: 83 rooms, a gallery of work by emerging local artists, a rooftop garden, and a library where other hotels put a loud lobby. Standard rooms run about 237 square feet with a full double bed, free minibar, and an espresso machine, while the Corner Double Suite stretches to 495 square feet. Bathrooms have a free-standing tub, an electronic bidet, slippers, and a bathrobe. Location does the rest of the work. Myeongdong's shopping streets sit outside the door, Myeongdong Art Theatre is a short walk away, and City Hall, Namdaemun Market, and Deoksugung Palace are all close enough to reach on foot. Staff speak Chinese, English, Japanese, and Korean, useful given how many nationalities pass through this pocket of Seoul. This suits a woman who wants a design point of view and a central address without resort pricing, someone content to trade a pool for a gallery and a rooftop garden instead. It will frustrate anyone arriving with a large vehicle, since parking has height restrictions, or anyone travelling with a pet, since none are allowed here. What separates it from the block hotels stacked along the same streets is that Small Luxury Hotels membership, proof someone still pays attention to the small stuff. The rooftop garden and the gallery of local art make it easy to believe them. Hotel28 Myeongdong, Korea's first Small Luxury Hotels of the World member, pairs film-inspired art on every floor with a rooftop garden above Myeongdong's shopping streets. It suits design-minded travellers wanting a central address without resort pricing, though pet owners and large vehicles should look elsewhere.