From The Outside, KAL's "7 Star Hanok Hotel" Showcases Excellence in Freight

Remember Korean Air's "hanok hotel" project in  Songhyeon-dong(see "Korean Air Grounded : Seoul 7 Star Hotel Delayed")? Rather than traditional Korean architecture, the first aerial views bring to mind plane hangars ("Excellence in Freight"?), computer chips, old tape recorder keys, or maybe the kind of golden piano keys Liberace's diamond-laden fingers would love to strike:

Source "7성급 한옥호텔'이라더니…귀퉁이 영빈관이 '고작'"  (News1 - 20140417) via Naver

The architect KIM Won - who worked with the great KIM Swoo-geun at Space Group - went as far as wondering if this was truly the work of a renowned colleague (Mario Botta, who did the round part of the Leeum), and how this thing could pretend to be inspired by hanok.

Yes, if you look closely in the upper left corner, you do find a couple of hanoks, but they sound very much like the "Hanok Alibi" I wrote about last year in "Build a hanok and they will come - Marketing impostures and genuine slow urbanism":

twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/310299015470256128

And you can't even see them from the street the way you do for the Office of Royal Genealogy at the nearby MMCA Seoul*..., but that's consistent with a non-inclusive, resolutely exclusive 7-star concept that, otherwise and regardless of its degree of hanokness, seems optimized to leverage on intense foot traffic at a key touristic intersection, with a gallery facing Insadong. 

Note that unlike in Blingblingistan (a.k.a. Dubai), hotel classifications don't reach as far as 7 stars in Korea, but that's another story. At least - speaking of stories - this high-profile project remains low-rise...

... and at ground level for the moment, because the land has remained untouched so far. I took this view from across the street a couple of years ago...

November 2011

... and News1 published this close-up yesterday: 

Source "서울 호텔 이용률 78.9%, 공급과잉 우려"  (News1 - 20140416)

News1's shot was taken not far from where the gallery will be erected, at the bottom righ corner in the aerial view above. This angle prolongs the Insadong axis, and you can see the Folk Museum, Cheong Wa Dae, and Bugaksan in the background.

Note that this last picture illustrated an article about the mounting risk of hotel rooms oversupply in Seoul, a recurrent topic on my own "Korean errlines"**, and an issue raised yesterday by the CCEJ (Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice) during a meeting where the so-called 'hanok hotel' came under fire.

Intense lobbying eventually seems to be paying for KAL, and leveraging the government's recent deregulation frenzy, an obviously tailor-made reform took care last month of the law that had blocked the company for years (no hotels could be built near schools, and there's a couple of them just next door):

"Law changes to allow hotels near schools. Will #KoreanAir build its 'hanokized' 7-star near #Anguk?" (20140327)
twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/449016361151242241

So if you want an aerial view from a hotel with hanok, I suggest the one I took a couple of days ago from the 23rd floor of The Shilla:

"#Jangchung Gymnasium in its #Colosseum stage (in the distance, #DDPSeoul, #Doota Tower)"
twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/455589503902568448

Following a bottom right - top left diagonal:

• in the right corner: the hotel's Yeong Bing Gwan, a 1967 hanok used for weddings and receptions
• in the center: the old Jangchung Gymnasium, beheaded during its renovation, almost looks like Roma's Colosseo
• in the background: on the way to Doota Tower, the shining flank of the giant squid (the DDP - see "Sneak peek inside Dongdaemun Design Plaza and Park")

And of course, Wongudan's Hwanggungu Pavilion is still standing on Westin Chosun territory.

Seoul Village 2014
Welcome to our Korean Errlines! Follow Seoul Village on Facebook and Twitter

Add this page to your favorites


* BTW if you fancy more animated aerial views of this block, re-watch "MMCA Seoul from above")
** along with the future magnets on each side of the Gyeongbokgung: this KAL hotel and the Four Seasons (see for instance "Four Seasons Seoul", "A 6 Star Hotel in Gwanghwamun?")

Four Seasons Seoul

Just to wrap up my January 2012 post on Mirae Asset's luxury hotel project in Gwanghwamun ("A 6 Star Hotel in Gwanghwamun?"), which as expected went to Four Seasons, and will open on May 2015:

See also "Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts enters Korea" (Four Seasons PR 20130904)

For the prestigious hotel group, Seoul fills a gap in an increasingly strategic region. Mirae Asset confirm their ambitions in hospitality businesses: they bought the Four Seasons Sydney a few days before the deal was announced (from Eureka Funds Management, see "Four Seasons sold for $340 million" - The Sydney Morning Herald 20130821), and also pilot the Courtyard by Marriott in Pangyo.

Now I realize that I never shared any image of a project I often pass by. Well the working site is not that spectacular...

March 14, 2013 (much more advanced today!)

... and the architecture not very original either:




The future 317-room hotel near Sejongno Sageori

 
As far as office spaces are concerned, Gwanghwamun area has been dotted with many new towers over the past years, and in order to fill them, operators had to suck tenants out of older and lower tier buildings. If many hotels will open across Seoul in the months and years to come, this shouldn't be the case for a hospitality franchise targeting elites.

Still, competition will be fierce. Particularly since all major players have completed renovation, most recently their main rival, The Shilla Seoul, which at last decided to act as a leader by opening a high end Korean restaurant: even if they don't make a fortune with 'La Yeon', that's a higher calling (see "Korean Cuisine Aiming At World's Top Five. China is watching"). I would be disappointed if Four Seasons Seoul failed to propose fine Korean dining.


Seoul Village 2013
Welcome to our Korean Errlines! Follow Seoul Village on Facebook and Twitter

Add this page to your favorites

Wireless Korea

All Seoulites are used to this kind of bibimmyeon packs of wires floating over their heads in every street. They're part of the cityscape (I took this picture, titled 'Wireless Korea', back in 2003 near Hongdae), but also messy and potentially dangerous : electricity, FTTH, or cable TV run through them, and magpies often build their nests at key intersections, provoking the occasional fire or network collapse.

At long last, the city has decided to do something about it and to bury them underground, starting with Jangchung-dong (a hilly neighborhood hosting the circular indoor Jangchung Gymnasium at the feet of Shilla Hotel), and Dongjak-gu.

This 'software' approach could prolong the community-based 'human town concept'*, where pavements and green spaces tend to multiply, and closed walls to disappear.

Way to go... but considering Korea's unfathomable multilayer plug-ins / upgrades tradition, authorities would better make their brand new cable-ways easily accessible.

Speaking of local authorities : AhnLab founder Ahn Cheol-Soo declared his potential bid as an independent candidate for Seoul mayorship, instantly claiming the top spot in the polls (39.5%). I guess he'd have to beef up his V3 antivirus software against rampant corruption.

Seoul Village 2011
NEW : follow Seoul Village on Facebook and Twitter

* see "OH Se-hoon launches the "Seoul Human Town" concept"

Seoul Plaza Hotel joins the renovation frenzy

From May 3rd, the Seoul Plaza Hotel will be closed for renovations. It should reopen 6 month later, about 10 days before the G20 Summit (November 2010). Will remain open for business during the renovation : the Grand Ballroom banquet and wedding facilities, the spa and fitness, and the hotel's restaurants with a direct access from the outside.

The 34 year old hotel will change its white dress for a metal-bronze look, and a new positioning as a "European boutique hotel". The number of guest rooms will be cut from 445 down to 400 to accomodate more suites. The Westin Chosun and Hotel Shilla have also been recently improved, but this one moves after the downturn, a clear sign of optimism from hospitality businesses in Korea. Tourism and logistics infrastructures are among the sectors where Foreign Direct Investment is booming, and Seoul keeps gaining momentum as a major touristic as well as business / convention destination.

On the other side of Seoul Plaza, another landmark is undergoing a total relooking : the new Seoul City Hall just completed its basement levels, so the big wave should start bulging anytime soon*. Meanwhile, you can visit the small exhibition about that major (indeed) project, including images from the propositions that were turned down**.

While I'm at it : Sejongno and Taepyeongno will soon be called "Sejongdaero" or Sejong Avenue. I guess it doesn't change anything as far as the "dongs" are concerned but for the road itself, it means one single name between Gwanghwamun and Sungnyemun, and its confirmation as the spine of downtown Seoul.


Seoul Village 2010

* I can't help but see a tsunami there (see "Business for the Environment Global Summit 2010 in Seoul")
** Today, the square was not really festive, hosting a ceremony to mourn Cheonan victims