This Is the Best Hotel for First-Timers to Seoul, Korea

First-timers often make planning mistakes, but I was lucky enough to get one answer exactly right: where to stay. I landed in Seoul at voco Seoul Myeongdong, a trendy hotel on the outskirts of Myeondong. Its location is not only ideal for accessing Myeongdong, but is the perfect spot to make the rest of your trip easy, too — almost down to what block it’s on. It’s walking distance to Seoul Station (absolutely vital if you’re taking an airport bus) and walkable to everything from historic sites to museums to multiple subway systems. In a city that’s already overwhelming (in a good way), VoCo Seoul Myeongdong was the perfect calm, but still wildly convenient, basecamp. Here’s what to know.

A new(ish) hotel in central Seoul

Photo: voco Seoul Myeongdong

IHG’s voco Seoul Myeongdong opened in late 2024 as the second Korean outpost of the voco brand, with the first in the higher end Gangnam neighborhood. It’s is a premium-but-not-stuffy brand IHG launched in 2018, and it’s been expanding rapidly since then. voco Seoul Myeongdong is large, with 576 rooms across 22 floors. Hoehyeon Station (exit 3) is about a minute from the door, with Seoul Station, Myeongdong’s shopping streets, and Namdaemun Market all within a 10-minute walk. For travelers arriving via the AREX airport train, it’s one of the better-positioned international-brand hotels in the city, and the convenient “limousine buses” from the airport (route 6001, to be exact) drops you in front of the property — which you’ll appreciate if you’re hauling luggage and very jet lagged.

The rooms

A standard room at voco Seoul Myeongdong. Photo: voco Seoul Myeongdong

I stayed in a standard king room on an upper floor. Though it wasn’t marked as any type of enhanced room, I had an amazing view of Seoul Tower and the surrounding park, which was amazing both day and night. The room wasn’t as large as you might find at a brand-new hotel (the building dates to about 2013), but it would be large enough for a couple and was certainly large enough for just one person. It was comfortable, clean, and skewing toward luxurious and modern. Every room has a complimentary mini bar with sodas and coffee, as well as a coffeemaker and plenty of space in the mini-fridge. My bathroom was large, with a combo shower-bathtub and plenty of counter space. Bathroom amenities are plant based, with refillable containers instead of more wasteful single-use products.

A pool, gym, and very useful lounge

The voco Seoul Meongdong lounge's bar area. Photo: Suzie Dundas

The lounge area. Photo: Suzie Dundas

The happy hour and food and drink options. Photo: Suzie Dundas

Level three has an all-season indoor pool and hot tub, plus a 24-hour gym (IHG). I got in all my steps while walking around the city, but the 24-hour gym could definitely be useful to help beat jet lag. The hotel’s best space, though, is the Club Lounge on the 18th floor, which serves afternoon tea and an evening happy hour, all facing Seoul Tower across the Namsan hillside. I arrived around 8 PM — too early to go to bed, but still pretty jet lagged from the trip. I went to the lounge and ordered a hot tea, which I sipped while planning my sightseeing for the next day. The evening happy hours were also fantastic, with free spirits and plenty of snacks — while it’s advertised as light snacks, it made a full dinner for me, with everything from japchae to pastries to marinated tofu, chips and hummus, spring rolls, and lots of cheese and vegetables. You can book a club room that comes with access, or it’s included for certain IHG reward status holders.

Other dining options

52 Market Place serves Korean and international dishes. Photo: voco Seoul Myeongdong

As much as I loved sipping tea and watching the lights come on from the lounge during my first night, it’s not the only dining options. I also made use of the shops on the ground floor, including the Twosome Place café, where I grabbed coffee on my way out most mornings. There’s also a 24-hour convenience store next to it with snacks, drinks, and the usual sundry items. When I got back to my hotel at 11 PM after a walking ghost tour, I was both hungry and tired, and the cafe was a lifesaver for a last minute bite to eat. That said, there are also lots of restaurants within walking distance, as well as the fun Myeongdong night market. I also especially liked the budget-friendly snack shop across the street, with shelf after shelf of Korean and internationally salty snacks, chips, cookies, candy, and everything else you might want on a whim.

But if you want something more formal, or are a big breakfast person, you need not venture away from the lobby. The on-site restaurant serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with a fairly interesting concept: its menu is full of higher end takes on classic international street food. Items run from grilled eel and Sichuan pepper jangajji to hummus and pita to mascarpone salmon rigatoni. It takes reservations, making it very easy to plan your day around meal stops rather than trying to wait in line at some of the busy, no-reservations restaurants around Myeongdong. Breakfast is a la carte, or available as an add-on when booking. While my schedule didn’t allow me to try eating there, the ratings are quite good, with a 4.8 out of 5 Google rating.

Should you stay here?

The hotel is as convenient as it gets to the bustling streets of Myeongdong. Photos: Suzie Dundas

If it’s your first time in Seoul, yes. This isn’t the hotel for travelers who want a small boutique property in a residential neighborhood, and it’s not a posh flagship resort for luxury travels in Gangnam. It’s a big, well-run, recently renovated hotel that removes nearly every logistical headache a first-timer faces, from the airport bus at the curb to the subway exit a minute away. I think walking through cities is one of the best ways to get to know them, and I adored walking everywhere from Deoksugung and Gyeonghuigung palaces to Seoul Tower to Dongdaemun Design Plaza — but if you don’t want to walk, public transit couldn’t be more convenient.

But it’s not just the physical location that makes it convenient.But it’s not just the physical location that makes it convenient. The on-site coffee shop, the nearby restaurants, the 24-hour gym, the fast Wi-Fi — little details that just make every trip easier. One particularly useful feature is the Wow Pass machine in the lobby. The Wow Pass is a prepaid card built specifically for foreign visitors to Korea — load it with your own currency, and it converts to won on the spot. It doubles as a T-money transit card, so the same card that bought my morning coffee got me through subway and airport train turnstiles. It also gets you discounts at select stores like Line Friends, Seoul Tower, Musina, and Olive Young, and the exchange rates beat most conversion counters, especially at the airport.

These days, most vendors accept international credit cards, but even those that don’t will accept the Wow Pass. It’s easier than carrying cash and easier than buying a separate transit card. It’s also a useful tool for tracking (or maybe limiting) your spending at some of the neighborhoods many, many trendy stores and boutiques.

An indoor pool in downtown Seoul? Yes, please. Photo: Suzie Dundas

Rooms start around $185 a night, which seems like a great rate given the mix of comfort and convenience. If I ever based myself in Myeongdong again, I’d be hard-pressed to try another property, when I know this one is already so ideal. Myeongdong is lively, energetic, and tons of fun — but also a bit exhausting and overwhelming, which is why it helps to have a hotel that isn’t.