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Our first two nights we stayed in S.A. Seoul Station, an service apartment located just right across Seoul Station. Owned by a Hong Konger, S.A. Seoul’s clientele are mainly Hong Konger, Taiwanese and sometimes Singaporean. We decided to stay here after reading numerous glowing reviews from bkkz forum. It’s location is unbeatable:
2 minutes walk to Seoul Station (subway line 1 & 4), AREX Seoul Station, KTX station & Lotte Mart
2 stations away from Myeongdong (subway line 4)
1 station away from City Hall (subway line 1)
4 stations away from Dongdaemun (subway line 1 & 4)
We took Airport Bus 6050 (15000 won) which stopped just across from S.A. Seoul Station. AREX to Seoul Station would be a cheaper option (3700 won). One just need to take the staircase down and walk across the road. Check in was done swiftly at room 406. The receptionists passed us a security card as the building main door will be close after 10 pm. In return, we have to surrender our ID card as collateral. We were also given a pass code to gain access to our unit – 1507. S.A. Seoul owns more than 10 units at the same building; while the other units are being occupied by Korean families.
entrance – toilet door on the left and (camouflaged ) wardrobe & fridge on the right.
The loft unit is tastefully decorated with MUJI furnitures, espousing a minimalist eco lifestyle.
A top down view from the attic.
High tech looking air conditioner and heater.
The main bedroom is located upstairs. Our sleeping arrangement for four was two at the attic while another two slept at tatami style bed at the living hall. The wooden floor is heated so we felt pretty comfortable.
A cozy corner but remember to watch out your head when you wake up in the morning.
There’s also a very well equipped kitchen in the loft unit.
We got to prepare our breakfast every morning.
Microwave Oven
There’s also a complete set of utensils.
The toilet was small but clean with basic facilities such as water heater and Japanese bidets. What irritated us was the water drain really slow. The shower area will be flooded with water whenever someone took a shower.
towel, toiletries, etc
S.A. Seoul provides ginseng health patch & BB Cream for their guests. They can purchase on behalf if their guests like it.
Guide Book. It was a considerate touch as the guide book provides detail instructions on how to operate the washing machine, air conditioner, floor heater, wifi, TV, etc.
What we like about S.A. Seoul:
Great location
Minimalist interior with MUJI furnishing
Nice view of Seoul city
Reasonable price
Feels like home
Our complains:
Small toilet with bad drainage system. Was told it is a common problem at level 15 rooms as it is the top floor. Try asking for other rooms.
Unsightly mildew stain on toilet tiles.
We paid a peak period rate of USD 150 per night for our unit which fits 4. Payment is remitted via PayPal with an additional 5% charge. Full payment is required before arrival. S.A. Seoul is also offering bridal packages, day tours and booking services. Email them at saseoul1@gmail.com to enquire.
S.A. Seoul
首爾特別市 龍山區 西界洞219-17 番地 首爾火車站楓琳 I-One
Poong-Lim I-One ,Seoul Station 219-17 Segea Dong,Young-San Gu ,Seoul
서울시 용산구 서계동219-17번지 서울역풍림아이원
Website: http://www.saseoul.com/rooms/index.html
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/SA-Seoul-SA-Tour/139234639478740
Next Up: Groceries Shopping @ Lotte Mart, Seoul Station (with a list of must buy items)
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What is e rate per night?
It’s 150 usd for a 4 person unit as mentioned 🙂
woah..nice room eh ~
Yes very tasteful 🙂
Thanks for the tips! I figure that hotel rates in Seoul must be quite pricey right?
Yes michelle, hotels are generally expensive. Good Guest houses are cheaper options at about rm100-150 per night, but with parents on tow better stay at hotels la :p
Looks like a nice place to stay! Would keep this place in mind if I happen to go to Korea next time!
Yes Shaun will love it too!
I never knew about this service apartment cause I prefer to stay in guest house when visiting Japan, South Korea and Taiwan cause hotels are extremely expensive. Some guest houses are perfect and comfort for family especially in ur case just like where I stayed in Namsan Guest House, 5 minutes away from Myeong-Dong area. Every day and night when there.
Agree with u. I’ve stayed at holiday in Korea guest house 5 years back it was a great experience. This time we want to have a place where the airport bus stop right in front because we had a lot of luggage-hence Toyoko inn and this apartment.
I am considering Seoul for a trip this year but heard that English is not widely understood in Seoul. It seems that most people either have friends showing them around or they join a tour group. Looking foward to your posts on Seoul for ideas.
I read through your Hong Kong posts as it is really fun to read about what visitors think of where I currently live here. Here is my “local” point of view:
Australia Diary Company: I love this place and take all of my visitors here, so far everyone loved it. I also gave it a rave review on my blog.
Leaf Dessert: I find their sesame paste to be the best.
Tai Cheong: I love their egg tarts. I never used to eat the hard crusted outside as back in NYC the egg tarts were like Honolulu Cafe’s eggtart. But Tai Cheong’s are just fantastic especially when hot. The silky smooth center is the star. Honolulu’s egg tarts seem bland in comparison. The best marriage of the two would be the eggtarts found in Macau at Lord Stowe’s.
Tim Ho Wan: I agree that the price is pretty cheap, but an hour plus wait for this caliber of dimsum in Hong Kong, where there is arguably good dimsum everywhere is not worth the precious tourist hours. Instead try Dimsum Square at 88 Jervois Street, Sheung Wan for the same price and similar fare(they make the same roast pork buns). For really amazing dimsum I would suggest Man Wah @ Mandarin Oriental or Cuisine Cuisine @ The Mira.
Yung Kee: Their roast goose is overrated unless you are a VIP and head for Yung Kee 4th floor. In addition to their famed Century Egg, their Salted Eggs are top notch as well.
Congee: I highly recommend Wong Chi Kee’s Crab congee in Central and Shunde’s congee in Jordan if you love congee. By far the best congee places in Hong Kong, and I have tried at least 30+places ever since moving to HK 9 months ago. Can you tell I heart congee? =)
Hi Kelly yes English is not widely used but Koreans are really nice people, they always try their best to help so no problems for us throughout the trip. Wow I really love your valuable inputs, will be heading to Hk again and I will definitely try out the porridge place and dim sum place u recommended. Did u try mui Kei btw? We really liked it 🙂
Hello there!
I would like to thank you so much for painstakingly accumulating all your travel logs and information. It is not easy to DIY travel, much less collate all the intenaries! Salute! I(and many others,I’m sure) really really appreciate good souls like you who believe that sharing is
caring.
Thanks to your thoughtfully curated Taiwan travel log, which I refered to like a bible to plan a surprise trip for my gf, we had a wonderful &
fulfilling trip early this year in March.
And now, like an answered prayer, just when I was about to plan another surprise trip for us to Seoul, I checked your site and ta-da!! It must be my lucky day! 🙂
So, oh-so-kind-one, may I please trouble you to email me a copy of your precious rendition of “Best Eats In Korea” too? Thank you so much.
Sincerely,
Jeff
Hello there,
I would just like to express my heartfelt gratitude at how much I(and many others too,I’m sure) appreciate kind souls like you, who bother to go to the trouble to collate every of your travel logs and itenaries painstakingly. It must have been not an very easy thing to do at all, what more with all that detailed directions and information about each place!
Thanks to you, and your meticulous Taiwan trip itenaries which I refered to like a bible, while planning a surprise trip for my gf, we had a wonderful and fulfilling time over there.
And now, just like an answered prayer, just when I was going to plan another surprise trip to Korea for my gf, I came on your website and ta-da! I’m such a lucky man today…
So, may I please trouble you to email me with a copy of your precious “Best Eats in Korea”?
Again, thank you so much…:)
Hi! Thank you for giving us information about this apartment. I just saw the website but I can’t read it and I couldn’t access the photos. Does the staff there speaks English? It really looks good for us since we are 5 persons and will stay for one week. I might go to Seoul maybe next week with my family and I’d searched almost every hotel, guesthouses that I could find. Most of them are very expensive. Others are cheap but the facilities & rooms are not satisfactory. maybe you could recommend us some cheap accommodation? Thank you again for your lovely posts! I felt more excited especially travelling with my whole family! I’m 18 and this is like my debut birthday gift 🙂
Hi Erika, you may email them in English at saseoul1@gmail.com. Not sure if room is still a/v as they r really popular. Such a cool family, happy birthday to u in advance. Another option would be Toyoko inn, reservation must be made in their website
Hello! such a quick response. Thank you!
Thank you for the info and I just emailed them. Thank you too for greeting me but my birthday was on jan. 12. hehe! I must also search about toyoko inn. really really thank you! Have a nice day! 🙂
Hi
Thank for sharing this useful info. I am really interested in this place. Anyhow I emailed them but they answered me in Chinese which i cannot read. Do u know how I can book the place and pay? Do I have to pay all in advance?
Thanks a lot!
Rung
Hi you can also call them and tell them that you can only converse in English. Yes, I made payment via Paypal, they require full payment. 🙂
Hi ! Just love the way you guys plan and list down all the details. I kinda of like the service apartment that you had stayed but their bookings are full.
Can you share or suggest any site where I can also check for service apartment?
hi June, actually this is the one with good reviews, we are not too suer about others. u mind guesthouses? they are clean and good too. a lot of ppl recommend namsan guest house
Thanks. Will check it .
Hello,
I am really amazed by your detailed planning of DIY trip in Korea, Taiwan, Bali etc!
May I know how long you usually spend to detail out the itinerary of a DIY trip and pls advise especially on how to plan with those that needs bus transit? Love your last night with fireworks, superb timing and beautiful!
Do you mostly research especially for the local transportation and accommodation yourself from internet or through friends’ recommendation? I can see you have some local friends with you around.
Hi Jun, thanks for your compliments. We normally prepare a month ahead by using google, trip advisor and travel forums such as bkkz (chinese) and lowyat forum (english).
We normally do it ourselves, normally the locals have no ideas where to stay, just like when you ask me about a nice budget hotel in KL, I won’t know. Guess we are just hardworking and we really want to make sure that our trips are perfect as money doesnt come by easily 🙂
hi..tried to view the rates for SA Seoul apartment;but no english translation…
i’m from malaysia. will reach seoul this april 2013..
yes u can click on the language option for english version. non member can only make room booking 3 months before, in ur case should be january 2013 🙂
Hi,
After reading your awesome blog about Seoul, I’m really interested to stay at the Saseoul apartment, in fact, i’ve emailed to them about the dates and prices but my worry is about the tatami. Is it really comfortable? is the mattress really thick enough and warm enough since we’ll be there on the first week of December. Is it something like those in Japan ryokan?
Hope to hear from you soon.
cheers!
hi cecilia, it’s not really ryokan. it’s just normal wood floring and the mattress is of medium thickness. we find it ok because the floor is heated, you can adjust the heat level according to the weather
hi, hopefully i’ll get a responds from this comment 😉
im going korea from december 17-26 this year, 4 people
are there any other apartment or place to stay u recommend?
(PS, the muji apartment is sadly fully booked)
we really love to find some where to stay like muji
hi nika, u can search from tripadvisor perhaps? there’s a column of specialty lodging where theres a list of apartments/guest house 🙂
Hi, do you have any idea how to make the payment to S.A Seoul other then Paypal?
Hi claudia, I think for us the only way to pay is via paypal unless you have china/hk bank account
Hi,
Thanks for sharing such a detailed DIY trip of Korea! We have booked our tickets to go to Korea 3/9/2013 but can’t find any tour company offering a ground tour on such date. We have made all inquiries on tour companies in our town Sibu, Kuala Lumpur & even Singapore. Your website of excellent description of your Korea trip offer us courage to do likewise! Thank you very much! Just hope we can manage it successfully like you.
Can you please kindly:-
(1) inform us how to book S.A Seoul Station & Toyoko Inn? How to apply for membership from Malaysia?
(2) how to get discount vouchers?
(3) excluding shopping & hotel, how much approximately each person needs to spend for transport, food, entrance fee to places of interest as per your itinerary?
(4) are there any particular things that we should bring with us?
Hope to hear from you soon, as our trip is early next month.
Many thanks,
Enid Ling
Hi Enid, yes you can do free and easy, just need research.
1) refer to this post – http://kampungboycitygal.com/2012/10/toyoko-inn-seoul-dongdaemun/. however i don’t think both hotel is available as you are traveling in one mth time. both of the hotels are fully booked usually 2-3 mths before.
2) for discount voucher please read – http://kampungboycitygal.com/2012/04/7-money-saving-tips-travel-tips-to-south-korea-with-discount-vouchers-attached/
3) we spent 3.5k all in
4) nothing much, you can buy basically everything there.
Have fun exploring Korea! 🙂
Hi,
I shall appreciate much if you can reply my querries to my email.
Thanks,
Enid Ling
this looks comfy..
anyway,is the kitchen a shared kitchen?
the website is in chinese, i dont understand a thing.. *sigh~*
hi,this looks comfy..
and it is affordable too..
anyway,is the kitchen a shared kitchen?
the website is in chinese, i dont understand a thing.. *sigh~*
the staff there can speak english right?
How do we make reservations for this place? Any phone #’s?
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