If you want centrally located accommodation loaded with amenities and style, Hotel 28 Myeongdong – one of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World – is for you. You’ll have a library and art gallery to enjoy some quiet leisure time, as well as a gym if you can’t miss that HIIT session.
Drop your bags in your room bedecked in a monochrome palette, with grey walls and black-and-white photography keeping with the hotel’s cinematic theme. Slip under luxe goose-down bedding for an early night, or head up to the hotel’s rooftop to watch dusk roll in behind the space’s bold graffiti display.
You can try Korean food with a modern twist – like bibimbap, a hot-stone rice dish mixed with julienned vegetables – at the in-house eatery, Wolhyang. The restaurant also brews makgeolli, a rice wine typically favoured by farmers but that’s making a comeback with hip new drinkers. It’s worth sampling, especially the tangerine or peanut flavours native to the country’s southern islands, Jeju and Udo.
For an authentic taste of old Korea, you’ll want to check out Namdaemun Market (less than 15 minutes by rail) for snacks like chewy rice cakes in a spicy sauce. Or, head to Cheonggyecheon (30 minutes by public transport), a tranquil recreation area with a babbling stream, to escape the noise of the city.