I adore being active and exploring Seoul but when the weather is less than ideal, I have fallen in love with Seoul Staycations. Because there are so many places to stay in the city, you can usually find some outstanding and quite reasonable deals at really nice hotels. During the extreme summer humidity, monsoon season, and chilly sub-zero winter temperatures, cozying up in a hotel with a bottle of wine, some good face masks, take out, and a bubble bath is worth every penny!
9 Brick matched my staycation expectations beautifully. Centrally located in Hongdae, you can swing by Nature Republic or Olive Young for your face masks and Lush to grab a beloved bath bomb and then return before sunset to start your ultimate relaxation.
9 Brick is so great because you feel like you’re in a luxurious hotel without spending too much money! Keep an eye out on booking.com, hotels.com, and Naver for great deals and book during the weekdays, if possible, to get some extra savings.
We found a great deal on www.goodchoice.kr (a Korean website), and got our deluxe double room for W80,000. The deluxe double room was incredibly spacious and comfortable. We also had a great view of the city. Fingers crossed you find a similar deal! It is possible!
The rooms are equipped with a free Korean Netflix account, with a great sound system, so you can binge your favorite shows to your heart’s content. The bed and sheets are also very comfy so I can guarantee you won’t want to leave! Luckily, they make it easy for you to extend your check-out time for W10,000 per hour. We extended for an hour and it was well worth it!
Bath tubs are few and far between in Korea. 9 Brick was a score in this department! The tub was even on the large size (usually they’re a bit small to fit comfortably.) Additionally, it had great rims to set your wine glass. If you’re anything like me, you know how important that is!
LUXURIOUS BATH BOMB FROM LUSH. THEY AREN’T CHEAP BUT BOY ARE THEY GREAT!
For Westerners or foodies with high expectations, 9 Brick’s breakfast selection isn’t exactly gourmet. That said, I was pleasantly surprised and did enjoy some of the Korean touches, like Kimchi Fried Rice. Additionally, it is much cheaper than many of your typical Western-style breakfast restaurants and cafes in Seoul. You also will get to eat in their stunning dining area, which is a treat in itself.
If eating at the hotel isn’t your thing, but you still want a great breakfast, I HIGHLY suggest Grain. It is a mouthwatering Western-style breakfast place in Hongdae and is, by far, my favorite breakfast in Seoul. Paired with a Staycation at 9 Brick, you are in for a treat.
9 Brick is located in one of the most vibrant areas of Seoul: Hongdae! It is also located within walking distance to the subway to connect you with the rest of the city. If you’re starting to go stir-crazy in your hotel room, no fear, there is so much to do around!
Seoul has an abundance of cafes. A great one to check out, near 9 Brick, is the Harry Potter Cafe where you can take some great photos and try some Butter Beer! If you walk over to the main street in Hongdae, you can find Thanks Nature Cafe where you can visit some sheep while you sip your coffee. The cafe options are limitless, and luckily new ones are springing up all the time so you can never run out of new places to try!
Read more: Why Should You Visit The New Harry Potter Cafe in Seoul?
From 9 Brick, you can easily walk to the main shopping street in Hongik. This area is popular among college students so there is no shortage of shopping, cafes, bars, or restaurants! For the first time visitor, I suggest wandering without any real agenda and stumbling upon anything that strikes your fancy. You really can’t go wrong in Hongdae.
9 Brick was a very enjoyable and comfortable staycation for a low cost. The quality definitely exceeded the price and I enjoyed myself immensely. The location is hard to beat in the popular Hongdae area.
When booking, keep an eye out for the ‘couples deal’ (great for friends too!) which includes a bottle of wine, breakfast, and late checkout. Although, if I were to stay again, I would skip the wine and breakfast and spend all of my time in the hotel room itself enjoying the cozy bed and Netflix. Then after a late checkout, I’d saunter over to Grain for a delicious breakfast to top it all off!
