Kensington Hotel Seorak

“Very British but Korean top hospitality”

Nice hotel in the Seorak mountains with a very British Royality ambience. Very friendly and accomodating staff. Good breakfast and very clean rooms.

“Quaint but shame about Abbey Rd”

Great location and quaint take on English style. Breakfast is the most extensive choice I’ve encountered and serving staff lovely. However the Abbey Road restaurant should be avoided. Service was dreadful, the lady working was the most rude encounter I’ve had in Korea. Her uniform was dirty and att… more

Great location and quaint take on English style. Breakfast is the most extensive choice I’ve encountered and serving staff lovely. However the Abbey Road restaurant should be avoided. Service was dreadful, the lady working was the most rude encounter I’ve had in Korea. Her uniform was dirty and attitude worse. She let herself and her colleagues down.

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“Perfect location but living on past glories”

This is a grand hotel which in its heyday probably deserved the accolades but it is now a bit of a dinosaur with flaking scales. It is perfectly located right at the entrance to the National park in a gorgeous location. Staff are friendly and try hard but command of English is very poor and most gu… more

This is a grand hotel which in its heyday probably deserved the accolades but it is now a bit of a dinosaur with flaking scales. It is perfectly located right at the entrance to the National park in a gorgeous location. Staff are friendly and try hard but command of English is very poor and most guests are not Korean. Rooms are comfortable but there are water stains and flaking paint. Breakfast is excellent but the evening meals are barely edible. The dining room is very grand but the chef needs Gordon Ramsey to come and give the kitchen a major shake up. This is Korea, do good local food not some faux European muck. The pizza was absolutely the worst I have ever tried (and failed) to eat anywhere in the world and who in their right mind dumps cheese filled aranchini in the middle of a beef blancette?

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“Great location but falls short on other aspects”

The hotel is in an exceptional location in the middle of Seoraksan national park and right beside the main entrance to the park. Breakfast food was fantastic with a great range of Korean food as well as more Western food. Dinner in the hotel was also great. On the negative side, the hotel rooms ar… more

The hotel is in an exceptional location in the middle of Seoraksan national park and right beside the main entrance to the park. Breakfast food was fantastic with a great range of Korean food as well as more Western food. Dinner in the hotel was also great. On the negative side, the hotel rooms are very dated and old-fashioned and the staff service poor and amenities/service with the hotel is lacking. We arrived relatively late (19:45) after a long day travelling and weren't told whilst checking in that the restaurant closed at 20:00. We came down a little later 20:15ish hoping to get some food only to be told that the restaurant was closed. The hotel then gave us a list of restaurants back in Sokcho (40 mins drive away) that should be open. Not cool. A four star hotel should really offer some food after 20:00 and at least room service - particularly when there are no other restaurants for miles around. The lack of communication only made this worse. Considering this is a British themed hotel the ironic thing is that they don't provide any English Breakfast tea for breakfast. The only black tea that they have seems to be Earl Grey which has quite a polarising flavour - you either like it or you don't (and i'd say the majority of people don't). And to be extremely pedantic, Early Grey is an afternoon tea. So whilst the breakfast food was nice, there was not a decent 'brew' to be had. The room we had was very dated and a little on the small side. Again really limited selection of tea in the room. The bath tub is tiny - big enough for a child so no real hope of having a good soak after a long day hiking around Seoraksan national park.

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“Great location, hotel in poor condition”

The location is excellent. The Seoraksan National Park is a stunning place to visit and a very worthwhile stop on a trip to South Korea. The Kensington is perfectly located for visiting. It's a short stroll to the entrance of the park. The hotel also has stunning views to the mountains. Those are… more

The location is excellent. The Seoraksan National Park is a stunning place to visit and a very worthwhile stop on a trip to South Korea. The Kensington is perfectly located for visiting. It's a short stroll to the entrance of the park. The hotel also has stunning views to the mountains. Those are the strongest features of the hotel. We found the staff too to be polite, efficient and clearly wanting to do a good job. We were pleasantly surprised by the quality and spread of the breakfast buffet - a good range of Western and Korean options. However, sadly, the physical condition of the hotel is not good. The whole hotel is tired, with particularly the corridors having very worn carpets and wallpaper. Corridors also are a bit musty. The public areas have a very heavily themed style around 'stars' and British history in particular. It's not offensive, but it is heavily done and not to my taste. Our room - the Korean style - was in better condition but still felt tired overall. The weakest point is the bathrooms. As others have reported, there was mould on the walls and ceiling. The sink was strangely low. The shower head didn't fix properly in the holder. The water was not hot if nearby rooms were taking a shower at the same time. This was certainly not a four star hotel and I think it reasonable for a three star to have a bathroom without mould and a constant supply of hot water. The hotel needs significant investment to be a credible hotel. I hope the owners are planning that.

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