Bday weekend @ the Banyan Tree

NB: Please excuse the rather commercial/review-type nature of this post, as it's going to be cross-blogged on 10 Magazine.

A lovely bday gift from the crew at 10 Mag - complimentary stay at the brand new Banyan Tree Club & Spa in Seoul. Two things I want to note here before I go on: 1) the primary purpose of this establishment is to be a private club for super rich people who can afford the exborbent annual fees, but there is also a hotel with 50 rooms within the premises which is where we stayed and 2) the hotel is still in its soft opening period, which means many restaurants & bars were not open, with the hard opening set for early July.

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Arrival - the grounds are quite large, with separate buildings for the Hotel, Club, and Festa (a dining building with restuarants, terrace and outdoor pool). The hotel building is not so impressive from the outside, but very nice with a boutique feel on the inside.

Valentino, Missoni & Vivienne Westwood getting the attention they deserve :)

The first (most traumatic) thing happened when we were in the lift. Soft openings can be a headache for both the hotel and guests... the power stops and we are stuck in the lift!! Thank goodness we had the front desk girl with us and she was tirelessly apologetic, and when she heard I was pregnant she continuously fanned me with her folder cos it was so hot in there. It wasn't too long before someone came around and fixed it (probably the front desk manager, judging from his suit, perplexed expression and sweat dripping all the way down his body - poor thing), and we were promptly led out to our room, a thousand apologies in tow. Drama!!

Picwhoring in the lift while we were waiting - making good use of time! :D

Our room - what a surprise! Gorgeous views of Namsan & a massive bath in the centre of the room. This was the standard Deluxe, so they only get better from here!

Korean sauna with a view, flatscreen internet, outstanding drinks (aged cognac & superb espresso) and other little fine touches make for a very impressive room.

We took a tour of the (yet to be opened) Celeste Dining area and Terrance Lounge. Right now it's competely bare but come July it will be transformed...

... into this:

WOW, I guess I'm coming back! There will also be a top floor wine bar that also looks very exciting. It's just such a bummer that we didnt get to try it this time. We also didn't get to go into the club building which houses the amazing spa that I've heard so much about (Steve's boss told me its the best he's ever been to) because the power cut out AGAIN!!! Again, proves my theory about soft openings.

Meanwhile, me with 13 week belly :P

Heading out for dinner:

The outdoor pool which turns into an ice-skating rink in winter, with lovely cabanas above to relax in:

I spotted 3 Birkins in the first two minutes I got there, proof that this is the hangout of the ajuma elite. I got pictures of 2 of them to prove it!

We decided to have dinner at the outdoor barbeque buffet instead of sitting in a stuffy restuarant. Great idea! We ate our meal first, and then took our drinks and dessert up to our reserved cabana:

Relaxing for the rest of the night by our plunge pool (that neither of us went into cos we forgot to pack our swimwear)...

I took pics of the view as the night wore on, trying to make good use of what I learnt in that photography class...

As per usual, I fell asleep by 10pm due to pregnancy fatigue, and Steve snuck out to the downstairs bar to watch the Korea vs Uraguay match with the rest of the hotel. They served free beer and fries, so I guess he had a grand time, even though Korea lost.

Breakfast the next morning, and a lovely breakfast it was. Continental buffet with a la carte mains (the best way) with a superb choice of local and Western breakfasts of very fine quality:

HAHA bonus! Naked man hehehehehehehe....

Ok, that one is not going in 10 Mag LOL...

VERDICT

Impressive:
- Service was impeccable
- Food (in the hotel) is top quality, no complaints
- Room is outstanding
- Will be one of the bests hotels in Seoul after they open up the rest of the dining/bars

Not so:
- Soft opening hiccups like power failure, which happened twice
- We didnt get to try the coveted spa due to the maintenance issue
- Very little choice for dining as most things are not open
- Standard of English by non-hotel staff (ie. pool & Club staff) is not so great
- Can be a little excessively priced, but you get what you pay for

Overall, it was a great experience and will undoubtedly be one of the newest "it" places to hang in Seoul, after the hotel smooths out some of their rough edges. Lots of potential!!!

xxoo