Hidden Bay Hotel

For a hotel that charges 4 star prices, this was one the most non-memorable hotels we stayed. We traveled as a family with two toddlers in a weekend but most of the review should apply to a variety of travelers. Arriving at the hotel, there was nobody to help with our luggage. We could have used some help after a long journey. This wasn’t a one time issue - there wasn’t anybody to help whenever we came in an out. The reception person (a man) was one of the most unfriendly hotel staff we have met in Korea. Never mind smiling. He seemed annoyed at answering even normal questions. The rooms were small and narrow, which made the sea view suboptimal. One good thing is the wooden Ondol (temperature control) flooring found in some Korean buildings. Don’t choose the carpet floor if wooden floor is available. They also setup the kids tent we requested. They were fine to play. But when one of our kids slept there, the faulty design made it easy for him to slip out of the tent. He got up in the middle of the night sleeping on the floor with the cold air coming from outside. The breakfast was suboptimal. We stayed in lower quality hotels with better food. The western pastries were particularly bad and everything else was blend, including coffee. Even the Korean soups were below average. The sponge cake was the only thing good. Not worth the $50 we paid. Then the lowlight: we choose the hotel because of the indoor swimming pool for the kids. We came for a swim in the morning as we were too tired to swim after travels the day before. We weren’t excited to discover that the shower and lockers were in a separate building and had to walk outside to the indoor pool during cold weather in wet swimming gear or in robes. And then we found out that the swimming pool hours started at 11am! So we couldn’t use the pool at all, to disappointing looks of our kids. The pool hours may have been publicized at the web site. But it’s such an unusual policy that we didn’t see it when reserving. It’s the whole philosophy of managing pool traffic at the guests expense and experience that is troubling. This exemplifies the whole real philosophy of the hotel: put nice photos and features to attract visitors and do the minimum thus saving resources with the actual guest experience. The Hidden Bay hotel should stay hidden.Pm

The views are fantastic, the room comfortable. We used the gym and the pool - both were enjoyable. We used our balcony every day to watch the sunrise, sunset, and boats coming and going. Onsite laundry machines were fast and affordable. Visiting in late Sept, the patio and terrace were mostly closed up but we still had a nice time sitting outside at sunset. We ate the breakfast buffet each morning and while a little expensive, was our largest meal of the day with a huge variety of foods. I will recommend to friends who might visit Korea, I would stay again!

Our first room on the 7th floor stunk of pee near the toilet and out of the shower drain. We notified the staff and they “cleaned” the toilet but it still smelled. After finding a dirty, used coffee cup later that day, the hotel staff moved us to a different room on the 5th floor. This room also smelled bad - even worse than the room before. The next morning, we left a note asking the cleaning staff to clean the toilet extra well. When we got back from sightseeing, all the rooms smelled of pee. The smell had seeped out of the restroom and into the other rooms. We opened the windows and it still smelled of pee. We asked the hotel staff to please remove the bidet and make sure to clean in between the toilet and bidet covering. The staff said they “cleaned it” and proceeded to brush off our suggestion to change the bidet. They instead kept trying to move us to a different room. My uncle had to ask for a screwdriver, remove the bidet himself, and the hotel staff saw the layer of urine caked on toilet and bidet. Not only is the smell extremely disgusting, it’s a health hazard.