Andaz Seoul Gangnam

A Hotel Built Around a Wrapping Cloth

Andaz Seoul Gangnam takes its design cue from bojagi, the traditional Korean cloth used to wrap and carry everyday objects, and lets that single idea run through the entire building. Dutch interior studio Piet Boon translated the patchwork logic of bojagi into angular room layouts, muted and textured finishes, and artwork sourced almost entirely from Seoul-based artists, so the hotel reads as a specific cultural statement rather than a generic luxury template dropped into Gangnam. Even the signature scent used through the public areas, developed with Korean beauty brand Tamburins, is built around mugwort rice cakes traditionally wrapped in bojagi cloth, and a local studio runs bojagi-wrapping workshops for guests who want to take the idea further than the decor.

Why It Works

Plenty of international hotel brands have landed in Gangnam with a standard playbook of marble lobbies and anonymous luxury finishes; this is the rare one that built its entire identity around a specific piece of Korean material culture instead. That commitment shows up everywhere from the restaurant concept to the welcome amenities, and it's why we're choosing it over hotels with a higher star count but a more interchangeable look and feel, and over newer openings that haven't settled into their own identity yet.

Why This Location

The hotel sits a short walk from Apgujeong Rodeo, one of Gangnam's more design-literate shopping streets, with direct access to Apgujeong metro station and the Han River a few minutes further on. It suits travellers who want to be inside Gangnam's fashion and gallery scene rather than its convention-centre business core, with the river and its parks offering an easy change of pace when the shopping gets to be too much, and enough restaurants within walking distance that a car is rarely necessary.

Fast Facts

• Price tier: €€€€

• Vibe: design-led luxury built around Korean craft and material culture

• Rooms: 241, including a 163-square-metre Gangnam Penthouse Suite

• Best For: design-conscious couples and groups wanting a stylish Gangnam base

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: the Summer House pool deck, with its seven-metre LED screen playing scenes of Seoul

• Dining: an all-day ground-floor bar and JOGAKBO, its signature restaurant

• Amenities: spa and wellness centre, sauna, hot tub, fitness centre

• Nearby: Apgujeong metro station, Apgujeong Rodeo, the Han River

The Summer House and Its Cinema-Scale Screen

The hotel's pool deck, called the Summer House, centres on a 16-metre pool backed by a seven-metre LED screen that plays footage of the city, turning a simple lap swim into something closer to a cinema experience. It's the kind of feature that photographs well, but it also works as a genuine amenity on a hot Seoul afternoon, and it anchors the building's design story as firmly as the lobby does. Rooftop suites one floor up add Han River views to the same sense of occasion, and the Gangnam Penthouse Suite, with its own circular tub, can comfortably host a gathering of up to twenty people.

Alley Food, Reimagined Indoors

JOGAKBO, reached up the hotel's central staircase, takes its name and its format from Seoul's street and alley dining culture, reworking that informal, wander-and-graze style of eating into a proper restaurant setting under chefs Hamish Neale and Sora Choi. Downstairs, A'+Z works as an all-day bar and café open to passersby as much as hotel guests, with pastries and savouries that make it a legitimate neighbourhood stop rather than a hotel lobby bar people only use because they're already staying there, and it's as good a reason to linger in the lobby as anything upstairs.