The Shilla Seoul

Seoul's Grande Dame, Reimagined

The Shilla Seoul has anchored the city's five-star scene since 1979, long enough to have hosted state visits and watched Gangnam's skyline rise from across the river. A 2013 renovation by designer Peter Remedios kept the formality but lightened it, trading heavy brocade for dark wood, marble, and the kind of restraint that reads as confidence rather than age. Nothing here chases novelty. The hotel's 464 rooms and 36 suites, its sculpture-filled grounds, and its five restaurants add up to an address that has simply kept doing the fundamentals well for over four decades, which in a city of fast openings is its own kind of rarity.

Why It Works

We selected The Shilla Seoul because it delivers scale without losing detail: entry rooms still come with Hungarian goose-down bedding and yacht-style built-in bars, and the hotel runs five restaurants, two bars, and a pastry boutique rather than leaning on a single signature dining room. The Guerlain Spa, the first of its brand in Asia, and an indoor driving range with a putting green round out a property built for guests who stay several nights and expect each one to offer something different.

Why This Location

The hotel sits in Jung-gu against the slope of Namsan, close enough to the mountain that a 1.6-kilometre path along Seoul's medieval city walls starts almost at the door. It is a quieter, greener pocket than the high-rise density of Gangnam or the retail crush of Myeongdong, yet both are a short taxi away, along with the basement shopping arcade's twenty designer boutiques for guests who would rather not leave the building at all.

Fast Facts

• Gamme: Luxe, cinq étoiles

• Vibe: Formal Korean grande dame with a modern edit

• Chambres: 464 chambres et 36 suites

• Best For: Travellers who want heritage service and serious dining under one roof

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: The sculpture garden and its 1.6-kilometre city-wall walking path

• Dining: La Yeon (Korean, three Michelin stars), plus four further restaurants, two bars, and a pastry boutique

• Amenities: Guerlain Spa, Urban Island outdoor pool and Jacuzzi, indoor driving range, sauna

• Attractions: Namsan Park, Seoul's historic city walls, Myeongdong shopping district

The Sculpture Garden and Urban Island

Few city hotels give over this much ground to art and air. The grounds hold a sculpture garden with 21 works by noted Korean and international artists, walkable at any hour, and the Urban Island club adds an outdoor pool, a Jacuzzi, and a rooftop garden set against the mountainside. Combined with the city-wall path, it gives guests a reason to stay on the property between meetings or meals rather than treating the hotel as a place to simply sleep.

La Yeon and the Art of Korean Fine Dining

La Yeon, led by chef Kim Sung Il, is widely credited as the first Korean restaurant to hold three Michelin stars, and it remains the reason many guests book a table here even if they are not staying the night. The dining room looks directly onto Namsan Park, and the tasting menus move through refined versions of royal court cooking, built around seasonal, often hyper-local ingredients. It is the kind of restaurant that turns a hotel stay into an occasion rather than a convenience.

Rooms Built for Sauna Culture

The guest rooms reflect a very Korean idea of comfort: the Shilla Suite comes with its own sauna, office, and private dining room, and the two Presidential Suites add two bedrooms, a dining room, and 24-hour butler service each, with the French-style suite including a sauna of its own. Even standard rooms carry marble bathrooms and dark wood furnishings, with bars built flush into the walls in a yacht-like style that favours restraint over spectacle. It is a hotel that rewards guests who read the details rather than the square footage.