Name: O2 Resort
Address: 861, Seohak-ro, Sabuk, Sabuk, Sabuk, 235-010, South Korea
Rating: 6

Elevator/lift

Smoke-free property

Heating

All Spaces Non-Smoking (public and private)

General

Non-smoking rooms

Flat-screen TV

Shower

Rooms

Restaurant

Kitchen

Kitchenette

Meals

Wi-Fi

Internet

Free parking

Parking

Conference Hall

Business

Sauna

Beauty and wellness

Family/Kid Friendly

Kids

Location

At the resort

Room amenities

O2 Resort

Sabuk

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

11-beds

12-beds

13-beds

14-beds

15-beds

16-beds

17-beds

18-beds

19-beds

2-beds

20-beds

21-beds

22-beds

23-beds

24-beds

25-beds

26-beds

27-beds

28-beds

29-beds

3-beds

30-beds

31-beds

32-beds

33-beds

34-beds

35-beds

36-beds

37-beds

38-beds

39-beds

4-beds

40-beds

5-beds

6-beds

7-beds

8-beds

9-beds

king-bed

queen-bed

limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

sunset-view

water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

1-bedroom

2-bedrooms

3-bedrooms

4-bedrooms

5-bedrooms

6-bedrooms

not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

We'd never travelled to Korea and, although my wife had been skiing before, it was the first time for my 3 kids and I. After a challenge with my driving licence (you need an international permit) meant I couldn't get a hire car from Seoul airport, we took the reasonably priced bus for a 4.5 hour ride before getting a taxi to the hotel. The 02 resort feels a bit like a hidden gem - we went for the Christmas week and were the only European family there, with the guests principally being Koreans. It was a fantastic experience. The staff's English level wasn't great (but we were expecting this from the website) but were incredibly friendly and helpful. The rooms were clean, facilities simple but practical. Getting to the ski slopes was easy and the facilities there were great - much cheaper than many other places. 
The only let down is the availability of restaurants at the resort. There are fantastic ones down the mountain in Taebaek town, but the hotels fast food joint and sole open restaurant were an experience not to be repeated.

Fun, simple and a real cultural experience

I stayed at the O2 Resort in Taebaek  at the end of January. I was visiting Taebaek for their 19th annual Snow and Ice Festival. The O2 resort is huge and it takes about 15 minutes by Taxi from the Taebaek Train Station, and Taebaek downtown. The resort is at the top of the mountains so you can get a nice view anywhere you look. When booking I asked for a room with beds, as many of them have no beds (Koreans like to sleep on the floor). The room that I got, was quite nice, clean and modern. There were 2 double beds, a kitchen table with 4 chairs, a kitchenette, and Tv stand with a TV. The bathroom was modern and clean with a stand up shower. There were a whole bunch of kitchen utensils, even a rice cooker, and a microwave, plates, cups, and a kettle. Taebaek gets really cold during the winter and the room had nice underfloor heating which I could control on the wall. There was also a balcony. Downstairs of my condo/apartment/hotel was a convenience store with pretty much everything you could think of you might want to eat or snack on including milk, cereal, yoghurt, fruit, rice, meat, snacks, drinks, beer, ice cream and so on and on.  Part of the snow festival was going on at the O2 Resort, thus I decided to stay there in the first place. There was a free shuttle from my condo to the snow festival…which was down below. The ride took about 4 minutes. I was there on the opening night, so there was a concert, and a lot of people looking at the sculptures, as  well as doing the usual skiing. In the day you can toboggan as well. There were a few western restaurants right there. I had some Popeyes Chicken which was dreadful, I should have opted out for Korean instead. The Snow and Ice Festival does not only take place at the O2 Resort, there are a few more venues which I checked out the next day. However, the O2 was sold out so I could only stay there for a night, and had to look for accommodations the next day. It worked out better though, as I stayed downtown which was the other venue for the Festival. I also went to Taebaek mountain to see the sculptures there. As to the O2 Resort, I was happy and comfortable with the stay. It served the purpose of me being there. I would return to the O2, and recommended for great skiing and the Snow and Ice Festival.

Staying at the O2 Resort for the Annual Snow and Ice Festival

We visited as a couple on a day-trip, 1 skier and 1 recuperating.  The cafe downstairs was pleasant with an English menu and wifi, and the staff corrected misunderstood orders gracefully.

However on New Years Eve only one short beginners piste was open for skiing. There simply wasn't enough natural snow and they do not have artificial snow making facilities.  Try to check what is open before you book accommodation or lift passes.

Down at the ski area there is ample parking but only a basic cafeteria with fast food.

Work out how many pistes are open before you book

O2 Resort promised to be, well, a resort.  Which turns out to be mostly misleading. We visited in the 'busy' skiing season in January 2014 and paid USD 200 per night for a Studio Condo which included a tiny but functional kitchen. The room was in excellent condition and the floor heating was actually too warm. We did have dificulty in adjusting the temperature in the room but that's more likely due to our inexperience with floor heating. O2 is located directly on the top of the O2 ski slope and it is possible to walk out of the lobby and ski down which was visually stunning but not of practical use since we rented equipment down at the ski lodge at the bottom of the hill. It was bad luck that there was very little natural snow and O2 had only kept 1 beginner, 1 intermediate and 1 advanced slope open using man made snow. When we arrived midweek the slopes and the resort were virtually empty, so while the snow was hard and icy, there were absolutely no lines for the 2 days of skiing which is like having your own ski slope. The slopes are well maintained with plenty of helpful ski patrols and staff and we were very grateful to the kindness the staff extended to our 2 children. Unfortunately there just were not enough slopes open to keep even our kids interested. It was amazingly cheap to ski at O2. We got a 40% discount for staying at the O2 Resort, and a further amazing 50% discount by paying in cash. That's 50% discount for paying in cash. It was hard to follow exactly what cost what but in the end 3 of us skied the morning and afternoon sessions, plus rented all of our equipment for an amazing USD $110. It was unnerving to come into an empty ski lodge but the canteen was open although we bought most of our food from a C u minimart. Sledding costs extra we found out later although with no one there we all sledded for about an hour before someone asked us to pay. Equipment quality was more than adequate for our skiing needs (beginner to intermediate). I'm sure with much more snow we would have enjoyed it more. Mostly bad luck as this mountain range is supposed to have better skiing that most areas in Korea. We were quite disappointed in the 'resort' though as virtually all the resort facilities were closed. They did not even have an open restaurant, only a minimart. No pub, no baths/saunas/heated pools, essentially no services at all except checkin and an expensive and unused coffee shop. My wife managed to cancel the last day of our stay (with penalty) as we had simply nothing left to do. The town of Taebaek is about 10 minutes (and $10 each way by taxi) away and is a bit dingy and not very pleasant or interesting to walk around. O2 resort ran a shuttle bus into town but it was not very frequent and we felt a bit isolated and bored in the resort. We ventured by taxi (USD $16 each way) to the large national park on the other side of town and enjoyed the mine museum which was of surprising high quality and the snow sculptures and the general mucking around in the snow and trails. So overall we felt mostly disappointed by the lack of facilities open at the resort, its isolation, the dingy town, and the lack of snow. Having a ton of natural snow might have saved the trip but it was not to be.

Well Maintained but mostly closed 'Resort'

There is little equipment in the kitchen but there is nothing in the bathroom, no shampoo, no shower jel and no big towel.. there should be certain expected facilities in such big hotels. But i dont know the winter facilities.

O2 Resort

Main amenities of the hotel

Available rooms

Location

Description of the hotel

What other amenities are there?

General

Rooms

Meals

Internet

Parking

Business

Beauty and wellness

Kids

Policies

Check-in terms and conditions

Additional information

Payment