Name: Bando
Address: 39-5, Gongpyeong-Dong, Jongno-Gu, Seoul, Seoul, Seoul, 110160, South Korea
Rating: 5

Air conditioning

Smoke-free property

Garden

General

Non-smoking rooms

Fridge

Cable TV

Hairdryer

Safe (in room)

Toiletries

Rooms

Wheelchair Accessible

Accessibility

Coffee/tea for guests

Microwave oven

Kitchenette

Bottled water

Kettle

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

Internet

Baby sleepers

Kids

Location

At the hotel

Room amenities

City Hall

Seoul

Sinseol-dong

Myeongdong

Ssamji-gil

Gwanghwamun

Gyeongbok Palace

Deoksugung Palace

Changdeok Palace

Gwangjang Traditional Market

Namdaemun Market

Sungnyemun

Namsangol Hanok Village

N Seoul Tower

War Memorial of Korea

National Museum of Korea

Lotte World

Seoul Grand Park

Gimpo International Airport

Incheon International Airport

Bando

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

On the up side:
- excellent location: 3 mins from Jongkak metro station, 15 mins walk from Myeongdong, 20 mins walk to the palace
- free Wifi: very strong and stable signal
- free breakfast: just toast, hard-boiled eggs, salad green and juice (sausages sometimes). Not spectacular, but you just don't expect it because of its frugal room rate
- free distilled water and coffee all day
- friendly and helpful front desk staff: they don't speak much English, but we communicated in Mandarin just fine.
- heated floor, clean room
- flat-screen TV and Korean cable in all rooms (the TV is ridiculously big in the tiny room)
- free amenities: not just shampoo and body wash, but also hair spray, moisturizer, hair gel etc
- Dirt cheap, given the location at the heart of the city

On the down side:
- Rooms extremely dated and extremely small: We traveled as a family and had one twin and one double room. Surprisingly, the twin room was marginally bigger, with a bigger washroom. You won't find one spot in the room that a 26" suitcase can fit in open and flat. The counter was so small that you can't find a spot to put your cell phone and wallet.
- Worn, grayish towels smelling of bleach
- They don't change the sheets throughout our 4-night stay, but they did clean the room, clear the garbage and clean the washroom
- No elevator: you may have to climb up to 4 floors. Don't stay here if your knees are troubled or have problems lifting your suitcase.
- The shower had no water pressure whatsoever. It's a drag to wash your hair -- it took a couple minutes to wet your hair. It took even longer to rinse off the shampoo. 
- Peeling wall paper, drooping ceiling plaster

I had mixed feelings about this place. The hardware is sure dated and sub-par to be even called a hotel. But cheap hostels are seldom located at a prime location like that. When I saw the staff hang the flat-screen TV in our room, I wonder if a new TV can save the place. The same thought goes regarding the wide-array of amenities in the room, the free bottled water and canned drinks in the fridge. I got the feeling that the management tries very hard to make your stay a good one, but they just can't afford a major overhaul to update the place, or even tear it down and build a new one.

All in all, if you can afford somewhere better, go elsewhere. But if you just want a bed and nothing else, and you need to be at the centre of the city on a shoestring, this is the place. IMO, all those efforts don't make up for the lack of space and comfort. I won't stay here again.

Bando

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