Vavien 2 Residence, Seoul

The Vabien II is a good deal overall. It's conveniently located near central Seoul, just a short taxi ride to Kwanghwamun Station or City Hall. In fact, if you have about 20 minutes to spare, you can walk to either of those locations. There is a 7-Eleven and a few restaurants in the building, and a few bakeries and/or coffee shops within about a 5-minute walk. The rooms were spacious, with a built-in washing machine and kitchenette. The bathrooms were fairly large and very clean. I enjoyed my stay there and would recommend it for travelers who want a nice room, centrally located, without the price of a luxury hotel.

We stayed at Vavien 2 for 4 nights in Oct 2009. We are happy with what we paid for. This hotel is suitable for singles, couples and families. We asked for non-smoking room at the check-in reception and was told that there was no such categorisation of rooms. So we were initially worried that the room would stink with cigarette smell. But this was not so as the room turned out to be very clean, neat and fresh. It also comes with fully equipped open mini kitchen (with attached dish washing machine), which makes the room look and feel more spacious. There are numerous TV Channels (news channels, sports, drama, etc) to cater for various nationalities. The housekeeping service was superb. After checking into our room, we wanted to make hot drinks but found that the boiling plate inside the kettle was very rusty. We called housekeeping for a replacement and was pleasantly surprised that they came by within 1 hour to replace the kettle with a brand new one ! (I never stopped using the kettle for the next 4 days). There was also a mini monitor screen attached to the wall inside our room such that when the door bell was rang, we could see clearly who was at the doorstep; so this was a good security measure. We also appreciate the convenience of the airport bus service just outside the hotel which comes on time. The fare is also cheaper (9000 won; compared to KoreanAir’s Airport Limousine Bus which charges 14000 won. The cab fare to airport would have been exorbitant). The driver was also very kind in helping us to load the big luggage in to the under compartment. (Note : He does not accept tips). The subway station “Seodamun Station” about 1 min. walk from the hotel was also an important advantage as travelling around Seoul via the subway is cheap and fast. Remember to lookout for “Exit No. 6” at Seodamun Station which is the nearest exit to Vivien 2 Hotel (Note : There are usually more than 10 exit points in each subway station and you may need to walk

Room facilities are quite adequate, fridge, microwave, coffee machine, eating utentials. Bed kind of too soft. Housekeeping did a good job but can do better. There was a half eaten lollipop in the fridge. The breakfast is not good value for money, very very few items. Bathroom amentiies oontains shampoo, conditioner, and body lotion, no tooth brush nor tooth paste. There was no hot water on the second day of my stay. We told reception in the morning, came back in the afternoon, still no hotwater. Told reception again on the way out and hotwater returns in the evening.