Hyatt Regency Incheon: Great Service, Hard Beds
On my most recent vacation to Asia I spent two nights in Seoul, the first at the Hyatt Regency Incheon. We were landing at around 5PM, and I figured for the first night it would be better to quickly get from the airport to our hotel, rather than sitting in traffic on a bus for over an hour. It was also available on cash & points, which counted towards requalifying for status, also a plus!
We found the shuttle bus at Door 3A. It runs every 20 minutes, and we’d just missed the 5:27 PM shuttle in our (failed) search for an ATM, so wound up waiting outside a bit. It took less than 5 minutes to get to the hotel once it came and check in was very quick.
My diamond status was recognized, but as far as I could tell we hadn’t been upgraded. Our room was on a high floor with a great view of the airport though!
The room was spacious and modern enough.
The one issue we had was the beds. Super firm. Like bone bruising firm. The first time in a long time that I was waking up because various limbs had pins and needles just from laying on the mattress. Other than that it was great.
In keeping with Hyatt’s dedication to technology, the phone was programmed to display my name.
And we got a chuckle out of the eyebrow raising massage options.
After changing clothes from the flight, we headed up to the lounge to take advantage of the happy hour cocktails and hors d’oeurves. It was a bit of a mad house. Lots of noisy children running around, almost every table filled. The staff were great though — they offered us drink vouchers if we preferred the more sedate atmosphere of the lobby bar.
We decided to stay and when the prosecco ran out they came by to personally pour us a glass.
They also had several items on a “menu” that you could special order in addition to the light offerings of salad, cheese, and desserts. We ordered both — a korean pancake and a duck dish, but they were out of the duck and brought us a tasty fried shrimp option instead.
The next morning the lounge was much quieter.
Breakfast options were limited compared to other lounge buffets, but it was fine — the usual charcuterie and cheese, various cereals, fruit, and 4-5 pastry options in addition to breads. There was also a menu of hot egg options to choose from.
Check out was painless and they practically held the airport shuttle for us to make sure we didn’t have to wait another 20 minutes. I would gladly, happily stay at the hotel again anytime I have a layover in Seoul.
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I personally prefer hard beds (better for my back) since soft beds like really soft ones tend to lack lumbar/back support.
Anyway, that is cool you got personal service for the prosecco. Why was he wearing a yellow ribbon?
I’m not a Hyatt Diamond but do Diamond members normally get an upgrade (or do you have to use one of the certificates?) I hope to do the Hyatt challenge someday.
After living in Japan last year, I sorta got used to the hard beds. My first three weeks there I was at a hotel while looking for a place to live. Amazing service, but the beds!! More importantly, the pillows were literally made out of small beads. I had to go to the BX to buy a pillow. Morale of the story is that in Japan and South Korea I think you would be hard pressed to find a comfortable bed at most hotels. This has been my experience at all hotels in Japan.
Very hard beds seem to be the norm in the Far East. I lived in China for a year, and the softest mattress available to buy was similar to a piece of plwood with a very thin sheet.
It does take some getting used to.
I LOVE the beds in East Asia – great support for my back. Definitely not like a piece of plywood with a thin sheet, but great support for the lower back.
I am going to seoul in a few months and am curious, did you go back to the airport to get a bus to downtown seoul? I hadnt thought about staying close to the airport the first night I arrive but after a 12 hour flight it might be nicer than sitting on a bus if traffic is normally really bad.
I think your picture taking can be much improved. If you can’t take clear pictures of even the massage options, that’s a big problem.
The beds at that Hyatt are so hard we are not going back to that property. Ever. There are more comfortable options in terms of international chain hotels nearby or in Seoul, all easy to get to. Why wake up with not only jet lag but physical discomfort? I do agree the staff are superb at this hotel. Nice teapots, too!
I just stayed at the Airport Hotel since I have Priority Pass lounge access to different lounges with different meals.
Ridiculously hard beds at Grand Hyatt Beijing. The hotel brought us 2 mattress pads which made it just bearable for me but my friend couldnt take it and slept on the couch. We offered to give up our suite and move into any room that had a different mattress, but all the mattresses were the same in the hotel. This is very disappointing because I otherwise liked the hotel very much