Company Team Self-Party
Hotel Suite Room Transformed into Private Room
Increased Satisfaction by Avoiding Encounters with Staff
Yeouido and Euljiro with Many Office Workers
Nearby Hotel Lunchbox Takeout and Delivery Orders
Dinner Gatherings Replaced by Lunch Meetings
[Asia Economy Reporter Minyoung Cha] "The stress from year-end dinners and workshops was heavy on top of the COVID-19 blues (depression caused by the novel coronavirus), so it's really great to finish things simply at the office like this."
Son Seonhee (pseudonym), a team leader working at Company A near Gongdeok-dong, Seoul, recently held a team dinner in a hotel room. They replaced the bed in the suite room with a table and quietly spent time with company employees, placing packaged food on the table. The general affairs team of Company B changed their evening dinner to lunch and held it in a meeting room within the company. To create an atmosphere, they ordered hotel to-go lunch boxes priced around 70,000 KRW and also ordered simple cookie snacks, setting up a full lunch course including dessert.
"Have your company dinner in a hotel room"
On the 8th, in office-dense areas such as Yeouido, Euljiro, and Teheran-ro, the year-end scene was completely different from last year, which was bustling with lunch and dinner guests. Group workshop trips and dinner gatherings were completely banned. Evening dinners were changed to lunch meetings, and instead of going to nearby restaurants, employees spent the year-end together with lunch boxes inside the company.
Hotel dinner services that allow employees to hold 'self parties' with colleagues are also popular. Glad Hotel Yeouido transformed a 48.2㎡ (about 14.5 pyeong) suite room by removing the bed and creating a dining room-like atmosphere. This service is available for groups from a minimum of 3 to a maximum of 12 people, and all food is provided in to-go boxes so guests can set up the food themselves. Guests can enjoy hotel chef dishes such as Sichuan-style grilled abalone, Guangdong-style steamed rockfish, lamb chops, Iberico platter, and various alcoholic beverages including wine, beer, and whiskey from 5 PM to 11 PM for about 6 hours. A representative from Glad Yeouido said, "We were somewhat worried because guests serve themselves without any serving staff, but since there is no chance to meet employees, customer satisfaction is actually higher," adding, "However, recently, due to the year-end social distancing upgrades, inquiries about cancellations and postponements in December have increased."
From ? la carte to full-course... Some 'dissatisfaction' reviews
At the '10G' caf? and 'Zest' dining restaurant located on the first floor of the premium Conrad Hotel in Yeouido's securities district, to-go services are provided for Yeouido office workers. Lunch boxes under 30,000 KRW, club sandwiches priced in the 10,000 KRW range, breakfast croissants, muffins, and premium juices are delivered within 30 minutes to the lobbies of the nearby International Finance Center (IFC) One, Two, and Three buildings. Jeong Junhee (pseudonym), a worker in his 40s at a nearby securities firm, said, "I often have protocol duties where I have to host senior executives, but even if I rush to popular lunch box places at 11 AM and stand in line, it takes a long time," adding, "It's better to comfortably reserve and receive hotel lunch boxes in advance considering the time spent."
The 'Eundaegu Jorim' (braised silver cod) lunch box made by the chef of the Japanese restaurant 'Shuchiku' at 63 Restaurant saw a rapid increase in popularity after its release in May this year, with sales in November jumping more than tenfold. The 'Dongpa-yuk' (braised pork belly) lunch box from the Chinese restaurant 'Baekrihyang,' released the same month, also saw sales triple. Near City Hall Station, the sweet and sour pork and Yulimgi to-go boxes from 'Dowon,' the Chinese restaurant at The Plaza Hotel, a premium hotel, saw an average sales increase of 1.5 times compared to May. The signature lunch box from 'Momoyama,' the Japanese restaurant at Lotte Hotel Seoul, saw sales increase by nearly 30% in November compared to October. Especially, orders from teams of 3 to 5 people are common. The Korean lunch boxes from 'Suwun,' a Korean restaurant operated by Haevichi Hotel & Resort, have also gained word-of-mouth popularity among secretaries of executives at nearby large corporations due to their neat side dishes.
Near Samsung Station COEX, the 'Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas' and 'InterContinental Seoul COEX' offer to-go services. The 'Grand Kitchen' at Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas sells Western signature lunch boxes as grab-and-go items until the end of February next year. The 'Asian Live' at InterContinental Seoul COEX offers a menu called 'Osaekchaedam' until the end of the year, which includes Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and Indian dishes.
However, some hotel lunch boxes have sparked controversy over inflated prices. A Japanese lunch box from a domestic premium hotel, priced at 110,000 KRW, has received complaints for being served in plastic containers with a rather plain composition. Office worker Kim Ji-won (pseudonym) said, "I ordered an expensive premium hotel Japanese lunch box instead of a company dinner for the first time in a while, but it was terrible," adding, "Demand for year-end dinners is increasing, and hotels are launching expensive lunch boxes one after another, but many cases have poor cost-effectiveness. If this continues, no one will use them again."
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